Review: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (non-spoiler)


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Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Series: Six of Crows #1

Published by: Henry Holt and Company

Publication Date: September 6th 2016

Genre: YA Fantasy

Pages: 465 pages

Format: Hardcover (I own)

Rating: ★★★★★

 

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.

Kaz’s crew are the only ones who might stand between the world and destruction—if they don’t kill each other first.

 

Plot

Six of Crows takes place in the same world as Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha trilogy, 2 years after the Ravkan Civil War. The Six of Crows series however, was written so that readers who haven’t read The Grisha trilogy can still enjoy. There are references to characters from The Grisha trilogy purposely name dropped however, the characters in Six of Crows themselves do not have an accurate account of the events that followed the Ravkan Civil War. In other words, you won’t be missing out on any crucial bits of information. Leigh Bardugo has been interviewed & has answered questions on Goodreads where she tells readers that clarification will later be provided so there’s that. We get introduced to Kaz Brekker who is the leader of the Dreggs. The Dreggs are a rag tag team of criminals from all walks of life who Kaz has recruited to run heists on the wealthy. Just like in the movies (Oceans Eleven comes to mind lol) where THE BIG heist presents itself, Kaz is offered 30 million Krug to take back a scientist that is being held captive by the government. The scientist is their most prized asset because he has come up with a way to enhance a common drug. The drug, when ingested by Grisha can enhance their magical abilities to unimaginable heights making them unstoppable. Oh the damage one can do with just 1 Grisha on this drug *hides* There are many different types of Grisha & thanks to Google I will list them for you:

Corporalki

  • Healers
  • Heartrenders
  • Tailors

Etherealki

  • Inferni
  • Squallers
  • Tidemakers
  • Summoners

Materialki

  • Durasts
  • Alkemi

Characters

Photo Credit: Lauren’s Tumblr Page

This is by far my most FAVORITE Cast of characters in a Fictional Fantasy world PERIOD! Not only did Leigh Bardugo give us some of the most beloved characters, but she made a whole lot of people fall in love with their imperfections & complexities. None of her characters are perfect but it’s their flaws that make you fall in love with each & every one of them. We have Kaz Brekker aka Dirty Hands, leader & head schemer HAHA! Inej AKA The Wraith or The Spider, a female POC known for her stealthy abilities. Even with bells on you will NOT hear Inez creeping up on you & she holds many of Kaz’s secrets close to heart. Jesper sharpshooter extraordinaire & Kaz’s Second, walks around with 2 pearl handled guns that he is more than happy to pull out & show off lol. Nina the Heartrender, she’s a Grisha who has the ability to alter or stop your heart. She’s also a semi trained Tailor which means she can alter physical features on a person (she’s not very good at this lol). We also have Matthias & Wylan but i’ll leave these characters roles out of the description cuz spoilers 😉 I found myself rooting for these characters, getting mad at some of them, and other times very protective over them. Thanks again Gretchen @Chicnerdreads for pointing me in the right direction for the perfect Fan cast art 😉

“Kaz leaned back. “What’s the easiest way to steal a man’s wallet?”
“Knife to the throat?” asked Inej.
“Gun to the back?” said Jesper.
“Poison in his cup?” suggested Nina.
“You’re all horrible,” said Matthias.” 
― Leigh Bardugo, Six of Crows

Writing

Leigh Bardugo aka My Queen Of Darkness has a way of infusing her sense of humor in her writing & since she is one funny lady, I often found myself chuckling at the dialogue between characters. The story is fast paced but it’s appropriate for a heist that typically you would see playing out on the big screen. The fact that she managed such a feat is impressive enough but that she did so by managing 6 different characters without skipping a beat is utterly INSANE & proof that she is QUEEN! The characters she created are so fleshed out that they practically leap off the pages which I LOVE! I can’t get enough of Six Of Crows & can’t wait to start Crooked Kingdom.

Thoughts

I have fallen in love with the world Leigh Bardugo has created & hope that she has more for us reader fans. She did say at the Strand NYC event this past Monday, that there are plenty more stories to tell in this world but that she couldn’t say anything was for certain (Leigh Bardugo event post here). It’s pretty clear to me that Leigh Bardugo really got to know her characters well & brought them to life on the page. I haven’t had this much fun reading a book in a long time. The story gave me Ocean’s Eleven & Boardwalk Empire feels but in the end nothing compares to Six of Crows 😉

Author: LairOfBooks

"I didn't choose the Book Life, the Book Life chose me"

53 thoughts on “Review: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (non-spoiler)”

    1. Hey Drew! funny thing is that you popped into my head as I was writing it because I think you’d probably enjoy it. I feel the lines between YA & Adult Fantasy are beginning to blur a bit. This is classified as YA but by no means does it give off that feel & can easily fit into the adult fantasy genre if it weren’t for the fact that the characters are btw the ages of 16-18. Given the life that they’ve lived however, they seem much much older. This is one I’d recommend to you simply for your take on it & because it’s pretty bad a**…curious.

