Six of Crows (Six of Crows, 1)

Wow. I was so amazed with this book. I was in love with it from page 1. The writing was magical and eloquent, the story was fast paced, and the back stories of the character were strong and well laid out. I am so in love with this book, and I can see why there has been so much hype for it,

Brief Summary from Goodreads:

“Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone...”

There were so many points about this book to discuss that a list is required.

1.) I loved the characters in this story. I felt like I knew about and could care about each character. As the story switched perspectives, there weren't any characters that I was groaning to see and rushed past. I also loved the way their stories and past lives unfolded throughout the whole book during their journey. It was so well done. There are 6 main characters:

Kaz is the leader of the Dreg gang. He's cunning, clever, and always a step ahead. He keeps things close to his chest, and rarely fills anyone in on his plans until necessary. (Sometimes not even then). He's a funny, snarky character who isn't afraid to get dark and has trouble letting others in or his emotions show. I was immediately enamored with his character, and I loved how he was both awesome and vulnerable.

Inej is known as the Wraith for her stealth. She is part assassin, part spy for Kaz and his right hand woman. She's grateful to Kaz for all he's done for her, but is a bit frustrated with him for trusting her with some things but not others.

Jesper reminds me a lot of Jayne Cobb from Firefly. He's the gunsman and loves to shoot things. He's fairly loyal,but seems to pretty much be in it for the money and the free gambling. He has a more minor back story compared to a lot of the other characters.

Nina is a Grisha Heartrender. She can heal those who are shot or wounded and can stop someone's heartbeat with a wave of her hand. Originally a soldier, she joined the Dregs to be near Matthias. In the beginning, her past encounters with Matthias are unclear but slowly unfold to make a great side story.

Matthias is a warrior trained to hunt and kill Grisha by trial for their witchcraft. He is not a member of the Dregs, and only agrees to help Kaz in exchange for a pardon that will allow him to go back to his people as a warrior again. He's a rather grumpy character, but it's interesting to see his training and how it affects his mindset of the world, as well as the unfolding about his past experiences with Nina.

Wylan doesn't play a very huge role in the beginning. He is brought along as collateral and is good at making bombs for the team. He gets a little bit of story, but not as much as some of the other characters.

2.) I loved how rich the story felt. I always felt that the book was moving forward. Nothing felt too slow or long. There was plenty of action and suspense, and even the slower parts were so full of character development and back story that they never felt slow. The writing was beautiful and so well done. I can't stop gushing about it.

3.) I loved the universe. Learning about the different countries and their differences was fascinating. I also loved the fact that though this series takes place in the same universe as the Grisha Trilogy, I never felt like I was missing something that I should have read there. (I haven't read the Grisha Trilogy yet, but it is on my to read list!) It was still its own, separate series.

4.) The only thing that was even slightly “meh” about this book was the ending. While there is an ending, it wasn't 100% satisfying. The series is clearly meant to be read together. The ending felt like a “to be continued” more than a finale. The rest of the story was too great for me to really mind (and I have the second book all ready to start) but I would have been much more frustrated if I'd picked up this book before the second one was released. (Edit: After reading the second book, I can give this no less than a 5. The ending worked out well for the second book.)

Rating

I'd rate this book a 5 out of 5. This book was amazing, and I would recommend it to anyone who loves fantasy and can handle a couple of dark scenes. I'm so excited to read the sequel!

4.5 Flashbacks LOST style Stars

Is Six of Crows a heist book? The answer is Yes but not really in the conventional way I look at a heist books. I really want to say that this is a perfect blending of Ocean’s Eleven trickery and LOST style flashbacks. Which for me is great since it gave me a clear idea of who each character was and their motivations. But that also means that most of the action is in the second half of the book. Not to say I wasn’t entertained in the first half, I was, I’m saying in the first half I had time to set the book down and make updates to all my Goodread’s friends and in the second half I did not.

A few good things:

1 - You do not have to have read the original Grisha Trilogy to read this book. There are some thrown in easter eggs and such for those who have but it isn’t necessary at all.

2 - Complex Characters…they are everywhere and LB describes them beautifully. Of the six members of the Dregg’s crew four get the most attention and damn I loved every one of them for different reasons.

Inej - The Wraith and Spymaster

That she was so very good at remaining unseen made her an excellent thief of secrets, the best in the Barrel. But the fact that she could simply erase herself bothered him. She didn’t even have a scent. All people carried scents, and those scents told stories—the hint of carbolic on a woman’s fingers or woodsmoke in her hair, the wet wool of a man’s suit, or the tinge of gunpowder lingering in his shirt cuffs. But not Inej. She’d somehow mastered invisibility.

Kaz - Dirty Hands the Thief and Magician of Sorts

"You’re a blackmailer—” “I broker information.” “A con artist—” “I create opportunity.” “A bawd and a murderer—” “I don’t run whores, and I kill for a cause.” “And what cause is that?” “Same as yours, merch. Profit.”

