Six of Crows

3.5 stars
Enjoyable, but I didn't quite connect with the story, if I'm honest. I liked Nina a lot and her complicated relationship with Matthias. Those two were probably the ones I connected with the most. Other than that, it was interesting, but unlike most people (?) I actually prefer Shadow and Bone!

“No mourners. No funerals.”

OMG!!!! WOW!!!! I could go on shouting all the way through my review because that's how I feel after finishing this. Books like Six of Crows are quite rare – dark, intense, violent, gritty, fast paced, full of action and angst – above all pure fun and entertaining. Five stars is too less to rate this book. It's so different from the usual books that I read, I am not sure how I will get out of this hangover and ever like any other book.

“The heart is an arrow. It demands aim to land true.”

The world building here is amazing and fantastic and rich, the plot is adventurous but the strength is in the characters. Each of them is a flawed, morally grey person, shaped by the circumstances of their past but most importantly, a survivor. And this ragtag team of six embarks on a mission – to commit an impossible outrageous heist at the heart of the Ice Court in Fjerda and get away with it. If anyone can get out of the mess alive, it is this band of misfits, if they don't kill each other first. So, this review is incomplete if I don't talk about every one of them.

“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 I can annoy the hell out of your ghost.”Brekker's lips quirked. “I'll just hire Matthias's ghost to kiss 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.

Jesper the Gambler – He is an impulsive, adrenaline junkie sharpshooter with a sassy mouth, who can't sit still for a minute.

“The water hears and understands. The ice does not forgive.”

Matthias the Convict – A former Fjerdan witch hunter who is broken out of prison by the gang to help plan the heist. He is angry, and guilty for being hopelessly in love with an enemy he has been trained to hate.

“Besides, I have other skills that's bring me more pleasure and profit than this. Lots of other skills.”Wylan coughed. Flirting with him might actually be more fun than annoying him, but it was a close call.

Wylan the Wayward Son – He ran away from his wealthy father, no one knows why. Hired as a leverage, he turns out to be extremely smart and skilled with his hands when in need of a big explosive distraction.

“She wouldn't wish love on anyone. It was the guest you welcomed and then couldn't be rid of.”

Nina the Lost Grisha – Sent out on a mission from Ravka, captured by a witch hunter and now working in a pleasure house, all she wants is to go home, but can't turn a blind eye to the hatred that is meted out to her fellow innocent Grisha.

“Many boys will bring you flowers. But someday you'll meet a boy who'll learn your favorite flower your favorite song, your favorite sweet. And even if he is too poor to give you any of them, it won't matter because he will have taken the time to know as no one else does. Only that boy earns your heart.”

Inej the Wraith – She can disappear, she can steal your secrets, she can kill you and you will never see her coming. She is courage epitomized and needs no one to save her, but has her own nightmares which haunt her every step of the way.

“Greed is your God, Kaz.”“No, Inej. Greed bows to me. It is my servant and my lever.”

And then there is the leader of this crew, the Thief Kaz Brekker – He is driven by revenge but no one actually knows the man, only the legend DirtyHands. He is a thief, a planner and an escape artist. He plays his cards close to his vest, so close that even his team never knows the whole plan. He seems incapable of feelings not borne out of greed but boy, are we wrong. His plans are outrageous, his skills are uncanny and his vengeance is brutal.

“I'm not some character out of a children's story who plays harmless pranks and steals from the rich to give to the poor.”

I don't think I have ever read a book with six main characters and loved every single one of them. They are all just AWESOMENESS PERSONIFIED .... because I can't think of more words to describe my love for them. I never thought I'll get over the Darkling very soon, but Kaz is just 😍😍😍!!!! I was rooting for him all the way and now, I can't wait to see what devastation he is going to wreak on his enemies. The cocky Kaz is a memorable character but the vengeful version of him is a sight to see and then flee.

“Though he'd trusted her with his life countless times, it felt much more frightening to trust her with his shame.”