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      1. Ha, I don’t mind young age characters, Jorg in Prince of Thorns is really young as is Fitz in the Farseer trilogy at the beginning. Mia to in Nevernight and that’s definitely not Y-A with some of the scenes in it. It’s the lack of swearing, violence and gore that puts me off! 😂 It sounds interesting though so I guess it goes on the rather long TBR list! 😂

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  4. Great review! I am hoping to read this before the end of the year because I become more curious about it with each review! I am glad you mentioned humor because I think I would enjoy this kind of story a little less without it 🙂

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    1. You will NOT regret it Donna! I warn you, there’s no looking back after you’ve turned to the dark side lol. Truly, the dialogue between these characters will have you shaking your head & chuckling. Especially Nina, she has absolutely no hair on her tongue whatsoever. She’s curvy, sexy, dangerous, and LOUD with no reservations. She & I would get along just fine lol. I hope you do decide to read it & would love to hear your thoughts after 😉

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  6. OooOO Nice! Japan! You Go Girl! I’d probably get no ready done lol, enjoy your trip & the reads. I haven’t seen any negative SOC reviews either & that’s because it’s simply AWESOME! lol 😉

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  7. This sounds even more amazing than what I’ve read before. Seriously awesome review! 🙌 You just mentioned two of my favs-Oceans Eleven and Boardwalk Empire! Say no more! I bought this two weeks ago, but now I think I’m seriously missing out and need to throw Celaena to the side for a moment so I can devour this book. This is a duology, right? I love the dialogue about how to steal a man’s wallet. Lol 😂 This sounds so funny. I need to read it ASAP. It’s not horror, but I think I’ll have to make an exception. 🙂

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    1. Ahhh YES! Jill! I hope this means you will read SOC sooner rather than later, I would love to hear your afterthoughts. I have a hunch that you too will join the dark side. Honestly, this book deserves your RAVE! LOL. That bit of dialogue is just an example of how their convo’s go, no shame in their game whatsoever. This is a duology however, I have a feeling we will see more from this world just based off of what she said (in very few words) during Monday nights event. I sure do hope so cuz tbh I haven’t even opened Crooked Kingdom. Sure it’s cuz I have 2 arcs to read like yesterday lol but mostly because I’m not ready to let go of these characters 😦

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      1. I’m pulling it out of my moving crate to read this next week. I’m hoping the move won’t slow my reading down too much. You might also want to savor Crooked Kingdom. I sometimes do that with good books. That’s why I didn’t rush through Red Rising.

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      2. Yasss!!!🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼 I’m not reading Crooked Kingdom any time soon, also I like to wait til the hype train dies down a bit. Avoiding all spoilers at all costs. Sighs @ the mention of Red Rising *fave* 😂

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    1. Thanks Gray!!! I labored over this one last night & skipped on Gotham with Lo but he understood lol. Thanks again for the link to the fanart, it legit fits their descriptions so well! This book will most certainly be hard to top & it goes on my list for favorites of 2016 <3!

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    1. Thank you Alex! I hope you enjoy Crooked Kingdom, it’s looking more & more like a late October read for me but we’ll see. I honestly am in no rush to have it all end 😦 the aesthetic photos are spot on, Gretchen over at Chicnerdreads was lovely enough to send it to me 😉

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    1. Hi Lauren, Leigh Bardugo wrote this book with people who hadn’t read the Grisha trilogy in mind. Therefore, although it would be a nice pre-cursor to Six Of Crows, it is NOT necessary that you read that trilogy 1st to enjoy SOC 😉

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  11. I am so glad you enjoyed this book, and this is an amazing review as well. Six of Crows is one of my all-time favourite books, in fact Leigh Bardugo is one of my all-time favourite authors, and I can’t wait to get started on Crooked Kingdom now!
    I really love the plot of this book. I was hooked from the beginning as Kaz planned the heist and formed his team, and the dynamics between the whole group were just wonderful to read. I really loved the friendship between Inej and Nina, and also the kind of distain Matthias has for everyone but Nina! Have you read The Grisha books? The references to that series were small which, like you said were good for people that didn’t read it, but I loved seeing the little throwbacks to the books and characters I loved! 😀

