I read The Grisha Trilogy because I wanted to be familiar with the Grisha universe before reading the Six of Crows duology, which I plan on reading when Summer starts. I love Bardugo’s world, so I am excited to read Six of Crows.
I also loved every character except Mal and Alina. The darkling is so mysterious, and in every book something shocking is revealed about his past. I love Baghra’s grouchiness. Nikolai is smart, handsome, free-spirited and sassy. Yes, I do have a crush on him.
My favorite character is Zoya. She is such a bitch, and as a “Lit Bitch”, I love it. Despite her outward bitchiness, she stands her ground and does what she believes is right. Her actions are especially shocking because of her initial loyalty to the darkling, but when she sees that the darkling is totally whack, she dissents. It would have taken a ton of courage to leave the darkling, because she had devoted her entire life to become his favorite. Zoya should have been the heroine in these books.
The background characters were brilliant, but I didn’t really care about the main character, Alina. She’s boring, I can’t even think of anything to say about her. Her love-interest, Mal, is annoying as hell. He’s so whiny, and constantly needs attention. Alina, although boring, is trying to save the world, so Mal, please put your relationship problems on hold until after she’s dealt with the shadow fold. Alina needs Mal’s support, not his bitch-ass attitude.
My favorite book in the series was Ruin and Rising. It’s the last book in the series, so I’m not going to go into too much detail, but it was my favorite because of what we learn about Baghra’s past.
Although I was not impressed with Mal or Alina, I still recommend The Grisha Trilogy because the world is captivating, the secondary characters are engaging, and the antagonist is complex. If Zoya and Nikolai were the main characters, the trilogy would have been flawless.
Lit Bitch 
I feel the exact same way about the main characters. I wish the side characters were more focused because I did not like Alina or Mal, I thought they were a little on the whiny/over dramatic side. I haven’t read the final book yet, I might start six of crows without finishing it. Because like you I really loved to world and think Bardugo is a good writer just not a fan of these main characters.
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That’s a good idea. I was worried I wouldn’t understand the world enough if I didn’t read the grisha trilogy first, but I bet I would have had enough background with just the first two books.
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I read Six Of Crows and I honestly regretted not reading the Grisha Trilogy beforehand. It greatly affected my understanding of the story, and it felt like I was diving headfirst into the 3rd book in a series; it was so confusing at first. I really really hope you’ll like it though!
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I was hoping that by reading the grisha books beforehand, it would be easier to keep up with the story because I would already be familiar with the world.
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Awesome review- I really agree with you about alina and mal- I really want crazy about them!
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Thank you! I think if they had been given personalities, I would have enjoyed the book more.
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You’re welcome!
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Thank you! I definitely would have enjoyed the story more if Alina and Mal had been given personalities.
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You’re welcome- oh me too!!
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Love the site name… checking it out now. Good to e-meet ya! About to follow.
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Thank you so much! I was pretty proud of it too, honestly.
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It could go in a lot of different directions… definite strong play on words.
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Thanks. My main goal was to incorporate some bad word.
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