I have to specially mention the writing in this book – it's not just the plot and characters that are superb, the book is full of these wonderful quotable lines that I had to note down, because I don't ever want to forget them. And about the couples in this book – “romance” feels like the wrong word here. I felt their love, their angst, their longing. And the ending is gut wrenching but I know in my heart that Kaz will come out on top at the end.

“What do you want, then?”The old answers came easily to mind. Money. Vengeance. Jordie's voice in my head silenced forever. But a different reply reared to life inside him, loud, insistent, and unwelcome. You,Inej. You.

There's no reason why you shouldn't read this book. At the very least, hold it in your hands, thumb through and feel that velvety black trim. It's a sexy book to look at, and it's an even better book on the inside.

There are a lot of YA books these days set in fantasy or sci-fi settings that are all about revolution and dystopia. This isn't one of them. This is about a heist. This is about the game. This is six kids from a rotten part of the world who have lived rotten lives giving a chance at glory their best shot. Yeah, there's a little bit of political machinations, and the effect a new drug may have on a global war, but for the most part you are neck deep in the criminal underbelly of a bustling, Victorianish city, and the street kids who live and thrive there.

Each one of the six is captivating, rich and well-drawn. Jesper, the sharp-shooter and gambler; Wylan the wayward son; Nina and Matthias, the soldiers and lovers on opposite side of a war; Inej the circus performer, spider, and survivor of trafficking. Six of Crows bounces between each of their perspectives, and no one is boring or unwelcome. And then there's Kaz. Kaz is just enough. He's a brilliant criminal prodigy, looks good in a suit, refined but not flashy, wicked but not cruel. He is bad, though, make no mistake. Ruthless, alarmingly clever, and just fucking mean sometimes. But you know him, you get him. His flaws are deep ones, down to the bone, and his desires are still human. You can feel good getting invested in him, without feeling bad about loving a sexy teenage criminal who is magically good at everything evil. It's not magic - he's just smart and determined and is carrying vendetta, and Leigh Bardugo is a smart enough writer to know how to do that in the right way.

One thing that I found striking about the characters is that while this is YA and they are all teenagers, none of them, with the exception of Wylan and Jesper perhaps, act like it. Which, honestly, is appropriate. For their short amount of years, they have lived very long lives. As such, they treat each other with impressive maturity. Inej and Kaz's relationship, despite all its pining and awkward moments, does not feel like two children experiencing a crush. They love each other, they know that they love each other, but at 17 they're already very grown up and very set on the path of who they're going to be, and it doesn't make a whole lot of sense for them to be together. Nina and Matthias have more room for pettiness and conflict, but well, he was raised to see her as an animal, and she sent him to prison. They grow in ways that make sense and raise the stakes of the story, rather than slow the story down.

Their epic crime, the one that is so supposed to make them all filthy rich and perhaps even save the world moves fast. There isn't much time spent on maybes. These kids aren't the kind for that anyway. I don't want to say this is filled with twists and turns - like I said, this story is a mature one. Everyone involved knows what they're getting into, and it's hard to say their surprised when they know they have a better chance of dying than succeeding. But they do it anyway. That's what makes this so interesting, and every turn of the page worth your time.

Wow, I didn't expect to overall enjoy this book. The characters have grown on me quite a bit.

