Numbers 1 & 2 of my renewed and much more disciplined attempt at the #100booksinayearchallenge was Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo. These books were part of a bunch I bought off the back of a couple ‘books all fantasy book lovers must read’ type lists; an endeavour that has served me very well so far.

Honestly, it took me a little while to get into the books at first, I was reading in fits and starts around work and these books have such a rich depth too them that it took a proper long reading session to really get into them.

Once I did though, oh wow did I enjoy reading them! It’s not the kind of fantasy I usually enjoy, being a sucker (as evidenced by last year’s reads) for either the tacky tween vampire crap or more dystopian- leaning stuff. The universe the author created has such rich depth to it, with its own races, cultural identities and well thought out history that is bread crumbed throughout the novels. Each character is equally rich, with the point of view hopping quite a lot but it never felt hard to keep track of, as every narration had such a distinct voice.

Without spoiling the ending, I really did enjoy how every character gets what they desired, to some extent, but not the way you would expect them too. Plus, I really loved how half of the main characters were described to be POC, from rich cultures that were massive factors of their identity, faith, personality and actions, no characters’ roots went unacknowledged but nor were they dropped into the story for the sake of it.

So yes, I would definitely recommend these books! Here’s a link to the Goodreads page on the Six of Crows.

As I’m doing alright with this challenge so far, there will be plenty more ‘What I’m Reading’ coming your way so don’t forget to follow before you leave (plus, like this post, I am starting to feel as though I am talking to myself!)