Matthias and Nina - Convict and the Grisha who is his distraction and destruction

In all his dreams he hunted her, sometimes through the new green meadows of spring, but usually through the ice fields, dodging boulders and crevasses with unerring steps. Always he chased, and always he caught her. In the good dreams, he slammed her to the ground and throttled her, watching the life drain from her eyes, heart full of vengeance—finally, finally. In the bad dreams, he kissed her.

3 - Worldbuilding. There wasn’t really a ton of it in the original Grisha trilogy but LB has put much more into the land, culture and structure of this world.

4 - The flashbacks…I LOVE THEM. I loved getting glimpses into the pasts of the crew to see how they ended up in prison, a brothel, leader of a gang etc. and what the driving forces are to the people they have become. The major events that shaped them gave complexity and depth to the decisions each made.

5 - The friendships. They might be deadly and tricky but to one another they would walk into hell and back, even if they don’t know it yet.

“I don’t know what your excuse is, Wraith. I’m the one who can never walk away from a bad hand.” She looped her arm in his. “That makes you a rotten gambler, Jesper. But an excellent friend.”

6 - THIS IS A DUET! LB doesn’t really like the term Dualogy but put simple that means there are two books to complete the story with this cast of characters. Six of Crows being the heist and the next one being a long con. THANK YOU! There are so many trilogies out there that I really think could have been summed up in one great book instead of three ho/hum ones. Two books is perfect sometimes and I wish more authors/publishers would use that format.

7 - The first half of the books is a lot of getting to know the people in the story and why they are going to be great at this. But the second half is a mad dash at times with way more Boom Boom Pow Pow WTF OMG and ahhhhhh moments. Not exactly in that order.

8 - Ships I want to jump on. While this isn’t really a romance book there is a clear indication that there might be hope for three couples to come out of this series (if they all live that is) and I SHIP THEM ALL. Plus no love triangle, thank god. But don’t be confused it is super on the back burner as they have to sneak into a fortress of sorts and rescue a scientist. Not a lot of time for any kissy kissy. But still I love all the slow burn potential there.

***“Kaz is … I don’t know, he’s like nobody else I’ve ever known. He surprises me.” “Yes. Like a hive of bees in your dresser drawer.” Jesper barked a laugh.“Just like that.” “So what are we doing here?” Jesper turned back to the sea, feeling his cheeks heat. “Hoping for honey, I guess. And praying not to get stung.” Inej bumped her shoulder against his. “Then at least we’re both the same kind of stupid.”

AND

“Jer molle pe oonet. Enel mörd je nej afva trohem verret.”***

I love this line so much but you will have to read the book for the translations…mewwahhahaha

9 - The Plot…I love a good heist story so and this one has enough twist, turns and bad guys to keep you guessing. But the short of it is Kaz and crew are offered a lot of money to break into an impenetrable fortress to rescue a scientist who can make a super drug. Each member of Kaz’s team is going for a different reason and not all of them agree. But it is certain that if caught they will all die.

10 - It’s so pretty. Seriously I don’t buy a lot of hardcover books (I live for ebooks and audio) but this is one of the most beautiful books I’ve seen and well worth getting the hardcover. Also just to note the audio was really good. There are 7 yes you saw that right 7 narrators. One for each PoV and they are all so good. They gave each voice a really distinctive tone and each one was done so well. I’m totally partial to Matthias’s PoV though because Jay Snyder is the bomb.

A few bad things:

There aren’t many but just a couple things of note. Since the first half has the majority of the character development it might feel a little slow if you just wanted chases and things blowing up. Nothing really for the heist starts to happen until the halfway point. Not a big issue for me but I’m letting you know anyway.

The Grisha aren’t explained really well. Maybe I only think that because I read the original trilogy. I think if you haven’t read the Grisha Trilogy you will totally be fine, but maybe since I know many more Grisha things I was looking for just a little more in this area.

Also there is a little bit of a cliffy at the end. I’m not saying it is so cliffy that you will want to pull all your hair out waiting for the next book maybe just a few strands. The epilogue made me desperate to find out what Kaz has planned because Dirty Hands has come to play and I really want to see how dirty he can get.

But seriously I’m totally nitpicking here. I very much enjoyed this book and really can’t wait for the sequel.

REVIEW: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo Published September 29th, 2015 by Henry Holt and Co. Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy Edition: Hardcover Source: Purchased Pages: 465 Rating: 5/5 stars

Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price–and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich 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. Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction–if they don’t kill each other first.

