Without even realising it, I have recently been on a bit of a Leigh Bardugo binge, so I thought I’d better blog about it!

Towards the end of least year I started reading her Grisha Trilogy: #1 Shadow and Bone, #2 Siege and Storm, #3 Ruin and Rising. I didn’t love these books, it took me over 6 months to read the series, but I did enjoy them. Her world building and complexity of story was expertly done, but in this series I sometimes felt that there was too much going on and I got a little lost or disinterested.

I was then told by a year 11 student that I “ABSOLUTELY HAD TO GET SIX OF CROWS AND CROOKED KINGDOM BECAUSE THEY ARE THE BEST BOOKS EVER!” (Yes, she really did yell enthusiastically at me; I love book worms.) It’s taken me a while to start this duology, but I am so glad I did. Six of Crows is the first and it tells the story of a band of young thieves pulling off the biggest heist of their careers. It helps to have read the Grisha Trilogy beforehand as there is a fair amount of name dropping and reference to the Civil War explained in those books, but it is not strictly necessary. The twists and turns, the character development, and the cleverness of their fearless leader make you want to keep turning the page. Once again, the complexity of the story, including flash backs, multiple points of view, and twists and turns that rival the best mysteries, are masterfully handled and not once did I get lost. Bardugo has done an excellent job balancing all these features while telling a fantastic story. I am really enjoying continuing the story of the young thieves in Crooked Kingdom, and hope that it lives up to its predecessor.

I realised that I had recently finished yet another of Bardugo’s books, Wonder Woman: Warbringer. I was so excited to get my hands on this one that I didn’t even pay attention to the author until I was half way through and thoroughly enjoying it. (I mean, it’s a Wonder Woman origin story in the form of a novel, how could I not be excited?!) The beautiful thing about the way that Bardugo has told Diana’s (Wonder Woman’s) story is that it is really refreshing. In this telling, Diana does not end up in the classic Wonder Woman outfit, and is not necessarily announced to the world, but is on a mission that isn’t sanctioned by her mother and Amazon sisters, and she must work in secret to right the wrong she has brought upon the island. I highly recommend this for fans of superheroes, and I’m super excited to see what Marie Lu’s Batman: Nightwalker, Sarah J Maas’ Catwoman: Soulstealer, and Matt De La Pena’s Superman bring to the table in the DC Icon Series!

What I’ve realised about Bardugo’s writing over the past year is that, in my opinion, the more she writes, the better she gets, and the more I like it! I am looking forward to whatever’s next from Leigh Bardugo.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.