BOOK: Six of Crows (2015)
Disclaimer: Spoilers of the book Six of Crows, but only after the warning. All of this is just my opinion based on my experiences reading it. I hope you enjoy!
- Author: Leigh Bardugo
- Series: Six of Crows #1
- Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
- Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction, Adventure, Romance, LGBT
Summary: 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 is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don’t kill each other first.
(From Goodreads)
Intro and Short Review
What would you do with four million dollars? Maybe stop working, or travel to different countries, or even buy a luxurious car and a mansion. For Kaz Brekker and his five companions, the four million kruge each would mean even more: the chance to attain freedom and finally achieve the dreams their harsh realities had striped them from.
The cost? Break into the most secure place in the world, rescue a prisoner and come back alive, all in less than a month. It's a challenge even for someone with a reputation such as Kaz, the calculating and ruthless Dirtyhands, but the six of them are going to get their share of money or die trying.
Six of Crows is more than just about attempting the impossible. It's an adventure through a cruel reality where only the most resourceful survive, and a journey of discovery and change, for the better or the worse. Insert everything in a magical, well built setting and you have a truly amazing work and a very memorable experience of reading it.
To say I devoured this book is a bit of an understatement. I consumed this book with a velocity I didn't know I was capable of and it was all I could think for at least a week. I was up way past my bedtime on a Sunday because I just had to know what was going to happen in the end and 100 pages couldn't wait until tomorrow. Six of Crows was the reason I rekindled my love for books, and now thanks to it I feel like I'm 13 again, reading so much as if it was necessary for my survival like breathing and eating is.
I was captivated by the characters, the world, the story, everything. I loved every moment of this ride, from the crazy plot twists to the calmer, quieter moments of existence of the main cast. I don't know if I can read YA fantasy ever again without comparing it to this book. I've heard a lot of people talking about how Six of Crows is just amazing, and while I don't usually take internet hype very seriously, this one deserves all the praise. So prepare yourselves for a lenghty review below, cause there's a lot to unpack here.
All in all, Six of Crows is a must read to everyone that enjoys a good book, and even more to those who are desperate for a fantasy book that has an actual logical world and compelling characters. It's the type of book that sinks its claws onto you and doesn't release until you're finished, the type of book that really makes you immerse yourself in everything it has to offer. I can't say much about the rest of the Grishaverse, but I'm sure I'll be recommending this volume to everyone that asks for the rest of my life.
Six of Crows gets from me a well deserved 10/10.
Warning! Spoilers below!
Characters
"We're all someone's monster."
You can have a heart of gold or a rotten one, be a criminal or a law-abiding citizen, be rich or poor. One of the parts of being human is making mistakes and hurting others, whether we want it or not, which is one of the reasons why the characters of Six of Crows feel so real. They're not inherently bad or good, right or wrong, they're just people with their own problems, objectives and flaws trying to survive in a cutthroat world.
The other main reason why these characters feel so real is the way they're constructed. They all have their own inner demons and traumas that shaped the way they view the world, but they still change and improve despite them. They don't have flaws or qualities, they have a set of traits that can be either a blessing or a curse depending on how they react to the situations they're in. And there is something so comforting in knowing this. We're so used to thinking some specific personality traits are not desirable or ideal because of the way they're portrayed in media that we unconsciously try to be someone we're not.
Another subject that was also brilliantly done by Bardugo was the diversity, and I'm not only talking about the positive representation of lots of different ethnicities and sexualities. The main cast has mental disorders and physical disabilities that were not portrayed as something needed to be fixed, and that was such a refreshing change from some other books I've read! Kaz is not any less of a badass despite having a bad leg and aversion for touching skin. Wylan's dyslexia and Jesper's ADHD aren't reasons for pity, and the two are not belittled by their friends because of them.
But that doesn't mean they can't battle their inner demons and change. Wylan's whole character arc included him accepting that his disability didn't make him less useful or important. The changes are not easy, linear or quick, and it's not like the Crows are completely changed by the end of the book, but we can see the start of it in the way they act, the way they adapt and correct themselves little by little. And that's great character development if I've ever seen one.
As you've seen above, I'm a fan of morally grey characters, so it makes sense I became so invested in the main characters, but I assure that even if you don't enjoy that very much you will still be rooting for the Crows during this book. Their goals are relatable and, despite changing ever so slightly or completely along the way, are still solid and in-character.
And the Crows are so charismatic! Of course I was already in love with some characters (I'm looking at you, Inej) since the moment they were introduced, but I honestly didn't expect to become so attached to all six of them so quickly. Kaz is the perfect protagonist, with his scheming mind and mysterious, scary persona. I won't even say much about Inej cause she's the love of my life and I would spend hours just waxing poetry about her, but she's a very balanced character and the perfect second-in-command to Kaz, bringing everyone together in spite of their different personalities. Matthias and Nina are the perfect match for each other, and seeing how their relationship with each other shifted from "danger to the job" to "essential for their success" was heartwarming. Jesper and his witty commentary made everything better (even though he's also responsible for some, uh, problems later), and Wylan is honestly so underrated as a character, I love him a lot.