From the moment I heard the description of this book, I was intrigued. A band of thieves attempting to pull off a huge heist? Sign me up! I was counting down the days till it released. I had such high expectations for this book. And believe me, they were met. I couldn’t put this book down. I loved every minute of it. Now, it is one of my favorite books of all time, and I’ve read a lot of books. I titled this “review”. In a review, you usually find criticism of the book. But since I loved this book, it’ll mostly be me gushing about all my thoughts. I just want to run up to people, shove this book in their face, scream “READ IT”, and then go and reread it by myself.

the plot

It was so interesting! I loved the whole heist. Something was always happening, and it was always interesting. It kept me surprised: PLOT TWISTS!

the characters

The characters were probably my favorite part of this book. We meet six that, by the end of the book, I had come to love. They’re all so unique. I loved reading from each perspective, that way I got to know the characters a lot better.

“No mourners. No funerals. Among them, it passed for “good luck.”

Kaz- The leader.

“Greed is your god, Kaz.” He almost laughed at that. “No, Inej. Greed bows to me. It is my servant and my lever.”

“A liar, a thief, and utterly without conscience. But he’ll keep to any deal you strike with him.”

Nina- She’s so brave, snarky, funny, and just an amazing strong female character. I loved that we had a Grisha in the group.

Inej-MY FAVORITE. She’s an ex-circus performer who now is a spy known as The Wraith. She struggled between her dedication to the gang and her desire to see her family again.

“Besides, she was the Wraith-the only law that applied to her was gravity, and some days she defied that, too.”

Jesper- the sharpshooter, who added so much to the story. The chapter told from his point of view are really great, because you see the other characters how he does, and I think he sees them how they truly are.

“Take good care of my babies,” Jesper said as he handed [his guns] over to Dirix. “If I see a single scratch or nick on those, I’ll spell forgive me on your chest in bullet holes.”

Wylan- He was this adorable, innocent, little boy at first. But his character changed/revealed as the story went along, and I LOVED it. I wished we could have gotten chapters from his POV, but Leigh said there will be in the 2nd!

“Always hit where the mark isn’t looking.” “Who’s Mark?” Asked Wylan.

Matthias- I loved how he struggled with loyalty to his country and his love for Nina, and I also loved seeing the backstory of how him and Nina met.

“And what did you do, Matthias? What did you do to me in your dreams?” “Everything,” he said, as he turned to go. “Everything.”

the romance!

I loved how the story was not overpowered by the romances in this book. It was a side plot that made the story more interesting. It wasn’t as prominent as the action part, but it was there. And it was amazing. I won’t spoil anything, but let me just say, I have 3 new OTPs just from this book.

the setting

In Bardugo’s previous trilogy, which I loved, we get to know the world a little, but it’s mostly set in Ravka, one country. Six of Crows was in a different country in this world, Kerch, and the group travels to a new country, Fjerda. I loved getting to know this world better. Also, the characters are from different countries so we get to know their view on their country and the others.

the writing

Her writing, like always, was incredible. It flowed beautifully. Some people have said it starts out slow, but once you pass the first 100 pages, things start picking up and getting really interesting. (I was interested the whole time, of course. I loved it from the very beginning.) But if you’re not enjoying it as much, I’m begging you. Keep trying. It’s SO worth it. There’s so many amazing quotes! I literally have notes and notes full of them.

This book is funny! It made me laugh out loud a lot (and I was in public, so people stared at me.)

“Jesper knocked his head against the hull and cast his eyes heavenward. “Fine. But if Pekka Rollins kills us all, I’m going to get Wylan’s ghost to teach my ghost how to play the flute just so that I can annoy the hell out of your ghost. Brekker’s lips quicker. “I’ll just hire Matthias’ ghost to kick your ghost’s ass.” “My ghost won’t associate with your ghost,” Matthias said primly, and then wondered if the sea air was rotting his brain.”

This book is so gorgeous! The cover is beautiful, but my absolute FAVORITE thing about it has to be the black edged pages. And the maps!! There’s two beautiful maps. TWO!

what I didn’t like

I honestly can’t think of anything I didn’t like in this book. I tried to come up with something, but I loved it too much.

I highly, HIGHLY recommend you check this book out. It brings all the feels. I need the second book, Crooked Kingdom, NOW. Also, if you haven’t read Bardugo’s Grisha Trilogy, you should. A lot of people have asked me, “Do I have to read the Grisha Trilogy before Six of Crows?” My answer has been: No, you don’t have to. Of course I would recommend that you do, as it is one of my favorite trilogies. If you don’t, you might be a little lost in the world, and there are some characters mentioned in here from that trilogy that you wouldn’t understand, but you could understand the story. There are minor spoilers of the end of Ruin and Rising in Six of Crows, but there is also some misleading. If you read the Grisha trilogy, you learn more about Ravka, where Nina is from, which helps you understand her better. Plus, it’s just an amazing trilogy. You SHOULD. But no, you do not have to.

Okay, I’ll just conclude my ramblings now. Go read this book, please. This review took so long to write, because I had so many good things to say, and I reread Six of Crows while writing it.

Ava Bookishnessandtea.wordpress.com