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    1. Thank you Beth, it is now one of my all time favorite books as well. After meeting Leigh Bardugo, I can honestly say she’s a favorite author for me too, I loved how she treated her fans. I think on a few occasions I was embarrassed for Matthias knowing how pious he is & how much Nina enjoyed making him squirm 😂 I also loved the friendship between Inej & Nina, like sisters 💕 I have read the Grisha books (wasn’t too keen on how it wrapped up but enjoyed them). It’s interesting because Leigh Bardugo said that the characters themselves don’t have an accurate account of what transpired after the civil war so some of the things they mentioned didn’t actually happen the way they were told. They were kids themselves 🙂

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      1. She does seem like a great person, and it must have been so amazing to meet her in real life and hear all about the series. Matthias and Nina were I think my favourite couple in Six of Crows, just their dynamic was amazing!
        I wasn’t too keen on the ending of The Grisha series either but overall it was a good one.
        And that’s actually really interesting to hear, I wonder if there’s more about The Grisha characters in Crooked Kingdom! 🙂

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      2. Overall, I did enjoy The Grisha trilogy. I believe there is more about the Grisha in Crooked Kingdom from what I’ve heard. I’ll most likely start it mid to late October 😉

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  12. It’s been so long since I read The Grisha trilogy, two years at this point, and your review actually made me feel nostalgic for the book world. I remember adoring Leigh Bardugo’s writing and the whole world in those books. I, however, haven’t picked up this one yet and now I want to really bad. I have both Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom on my shelf and while I had planned to read ToG next I think I’m putting that on hold for those two lol. I think I’m already half in love with the characters just from how you described them. Great review, Lily! 😊

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    1. Aww! Thank you Melissa! 😊💕I think it’s a solid plan you’d have there if you go with Six of Crows 😉 I guarantee you won’t regret it lol. It’s a good thing you’ve already read The Grisha trilogy but you’ll find that it’s not really necessary. The characters in SOC were kids during the Civil War that takes place in those books so they weren’t involved. Leigh Bardugo said at the event that they only have bits & pieces from what they’ve heard & as a result have a lot of it wrong when they reference it in Six of Crows. I hope you love them as much as I do, you’re already halfway there 😊

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      1. You’re welcome!! ♥
        I actually started it last night, though I’m not that far because I was so tired and today was busy lol. That’s good! Especially given the fact that it’s been so long that I know there are things that I don’t remember about the trilogy. I just remember how much I loved the book world so I’m excited to see a difference side of it 😊. That’s interesting about them having only been kids during the events that previously took place though. I didn’t know that but that’s probably because I put it off for so long haha. I hope so too! 😊♥

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      2. Lol no worries, I honestly don’t remember many details from The Grisha trilogy & found it easy to dive right into Six of Crows. The world Leigh Bardugo creates in SOC is similar buy way more detailed & I enjoyed it a whole lot more than The Grisha trilogy. If im not mistaken, Crooked Kingdom goes more in depth with Grisha history & the Ravkan Civil War 😉

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      3. So far, I’m definitely enjoying it more than I did The Grisha trilogy. I like the characters more and I see what you mean by more detailed. It feels more layered than the trilogy did.
        Although I can already tell I’m not going to want it to end I’m excited that they go even more in depth in Crooked Kingdom. I love when a book world is really well formed like that. 😊

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  13. Fantastic review as always Lilly! I’m really going to try and swing this book this month! I don’t believe I’ve ever read a book about a heist before. I do love me a lovable crew of characters. Can’t wait to be part of the “Six of Crows Fan Club” 😊

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    1. Thank you Amanda! I was a bit hesitant because I LOVE heist movies & wasn’t sure it would play out as good as on the screen. I was wrong to doubt lol, It played out like a movie on the page & these characters will stay with you as favorites 😉

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  14. I haven’t read a single Leigh Bardugo book yet (I am SO behind on EVERYTHING!!!) so it’s very good to see that readers who haven’t read The Grisha trilogy can still enjoy this one. And this is one fabulous review!!! ❤ MY GAWD, that list of Grisha! Makes me think of a RP video game and boy, do I love those! Just *squeee* I wanna read these books now!! (ALL OF THEM)

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    1. Thanks again Anne! my best reviews are when I sound like a fangirl lol but this book really does deserve all the hype that it gets. I’m extremely behind on a ton of other fandoms too so I understand. The Grisha are some bad a** characters, love them! I’m kicking myself for not starting Crooked Kingdom yet but at the same time I know it’s because I’m far from ready to let these characters & world go any time soon…sigh…I hope you enjoy them when you get to them, can’t wait to hear your thoughts. I believe Jill is starting Six of Crows today *Squeee* 😉

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