Six of Crows is a fantasy novel written by the Israeli-American author Leigh Bardugo, published by Henry Holt and Co. in 2015. The story is set in the city of Ketterdam, loosely inspired by Dutch Republic-era Amsterdam, and follows a thieving crew.
The narrative unfolds from the third-person viewpoints of seven different characters. Kaz Brekker, a criminal prodigy, is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. However, he cannot pull it off alone and must rely on:
Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz's crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don't kill each other first.
Six of Crows is the first book in the Six of Crows Duology and is part of the larger Grishaverse.
Kitchen is an enchantingly original book that juxtaposes two tales about mothers, love, tragedy, and the power of the kitchen and home in the lives of a pair of free-spirited young women in contemporary Japan. Mikage, the heroine, is an orphan raised by her grandmother, who has passed away. Grieving, Mikage is taken in by her friend Yoichi and his mother (who is really his cross-dressing father) Eriko. As the three of them form an improvised family that soon weathers its own tragic losses, Banana Yoshimoto spins a lovely, evocative tale with the kitchen and the comforts of home at its heart.
In a whimsical style that recalls the early Marguerite Duras, Kitchen and its companion story, Moonlight Shadow, are elegant tales whose seeming simplicity is the ruse of a very special writer whose voice echoes in the mind and the soul.