Six of Crows is the book r/Fantasy holds up as proof YA can out-write most adult fantasy. Kaz Brekker, a teenage criminal mastermind, pulls together a crew of six morally grey misfits for an impossible heist, breaking into the world's most secure prison. Readers fall for the characters more than the plot: Kaz and Inej, Nina and Matthias, Wylan and Jesper, an ensemble fantasy has been trying to recreate ever since. There's almost no spice (it's YA), the romance lives entirely in the tension and the longing, and readers insist the glove scene hits harder than most explicit scenes anywhere. The threads are unanimous on one thing: don't stop at book 1, because Crooked Kingdom is where the payoff lives.
Curated from real reader threads on Reddit (r/Romantasy, r/RomanceBooks, r/Fantasy) and cross-referenced against Goodreads and BookTok. Updated regularly.
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by Scott Lynch
The adult heist-fantasy blueprint Six of Crows built on. A con artist and his crew operate in a Venice-inspired city of gangsters. Mentioned in 7 of 20 books-like-Six-of-Crows threads on Reddit. Darker and denser than SoC.
by Brandon Sanderson
In a world where ash falls from the sky and mist dominates the nights, a street thief with extraordinary powers joins a ragtag crew planning to overthrow an immortal god-king. Same ensemble-heist structure with Sanderson's trademark intricate magic system. The most-recommended adult fantasy crossover for SoC readers.
by Jay Kristoff
Mia Corvere, who survived the execution of her family, trains at the Red Church, a legendary school for assassins, to gain the power she needs for revenge. Dark academia, morally grey protagonist, found family under brutal conditions. Adult, very explicit in violence. The SoC readers who want darker go here.
by Sabaa Tahir
Dual POV: a slave infiltrates a military academy, a soldier is assigned to watch her. Same political stakes and enemies-who-fall-for-each-other as SoC, with a Middle East-inspired world.
by Olivie Blake
Six magicians, the best in the world, are recruited to compete for entry into the Alexandrian Society, a secret organization that has quietly controlled human knowledge for millennia. Only five can get in. Dark academia heist vibes, morally complex ensemble, slow-burn romantic tension across the whole cast.
by Naomi Novik
A sarcastic student at a school for magicians where the magic itself wants to kill you. Witty, dark, and built around a female protagonist with the same chip-on-her-shoulder energy as Kaz.
No, Six of Crows is set in the same world but is completely standalone. Most readers say the books improve if you read SoC first and Shadow and Bone second. The Netflix show mixed the timelines; the books don't require that.
Kaz and Inej are the slow-burn heart of the series. Wylan and Jesper are fan favorites. None of the ships are fully resolved in book 1, Crooked Kingdom (book 2) is where the payoff lives. Read both.
Zero, it's YA and one of the least spicy popular fantasies. The romance is entirely in the tension, longing, and almost-touching. Reddit frequently cites the Kaz-removing-his-gloves scene as more affecting than most explicit scenes in adult romance.
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