Book Review: Six of Crows

TITLE: Six of Crows
Book 1 the Six of Crows series
AUTHOR: Leigh Bardugo
PUBLISHED: September 29th, 2015
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Fantasy
PREMISE: Set in the same world as the Grisha trilogy, a bunch of misfits get together for job that has far more consequences then any of them realize...
MY REVIEW: I admit, when I heard that there was going to be a continuation of the Grisha series I heaved a bit of a sigh. I am a little tired of spin-off after spin-off of the same series that YA keeps pulling. Sometimes I wish authors would just move onto another thing. However, the premise sounded a little more promising then most spin-offs because it involved completely different characters and a different sort of plot then the first trilogy so I gave it a look despite misgivings. I'm glad I did, I actually sort of enjoyed this one more then the Grisha trilogy.
True, there are common tropes galore in this. I won't say this is ground breaking. It isn't. But it is damn fun. These characters are not a redo of the Grisha characters. It's not even a redo of the Grisha plot. So while it is a spin-off, it feels like a new series anyway. If you've never read the Grisha trilogy you can probably pick this up and not be totally lost.
While I am still tired of spin-offs happening, I can forgive the spin-off if it's well done. This was a well done one. Necessary? Not really. But it is fun and entertaining and if you want to spend more time in the Grisha world, it's a good way to do it.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of the Grisha Trilogy, fantasy fans, fans of heist movies
MY RATING: Four out of Five complicated characters with issues