Executive Summary: I'm a sucker for heist stories. Mix in fantasy and I'm on board. This was a fun, quick listen.Audiobook: There are too many narrators to list them all, plus I couldn't really say which narrator does which POV. I thought they all did a good job, but I thought the best were the two that read Kaz and Inej's chapters.This is one of the few audiobooks I've listened to with multiple readers. I thought it was fine, but not really necessary. It did give each character their own voice, but I tend to prefer one narrator who can do multiple voices over so many different readers.Overall I thought the audio was a good option here. None of the readers are amazing, but all do a solid job.Full ReviewI loved the [b:The Lies of Locke Lamora 127455 The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard, #1) Scott Lynch https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1386924569s/127455.jpg 2116675]. This book reminds me of that a bit, but with a more diverse cast of characters. Kaz Brekker is no Locke Lamora, but I really loved Inej and Nina, so that makes up for it.Don't get me wrong, Kaz is a well written character, he's just not that likeable. Much like the Gentleman Bastards, this book is made up of thieves and scoundrels. Unlike that series, this book mixes in romantic elements.Anyone who reads my reviews knows that's not really my thing. I thought it fit in well with the story though, and wasn't the main focus. I'm always a bit leary of “Young Adult” for this reason, but in many ways I felt this book was far darker than the first book of Locke Lamora.Apart from its interesting characters, this book also has some really great world building. Apparently this is a sequel series of sorts to the Ms. Bardugo's earlier trilogy with easter eggs back, but I'm guessing brand new characters? I suspect that's why her world feels so rich. She's had three prior books to explore it. I can't say for sure however as I haven't read them.Ms. Bardugo's magic system seems pretty interesting and unique, and she immediately throws a wrench into how it works in the very first chapter.I love a good heist story, and this book definitely delivers there. I found the pacing good, and the twists and reveals didn't feel too obvious along the way.Overall this was a really fun book and I'm glad I was able to immediately jump into the second one. It ends on a pretty big cliffhanger, so it was nice not to have to wait to find out what happens next.I'll definitely be open to read Ms. Bardugo's original trilogy in the future, and it looks as though she has a Wonder Woman book out now as well. Depending on how the next book ends however, what I'd really want is more of the characters from this series.

There's not much I can say about this that hasn't already been said. Leigh Bardugo builds an incredible world and introduces us to a (mostly) lovable cast of characters. I have not felt this immersed in a book in ages. I cannot wait to read the sequel and you better believe I'm adding the rest of Bardugo's books to my TBR.

I've been continuing to challenge myself by reading new authors and different genres over the past few months and the Six of Crows duology has been raved about by so many people that I literally couldn't help but delve into this wonderful book by Leigh Bardugo.

Set in the Grisha world this book has the same setting as the Shadow & Bone series and I wasn't sure if the fact I hadn't read this earlier trilogy would mean I couldn't delve into Six of Crows with the same understanding. To reassure any readers with similar reservations I can confirm that in no way did my not having read Shadow & Bone reduce my understanding of the world of Six of Crows.

Six of Crows is a wonderful novel about a group of six misfits who are hired to conduct a heist into an unbreakable island and rescue a political prisoner. A mix of unusual characters from different walks of life they are pulled together by Kaz Brekker, gang mastermind, and together they must travel across their country to another realm where if they can rescue a scientist, held prisoner they will be paid a huge sum beyond their dreams.

Immediately when I began this book I loved the setting, it has a feel of old fashioned Netherlands, the language and speech patterns the characters use reflects this and it sets the atmosphere wonderfully. It also begins with a slight Gangs of New York vibe also, as gangs in the barrel battle to hold the position of top dog. Kaz Brekker is a misfit, a boy with a tangled past and a score to settle and to do this he needs to raise as much money to help him so when the offer to lead this heist comes up he can't say no. Kaz is the best at what he does, he's a criminal mastermind and with the help of his chosen assailants, he is sure they can pull off the impossible.

This book was wonderful, it was told from all the multiple points of view of the different gang members. We have lots of back stories to learn and Bardugo does a wonderful job of outlining these throughout the book and before we know what's happening we care deeply about each of them and the threads between them and their loyalties have grown and they make wonderful heroes to read about.

This book is full of excitement and action and it moves along at a wonderful pace. The plan the gang is following is held back from us and we only learn as it unfolds and this makes it wonderfully mysterious and keeps you reading chapter after chapter so quickly your head will spin. This is a substantial book and yet I read it really quickly. We are left with an unresolved ending and we are clearly going to resolve this in book 2, Crooked Kingdom and so I now cannot wait to move on and read this.

A really strong book and one I would highly recommend.

i wished i had loved this more like everyone else. i think i just don't get the hype? idk

“I'm a business man," he'd told her. "No more, no less.""You're a thief, Kaz.""Isn't that what I just said?”

