I’ve read several new books this year, but one of the ones that had the biggest impact on me was the Shadow and Bone series, written by Leigh Bardugo. It was recommended to me by my friends, and I read the first book of the Shadow and Bone series and both books of the duology of a spin-off series from the world, called Six of Crows. It’s set in a fantasy world where less than a quarter of the population of a country is Grisha, meaning they possess the ability to manipulate different elements of different orders. This is the country that Shadow and Bone took place in; Six of Crows was set in a different country in the same world, featuring different characters with different conflicts, but is just as good! The worldbuilding in the stories is really good, and the way the story is set up in Six of Crows is also really fascinating. There isn’t just one big plan to achieve one goal in the books, there are a lot of interconnected plans striving to achieve a lot of different goals at the same time. It’s the kind of book that isn’t hard to keep up with, you still know what is happening, but is also very fast-paced and intelligent, and as soon as one plan ends or fails or succeeds, another one is immediately in play. It’s very interesting to read! The reading level is intermediate, for readers from 12-15. Recommended!