Rating: 5 Stars 
 "When everyone knows you're a monster, you needn't waste time doing every monstrous thing." 
 As you know I was really looking forward to this book. I'd heard such great things about it - I really wanted to like it. I did not like it. 
 No, "like" is too casual a word. It's not enough. LOVE is not even enough. This book is brilliant! 
 Everything about the Grisha series that I didn't like [see here - Ruin and Rising review] has been corrected and perfected and Bardugo has managed to do that while retaining her incredible talent for the written world - the writing is funny, eloquent, lovely and thought-provoking. 
 She knew that she shouldn't speak, but she couldn't help herself. "And what did you do, Matthias? What did you do to me in your dreams?" The ship listed gently. The lanterns swayed. His eyes were blue fire. "Everything," he said, as he turned to go. "Everything." 
 I know that for most of you, I will not have to convince you to read this book. There is a lot of hype surrounding it, and it deserves it. BUT if you happen to live under a rock, or be particularly daft, let me tell you about this book that you need to read RIGHT NOW. 
 The premise is great, it is set in the same Grisha universe that the Grisha Trilogy is set in. However, Bardugo has corrected all the terrible world building that was in the Grisha Trilogy. The world is now so much more clear - the other countries, their cultures, the people are all explored in this novel. This novel is set in Ketterdam - and as the blurb promises - it's a bustling trade city with a flourishing underground sector filled with gangs, brothels and anything illegal you could want. It is here that we are introduced to our main characters - there are six of them in total and the story switches between five points-of-view. We then hang on for dear life while we follow our group of thieves, convicts and runaways as they try to break into an impenetrable building in a hostile country and rescue a scientist. It's incredibly fun. 
 Matthias knew monsters, and one glance at Kaz Brekker had told him this was a creature who had spent too long in the dark - he'd brought something back with him when he'd crawled into the light. 
 The incredible thing about this book is the diversity that Bardugo manages to cram into her six characters, so often the characters are carbon copies of the other characters, or other books. These characters are each fully resolved, flawed, individual with understandable motivations and actions, likable and dis-likable. 
 There is romance, though not the type you'd expect. The sort with a slow release gratification. As I write this I am trying to pick a favorite character and I can't. Maybe its Nina, with her subtle feminism (Isn't it nice to have a strong, female lead who takes no bullshit and is described as curvy AND beautiful!). 
 "What do you want Kaz?" 
 "You have crumbs on your cleavage." 
 "Don't care," she said, taking another bite of cake. "So hungry." 
 .... 
 "It's not natural for women to fight." 
 "It's not natural for someone to be as stupid as he is tall, and yet there you stand...". 
 Or maybe its Matthias, torn between his heart and his country. 
 It had started with a storm, and in a way, that storm had never ended. Nina had blown into his life with the wind and rain and set his world spinning. He'd been off balance ever since." 
 Maybe its Kaz, with his unflinching heart but heartbreaking story. 
 Kaz felt ill. He'd trusted her with his life countless times, it felt much more frightening to trust her with this shame. 
 Inej - the wraith. A silent spider forced to do terrible things but constantly in battle with her conscious. 
 Another demon. This one walked with soft feet like she'd drifted in from the next world and no one had the good sense to send her back. 
 Or even Wylan, the rich runaway, more hostage then team member. 
 Jesper wasn't sure how much Wylan was helping, but he was working hard. 
 Maybe Jesper, black and bi-sexual but in no way a token character. An adrenaline addict and a gambling addict who is loyal to a fault. (And also the funniest one of the bunch). 
 Now it was risk filling up his nose and mouth, making him feel giddy and invincible. He loved it, and he hated himself for loving it. 
 The ending is perfect - everything perfectly paced and built to a crescendo. The characters, changed and developed, the plot resolved but the perfect cliffhanger to leave me willing time to pass to bring me quickly to the sequel! Read it now.