Despite the praises, I wasn't eager to pick this up as I had read, a few years ago, the first book in her trilogy “The Grisha” and it was a deeply unpleasant experience. Even though I was intrigued by the world because I couldn't stomach Alina, nor Mal, nor the Darkling. But I'm happy I decided to give this one a go.

I'm not one to get terribly excited about heist or prison break stories, but I very much enjoyed this book due to its diverse cast of characters. The pacing was rather slow, nonetheless I savored getting to know the crew, finding out their stories and how they connected one to another. I also enjoyed the world-building and the writing style.

I have to mention one thing though (I'm sure I'm not the first one). I couldn't picture the characters as their age in the book. They should have all been twenty-somethings. But it seems that's harder to market than YA. I can't imagine why. There have been countless articles about how adults are hijacking YA so there's clearly a need for books to fill in the gap right after teenage-hood yet no one's taking the hint.

4 stars Just read it, it's worth it.

While I was reading the first half of this book all I could think was this book was so over-hyped. The first half of Six of Crows is pretty much all back story for all of the characters. When it comes to getting back story for characters I feel like half the book is over kill. Depending on the book I would much rather there only be a few chapters of back story and then get into the best parts of the story. Once I made it to the second half of the book I was hooked. It drew me in from there and I just kept wanting to read so I could find out what was going to happen to each of the characters.

Six of Crows is told in multiple POV, 5 to be exact, and while that actually worked out for this book I am not a fan of so many POV. Like I said earlier it took me until the half way point to really get into the story. That is where the pace finally picks up and it becomes action packed. Plus there is a hint of romance scattered throughout the story. Don't let the fact that there is romance keep you from reading this book though because it doesn't take the focus away from the rest of the story at all. For me personally though I wish there was more of the romance. Because of the way the story ends you don't really get any closure for any of the characters but that's a good thing because it leaves you really wanting to read the second book.

I really loved all of the characters but if I had to pick who my favorite one is I would most definitely have to go with Kaz. He is such a bad ass character who always has something up his sleeve. Speaking of him always having something up his sleeve I would really like to know how he does it. After everything he has gone through I loved seeing him kind of open up to Inej. By the way I totally ship them.

I can't wait to read Crooked Kingdom. I have heard that it is kind of boring but I really need to know where the gang is and what is going to happen to them and between them.

I did tell you that there would be some unpopular opinions, didn't I?

As always, this won't be a proper review if I didn't spoil everything, so you're warned. (I know you can actually hide the entire review because of spoilers, but really, who are we kidding...)

I did not like this book as much as I wanted to. This is not a drill. I didn't and until I re-read this and find some new elements that make me change my mind, it is going to stay that way.

I do feel kinda bad, ya know? EVERYBODY, and I mean EVERYBODY loves this book with the raging heat of a thousand suns. And I don't. I'm not sure why, but I'll try and explain.

The Good, the Bad & the Ugly.

I liked the characters, and you can see that from my updates on the reading, I'm not gonna lie. The characters wpere very well written, it wasn't difficult to connect with all of them. I liked even more the different interactions with each other; I specially liked Nina and Matthias' relationship.

I loved the worldbuilding that went into this, you can sense the love and dedication the author put into creating this, it all felt real and meticulous.

Now that we put that out of the way, onto the bad.

Damn me and not taking notes.

First of all, I was a little thrown by the multiple perspective, admittedly I got around it, but still recall my first reaction to it, pure unadulterated sloth, I couldn't care less for Nina's perspective the first time, and then there was another new perspective and another, and another. It didn't end, but then, why wasn't there one for the mysterious “fugitive with a privileged past”, I get it was a decision for dramatic effect, but why not one afterwards, when we already knew who he was. I can only imagine it is some device concerning the next book.Then there's the fact that I didn't like Inej and Kaz romance completely, I did of course, but for some reason I wasn't satisfied, It felt rushed somehow, like all of the sudden this character was acting very out of character. (If that's even possible, I mean this is canon after all).

