By Mia Hanuska
Over the summer, I made it my goal to read almost all the books in Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse: the Shadow and Bone trilogy, the Six of Crows duology, and the King of Scars duology. After finding five of the seven books at the Cupertino library in one trip (I already own the Six of Crows duology!), I decided to take a few days to immerse myself in the universe. After a good two days of nonstop reading, the series in this universe officially made it as some of my favorite series ever.
Shadow and Bone Trilogy
The Shadow and Bone trilogy is truly addicting. Without spoiling too much, the books follow a young girl, Alina Starkov, as she discovers—thanks to the antagonist—she has extremely special magical powers that could save her country, Ravka. Sliced by a deadly stretch of colorless darkness called “The Fold,” Ravka’s merchants and soldiers must traverse The Fold in order to gain access to Ravka’s ports and trade with their neighbors. Alina has to learn how to control her powers, judge who can be trusted, and make split-second life or death decisions. On her journey, she has to break free from a manipulative mentor and choose who she wants to be—and if who she wants to be is what’s best for Ravka.
Overall, these books display the hardships of being forced into leadership positions at a young age. Still discovering themselves, many of the characters are tasked with making choices that end up impacting more than just them. Reading about characters who are in control of entire nations at the age of 17 while being 17 is kind of an odd experience; it’s hard to picture one of my peers leading a country. Still, the characters and storyline are extremely well written, and I found myself speed-reading through each book, anxious to see what would happen next.
Six of Crows Duology
If you decide to read any of Bardugo’s books, please read this duology. Following six teenagers, Six of Crows and the Crooked Kingdom recount the group’s adventures in planning heists, outsmarting enemies, and saving an entire nation from enslavement—all in a day’s work, of course. Each character has to overcome parts of their rocky and traumatic pasts in order to pull off the heists, and in doing so, they create a supportive family out of a gaggle of teenage gang members.
I truly don’t think Bardugo has ever written characters better than those in the Six of Crows duology. Each protagonist foils another, and where one has weaknesses, the others step up with their strengths. Plus, the group’s leader, 17-year-old Kaz Brekker, always manages to think 15 steps ahead of their opponents in the most unique way possible, making each difficult situation the team runs into ultra-exciting as readers wonder how the team is going to escape this time. Each character sacrifices large parts of themselves in order to complete the missions, and I think no matter who you are, there’s a character who could serve as a role model for you. Maybe not exactly (let’s keep the killing to fictional characters, please), but many of their traits and mindsets translate well to the real world. 100% the best duology.
King of Scars Duology
Despite what many Grishaverse fans say, I adore this duology. It picks up a couple years after the Shadow and Bone trilogy, and resolves many of the issues previously left unfinished. The main protagonist, Nikolai Lantsov, is sarcastic and witty yet perfectly intelligent and respectful when necessary. He is the star of these books, and in my opinion, he single-handedly makes this duology better than the previous trilogy. The King of Scars duology creates a satisfying ending to the events in the Shadow and Bone trilogy while introducing new ideas and sides of the Grishaverse previously unexplored; keeping things fresh. Additionally, I’m a surprisingly big fan of the romance subplot in the books in this duology; it adds a large amount of significance to the actions of the protagonists and seems realistic to the characters. The characters have to love and fight for what is right for their beloved nation, all while dealing with immense losses. As Nikolai says, “stop punishing yourself for being someone with a heart. You cannot protect yourself from suffering. To live is to grieve. You are not protecting yourself by shutting yourself off from the world. You are limiting yourself.”