It’s just occurred to me that I’ve never shared my love of the Dark Gifts trilogy by Vic James on this account so I’m here to correct that because I ADORE these books and I havent really seen anyone talking about them.
They are absolutely incredible, and if you’re a fan of Six of Crows or the Grishaverse in general then I would definitely recommend them not only because they are both vibrant and interesting reads with the morality of the characters and the system (very much the focus) being constantly held in question whilst also being fun and enjoyable YA fantasy but also because viewing them side by side for me brings forth a fascinating study of power systems and particularly the presentation of magic (please note for the purposes of this I’m classing the powers in these books as magic but in the novels neither of them are defined that way) as a resource in the fantasy genre. The ‘magic’ in The Dark Gifts trilogy is the driving force that has shaped all of the political systems, putting those with literal power into political power, whereas the ‘magic’ in the Grishaverse has led to the abuse and constant endangerment of all those gifted with it, even in the places they are supposedly safest; both systems are very much in the foreground shown as corruptive and dangerous. In the Dark Gifts, those without power are abused somewhat similarly to the way Grisha are despite being in the majority - they experience dehumanisation, abuse, and enslavement sanctioned by the laws that shape their country and even in the places where they are supposedly safer (for example, Abigail believing she’d be safer in a household than in a slavetown) they are still mistreated and viewed as less than human, which is arguably similar to the Ravkan view of Grisha: they are “safer” in Ravka because the country will not hunt or kill them for their mere existence, and yet they are taken from their families as children and raised to be soldiers by a compulsory draft, a role which most of them will take on before they are legal adults.
I would say the Dark Gifts trilogy is more weighed down in politics than Six of Crows is so it might not be everyone’s style, and I would say that they’re probably classed as slow-paced books but it is a while since I last read them so if you’re interested I’d encourage you to research that for yourself. I highly highly highly recommend these books; they’re by Vic James and the first in the trilogy is called Gilded Cage
