I was a bit afraid that Six of Crows wouldn’t live up to the hype, but it was a really great read with amazing characters and a plot that kept you on edge with worry and anticipation all the way to the end.

I have to confess though that I did struggle a bit with getting into the story at first. I’d heard so many wonderful things about it, but I just couldn’t get past the first two chapters when I first started reading it. I actually had to re-read these chapters to get into all the characters and details. But once I got past those chapters, it got so good! So, if you’re struggling with the beginning too, please know that the book is so worth to keep reading!
 
What makes this book so good are the characters. The story is told from multiple character’s third point of views. I loved how brilliantly Leigh Bardugo created a web with so many layers, when each character added his or her piece, but still kept the main story together. I absolutely fell in love with all of the six main characters. They were so unique and interesting, mean but kind, bad but also good, and the all added so much depth to the story. And they all had troublesome pasts that helped you understand how they’d ended up in this band of thieves, but you also got to know about their dreams for the future and their hidden feelings and thoughts, which made you relate to, and love them, even more. And this is only the first book, I can only imagine how they will grow character wise in the next book in this series.
 
And the story; what an amazing tale of adventure, magic and entertainment! It was slightly different than many other YA/fantasy books as it did not have much focus on romance. There were two (potential) ones, and I totally ship them both, but it was not the driver of this action-packed, thrilling rollercoaster ride of a story.

Rating:
4 stars

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​Author info:
Leigh Bardugo

Call Me by Your Name takes place in Italy the summer that Elio turns 17 and his father invites the doctoral student, 24-year-old Oliver, to stay with them for the summer. Elio is immediately drawn to Oliver, and years later he can still remember watching him step out of the cab, “billowy blue shirt, wide-open collar, sun-glasses, straw hat, skin everywhere. It might have started right there and then.” From that very first meeting, one of the most touching, beautiful and bittersweet love stories ever will evolve. 

I love the writing style, it’s so beautiful, almost poetic. There is so much emotions going on underneath, all hidden feelings, all subdued passion. It’s like every word has a hidden meaning, as if each and every word has been chosen carefully to provide as much feelings as possible; to really make you feel deep down Elio’s heart-wrenching longing for Oliver yourself.

This sure is a book that gets under your skin! It has so many layers and levels, and André Aciman does a remarkable job in describing the over-whelming mix of desire, fear, lust and joy, that comes with first love. The story is affecting, melancholic and passionate without ever being melodramatic.
 
And not to forget, the Italian setting and the vivid descriptions of the summer house, the views and the village, adds so much to the story. Reading this book make you feel the warm Italian sun on your skin and smell the flowers. To give you an idea, this book is a bit like A Room with a View meets Brokeback Mountain. Or Brideshead Revisited taking place in Italy in the 1980s.

Rating:
5 stars

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