So I've tried to read this a couple of times over the past several years, but could never get into it. The first chapter or two were just so hard to get through - just so many names and characters and fantasy words. But now that I finished Shadow and Bone and know a little more about the Grisha verse, I gave this one another shot. Once I actually got into it, it was so great! I'm surprised at how much I ended up enjoying this one. I love a good heist story, and this one is so fun. I ended up loving all of these scrappy characters - but especially Inej and Kaz and Nina. But the whole squad had such great character dynamics that were so fun to read. Buying the next one to read immediately.

My biggest complaint is the ages of all the characters... as a teenager, I probably wouldn't have questioned it. But as an adult I just couldn't picture these kids so in my head, I just aged them all up ten years.

I just love this goofy found family of thieves so much. Each of these characters are great to read about individually, and when you throw them in the same room, I love their dynamics together. All of the characters have their own little character development arcs, but at the end, they're all still clearly themselves. Like Kaz is never magically cured of his sensitivity to skin on skin contact, but slowly is able to move forward enough to hold Inej's hand. . I love them all, but again Kaz and Inej are standouts for me.
The plot here moved faster than the first one, but for some reason I found it less engaging (though it was still very entertaining). The biggest flaw (besides the age thing) is that it doesn't feel like there were enough consequences for any of our characters. Every one of the crows ends up being the best at their thing or outsmarting the best at their thing or landing in a very conveniently summoned net
except for Mathias, obviously .
Also I messed up by not finishing the shadow and bone books first because there were some major spoilers for that series in this one! Oh well.