I don't know how you go from “there was something so satisfying about the little furrow between her black brows” to “he was twisted, crooked, wrong but not so broken that he couldn't pull himself together into some semblance of a man for her” in just two weeks. We get it, before all this he had a little crush on her, now he's in love. We have THREE POVs of him before he says the latter statement, the feelings development literally is: he likes furrow in black brows, very upset about wound, too shy to speak to her, she gave me space in a place with seemingly no space, and undying love, I'm not kidding, I went through all his POVs in which something about her is mentioned.
It was rushed. And if you subtract all the flashbacks you'll notice.

I loved Matthias and Nina's relationship, basically because it was a good ol' hate to love (and a bit love to hate?) dynamics, my problem? We arrived at the middle of it. I love me ‘denial, anger, bargain, acceptance' when it comes to this kind of character development, we just couldn't experience it with the characters, instead we had to see it in awfully short flashbacks. THERE WASN'T ENOUGH WYLAN AND JESPER.

* The whole book felt a little like this.

*The final twist was just not impressive. I was just like, Hey this is the guy that's got an indenture that can walk through walls and could've killed that one important ambassador. Kaz even said it: “so that's the way they did it” and they don't suspect despite him being shady af.

And the Ugly.

Just everything about Inej's kidnapping. I'm not going to lie and say that I suspected every turn of events, but this was just a thing that I had thought about (when she couldn't get past that security clearance before the party) and dismissed because, no, surely Bardugo won't leave her here so that she becomes the hero's motivation, that is one plot device I hate.

So there you have it, boys, girls, inbetweeners.

It's just an awesome book

Una maravilla de libro. Fantástico, es adictivo, los personajes son una maravilla, y la historia te mantiene en vilo, sufres por ellos, ruegas por ellos, les gritas...

Es un libro que es para vivirlo.

Actualización de 2023: LO MISMO QUE LA NESWINA DEL PASADO. Cries en seis de cuervo

“No mourners, no funerals”

It's a very good book, I must say this. It's very well written and I love how Kaz always has a trick up his sleeve. I love Nina and Inej as these unusual best friends. I love how Wylan found a place where he was accepted. I LOVE how it was introduced that neither Wylan nor Jesper are straight (kudos to thy line cause it's both informative and flirty and I love it). I even loved the cliffhanger at the end. It also makes you care for bad people who're doing bad things. All but one, that is. And he's the reason it took me so long to finish it.

Matthias. I know we're supposed to think his whole thing with Nina is romantic but... it's not. I haven't read the previous Grisha books and I don't know if that's to blame for my opinion, but he is someone that has compared her to an animal. He has said she's not human. Even after getting to know her he's not sure Grisha are human, but he knows he wants her so I guess I'm supposed to be ok with it? But I'm really not. And Nina making excuses for him (he was raised by monsters, he doesn't know what he's doing etc) didn't help and made me dislike her character a bit even though she's my second favorite one. And that's sad.

Saddest part is I know they're going the whole romance way with them in the second book and I'm dreading it. I will still read it because I love everything else and I'm looking forward to see how the other relationships develop, but I'm not looking forward to having to read about this dude who did nothing to make me see he's not doing what he's doing cause he is hot for Nina and wants to bang her.

Dec 16: I ended up being glad that I gave this another chance but found that having read the Grisha series before made this a much easier and more comprehensible read. Some parts were a lot slower than I expected but the few meatier chapters made the entire book worth it.

Dec 11: Restarting to see if it was just my mood at the time. I adored the Grisha series so I can't hate this one, right? //

DNF. Immersive writing but the POV seemed to shift constantly - written in 3rd person omniscient which is hard to follow. I found myself wandering and uninterested even while enjoying the world being portrayed.

