A very fun, fast, addictive read. I think I plowed through the 500 pages in about 4 days? I can see why people are so into this series. It opens in fantasy-Amsterdam, where six outcasts and criminals assemble for a seemingly impossible heist: to steal a scientist out of a prison in the most highly guarded city in fantasy-Scandinavia. The crew is eclectic- a sharp-shooter, a spy, a demolitions expert who happens to be a runaway nobleman's son, the thief/mastermind, a disgraced member of fantasy-Scandinavia's military and a Grisha, aka, a witch. In this world some people are born with aptitudes for powers, some to work with natural materials, or work with weather, or to heal, or to kill. The scientist our team aims to collect has invented a drug which amplifies these powers to an almost unstoppable level, but the drug will also kill the magic user after only a few doses. The control of this drug, and of the addicted Grisha, could turn the fortunes of entire countries. Naturally, everyone on the heist team is between 15 and 18 years old, and there's a tangled web of crushes, loyalties and betrayals between them. I was slightly caught off guard by the semi-cliff hanger ending, but it means I'll probably start the second one as soon as I can get my hands on it, which is, I'm sure, the point!