Leigh Bardugo - Six of Crows

Six of Crows – Leigh Bardugo

4/5 Stars.

Criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker is offered a chance at a deadly heist: break into the Ice Court – a military stronghold that has never been breached – and retrieve a hostage whose knowledge could change Grisha magic forever. To succeed would mean riches beyond his wildest dreams, but he can’t pull it off alone.

A convict with a thirst for revenge.

A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager.

A runaway with a privileged past.

A spy known as the Wraith.

A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.

A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.

Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Together they might just be unstoppable – if they don’t kill each other first.

The first thing you should all probably know is that I really didn’t like Shadow and Bone. The whole trilogy just didn’t have any effect on me whatsoever. The only reason I decided to continue on to Six of Crows is because of all of your great reviews of it. And the sheer amount of you that told me to give it a go.

I have to say I’m pleasantly surprised by how much I like it. I finished this last night; it took me a while to get into it honestly. But once I was in I was hooked and read the last 2/3 in one sitting!

I now understand everyone’s obsession with Kaz Brekker. I’m fascinated by his character. I would read an entire book just explaining his thought processes and how his brain works. I found myself questioning his every decision, yet somehow everything turned out right? With the exception of the last couple of chapters of course.

Nina is by far one of my favourite characters. I love her. I loved her before reading any of the books just from watching how she was portrayed on my TV screen. Reading more about her and Matthias, getting a deeper insight into their thoughts and feelings towards each other was a gift. For two people to be wrong for each other in every sense of the word yet can not stop thinking about the other was the best kind of love to watch unfold. The entire world says no, but they can’t help it.

Inej, The Wraith, I watched the TV series for Shadow and Bone before I read this series. I already knew there would be back and forth and feelings with her and Kaz. I didn’t expect a romance novel by any stretch of the imagination, although I wouldn’t have complained if they got a happy ever after together. I did find myself wanting a little bit more for them however, I can understand the complexities that were being displayed by Bardugo. There were more factors at play than just the two of them.

Notable mentions go to Jesper and Wylan. I felt a lot more attached to them in Crooked Kingdom than I did Six of Crows though. It may just be that I needed more backstory to fully understand them. I’ll go into more detail on that when writing my review for Crooked Kingdom.

The book as a whole gives a very strong sense of found family, and a group of broken people pulling off something that should be impossible. They are all broken in their own way, but together they can be magnificent, and I adore that. The idea that you can build something stronger than a family of blood is something worth clinging to and mentioning. Broken doesn’t mean doomed.

It may also be worth a mention that the lines between good guys and bad guys in this book are very blurred. By all accounts the crows could be considered bad guys. Thieves, crooks. But would the druskelle be considered the good guys? The treatment of Grisha, and the experiment to me say otherwise. Could it be suggested that good and bad are just concepts. That everyone is capable of good and bad things, it just depends on the angle that you are watching from?

How I feel towards this book is such a stark contrast to my feelings towards Shadow and Bone. I was bored by Shadow and Bone. This may just be me, and that good guys bore me. But I found the complexities of the ‘thieves’ a lot more interesting to follow than the moral torment of a saint. I would say that compared to my reading habits when I was a teenager, I lean more towards the villains and morally grey characters than I did. I understand them a lot more now, arguably more than I understand the reasoning for the good guys.

From the depth of the characters to the overarching themes, this book was fulfilling from beginning to end and I am so glad I read it. If, like me, you’re reading Shadow and Bone and are struggling to get through it, I promise you it’s worth it to get to this series.

My plan for today is to read Crooked Kingdom as quickly as humanly possible. And then probably cry because I read it too quickly and now it’s over. I am so excited to get reading today. Six of Crows has well and truly brought me out of the reading slump I have been in for the last couple of months.

Let me know what you thought of it.

J x