Reviews with content warning for Rape - Six of Crows: Sangue e Mentiras

I was told this was not really YA, but I guess it still was too much YA for me. That's not the book's fault, though. So if you generally like YA, I suspect you will like this book a lot more than I did.

What I liked:

The world building - European inspired, plus a fantasy story set (mainly) in a big city, that's a nice diversion from the majority of books in the genre. If you know any more books, don't hesitate to point me in their direction!
Also, I liked the Grisha magic.
I like stories about ragtag bands/found families doing things (okay, crime) together.
It was so well written that I found the plot interesting and wanted to know not so much what would happen next, but how it would happen.
I started to appreciate Inej and Kaz once I stopped thinking about their age and just embraced how utterly, unapologetically edgy they are. Teenage me would have probably loved them.
Jesper is quite the cinnamon roll, and I enjoyed him as a character. He was the most believable and most interesting (and layered) of the bunch.
There was some entertaining dialogue.

What was meh:

Even though interestingly written, the plot didn't hold any major surprises.
Nina and Matthias were annoying, even more so because there wasn't ever any real doubt about the outcome. Also, very tropey romance story.
Yes, growing up in a slum ages people beyond their years. Sure, I get that. But at times it was just too unbelievable, especially with the way they talked sometimes.
Even more unbelievable that Kaz managed to have this badass mysterious reputation for being a criminal genius when apparently every other major player in that city was an adult. I would have gotten it if the gang members in the slums were all roughly about the same age. But like this it makes very little sense.
Towards the end, I was pretty annoyed by the twentieth "... BUT they had seen it coming!" surprise. Especially since there was very few foreshadowing.
There was some pretentious edgy dialogue. It's a fine line.

Overall, I wasn't too emotionally engaged, but I did enjoy it enough to probably read the second book in the series.

Content Warnings

amberpoelma's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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alexandrabelze's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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lindasoderlundd's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I absolutely LOVED this book. The worldbuilding is great, the characters are interesting, the dialogue is both intriguing and fun, and the pacing of the plot is incredible. I can't wait to read the second book in the duology and find out what happens to our Crows!

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