Yet another instant favorite from Leigh Bardugo. I should expect be awed at this point after reading 4 of her 5 books. But this one yet again left me in awe of how the story was woven together. There were so many instances in this book where I was convinced it was the end for our dear gang or that something had to go a certain way for the story to continue. Yet each time, Leigh Bardugo shocked me with an alternative solution/timeline for the characters.

second read i say those are MY crow kids and i???m proud ???????????????????????????-first read 4.5!!i loved this book and i loved loving this book and i'm getting crooked kingdom from my room as we speak because i need more!!!! the story was so good and the world building was So good and the characters were So Good im in love with all of them(it was weird to see the word hutspot thrown around every once in a while tho)

Did not finish at 40%. After reading the Grisha books by the same author, I had high hopes for her keeping the good sense of interesting world building, but stopping with the overdone YA bullcrap of forced romance, special snowflakes and general cheesy shit. Aaaand it did not happen. If anything, she got even worse. In this book we have a gang of teenage super gangsters, led by the super cool and mysterious Kaz, who sometimes cuts out eyeballs, but like... he is so rad. All of our teenage heroes have some token skill when you know they are just put together to all have “cool” banter and to pair them up in lame love stories. The mission is to free a guy developing a superdrug from an impenetrable witchunting stronghold. As I said, I loved the Russian-inspired world of Grisha. It had that extra, that interesting stuff that made it different, even if it was just a nice veneer to cover love triangles and the heroine being so average that she ought to have a world saving superpower. Also, I kind of like the Russian aesthetic, it's lovely. In this one... well, it's not so fun. We have evil fantasy Finland, though. With evil tall blonds in uniform. Otherwise it just didn't interest me all that much. Ketterdam was like fantasy Amsterdam, which, while different from the average, didn't really interest me. It didn't even matter, we should care more about the gang, somehow showing off the culture wasn't a thing. Disappointment. If I have to save the world, I will definitely not send teenagers, though. I mean I disliked The Hunger Games (shoot here), but at least in that one the games themselves were specific to teenagers. Only they qualified. Here the world is being saved by teens because the author couldn't be arsed to actually somehow try to fit adults and teens together. Why is this so common? YES, you can make your teens feel super strong and all without removing all the adults without a reason or with a bogus one. Here it all just felt like appealing to the teenage sense of “moooom, you don't get me, I am actually changing the world! Can I borrow the car?”. Other than some quirks, I didn't really care about the characters and their sob stories. There was nothing about them, nothing that made them different from all the other angsty teen characters in all the teen books. If characters don't grab me, then I am starting things badly. When the story already feels dumb, the setting is unimpressive and the characters are meh, then we are having an issue. So I basically grabbed a book with a super lovely cover and high hopes and got stuck with an annoying mediocre YA book that had all the things I dislike about the whole genre. About that; YA shouldn't be about quality. When I say YA, I shouldn't feel like I need to have lower expectations for the thing. I mean there ARE good ones, like [b:Sabriel 518848 Sabriel (Abhorsen, #1) Garth Nix https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1293655399s/518848.jpg 3312237] or [b:The Monstrumologist 6457229 The Monstrumologist (The Monstrumologist, #1) Rick Yancey https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1307409930s/6457229.jpg 6647553], but this one... wasn't one of them. Somehow it really feels like that nowadays many authors say “okay, YA it is” and that means that they are creating some Fantasy Light stuff, sugar free, but it's okay, because people KNOW it is YA and they will adjust (read : tone down) their expectations. Good night and let the adults do the things!

My love for this book surpasses all bounds and limitations

I want to start the next one right now but I'm 39th on the library waiting list :(((

Six of Crows is a solid book but not one that wowed me. It took me awhile to get into even though it had some fun dialogue and intriguing characters, but even at its best I didn't enjoy it as much as a lot of other books with a similar focus. However, I did like some of the characters (especially Inej... and Kaz... and Nina) and I do want to find out what happens to them in the second half of this duology!

Rating: 7/10

Full Review: http://www.fantasybookcafe.com/2016/10/review-of-six-of-crows-by-leigh-bardugo/

Still amazing. This time I listened to the audiobook and it was fucking fantastic. I can't even with how good this book is, it will forever be one of my favorites ever.

Wild, wild, wild! I need Crooked Kingdom in my hands now. I don't read much fantasy/magic genre but I loved this. Next to the pretty much non stop action my favorite thing about the book was learning more about the characters backstories. Each character having their own chapters to share an event in their own pov was absolutely perfect! Jesper's pov is still my fave but Nina is a tight second.

How many hours until I get CK?!