This ragtag group of teenagers are so different, but compliment each other so well. Their interactions are always natural, with their banter being the most fun moments in the books (I'll never forget the classic "my ghost won't associate with your ghost", I love you Matthias). We also see them develop new relationships besides the ones they already had before the heist. Wylan slowly fitting with a bunch of criminals, Matthias' silent admiration for Inej, Inej herself getting closer to Nina and Jesper. Those little moments made the whole plot of the book much more personal, and not just about people with a common interest.
I'm not usually that interested in romance in books, but I have to say, I enjoyed every pairing and relationship dynamic in Six of Crows. As soon as Matthias and Nina met each other again and started that "I hate you but I love you" shenanigan I was sold. Jesper flirting with Wylan in the most inappropriate moments? Fuck yeah man, give me that.
And DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON KAZ AND INEJ. FUCK. I wanted to lie down to recover every time Kaz as much as looked at Inej. I hate when I have to read the couple pining for each other when it's obvious they have interest in one another during a whole book, but with these two what they felt made sense when considering their past experiences and traumas, and I felt like I understood Kaz and Inej even more through their relationship. I swear to God I will sell my kidney to see these two happy together. Fight me.
Moving to the other side of the spectrum, we have our dear little antagonists. I wasn't really sure who would be the last challenge to the Crows, so my bet was either some Fjerdan authority or a traitor, but Jan Van Eck wasn't out of the picture. He wasn't that bad, I guess. His plans with jurda parem sound a little bit stupid to me and, for the time being, he's still more like a caricature of a capitalist than a real character, but as he was not defeated at the end of the book, he'll clearly be more explored in the sequel.
I'm much more interested in Pekka Rollins, though. I imagined he was going to be kind of an overarching enemy, so I was very surprised about his introduction at the Ice Court. The more I learned about Kaz's past, the more I want to see him against Rollins, and I hope the showdown lives to the hype.
Besides the more important characters, we still have some interesting side characters and just people mentioned that I'm very curious about. Per Haskins and the other members of the Dregs, Zoya and the other Grisha and, of course, Kuwei Yul-Bo, the little Shu boy that helped cause all the commotion about jurda parem. But as this book focused more on the heist and the main characters, I'm hoping everyone else will be more explored later on.
So to tie it all up, the selling point for me was mainly the characters. I am a huge worldbuilding nerd (as you'll see below) but I swear, I could read 30 500-pages books of just the six main characters interacting with each other. Leigh Bardugo is a master of compelling characters, and I'm excited to see more of them in Crooked Kingdom.
Story and Worldbuilding
Writing a fantasy book is hard. With every single thing that doesn't exist in our world, the author must justify and come up with reasons as for why everything works the way it does, while still presenting a universe that's interesting and captivating for the reader. Things get even harder when the author chooses not to use our real world, instead creating a whole new fictional universe that we are not used to.
That's exactly why creating a solid base for your world is imperative in making a good story. The characters don't exist in a vacuum. They are the product of the conditions they were presented to since their birth, continuously adapting to new environments and challenges presented by the places they live and visit. And for characters so complex as the ones in Six of Crows, a strong worldbuilding is definitely needed to make everything more real.
So it's a very good thing that this book has it down to a science. The world of Six of Crows is big and diverse, so vivid that you can clearly imagine yourself walking through the streets of Ketterdam or a little Fjerdan village. You can visibly see the relation between the geographic space and the culture developed there. In the island of Kerch for example, where there's not a lot of space for agriculture, trade has become so important that it's basically a religion, and that shaped the local culture so much that even the greetings and common expressions revolve around it.
And because of those little details like expressions, beliefs and shared customs, we get to know these places much more intimately than we would through boring infodumps. We don't need an extensive paragraph or a convenient flashback to learn that Fjerda is a military country with harsh conditions and even harsher traditions, because we see that in the way Matthias talks, dresses and interacts with a culture different than his own.
And the results of this cultural shock are visible everywhere, which makes a lot of sense with a cast so diverse like this one. I love the conflict between Inej's beliefs and the colder traditions of Ketterdam, always revolving around deals and money. I love Matthias' and Nina's struggle to let their differences aside despite their nations being in conflict with one another. I love how even though Wylan is from Ketterdam, he still has trouble adapting to the ways of the Barrel.
After years of DMing for RPGs, I got used to thinking logically about every aspect of a book I read, specially fantasy ones. What is the main source of money, food, clean water and other essential materials? How everything is distributed through the place, and how waste is disposed? Those questions are not always that important to the narrative and it's not needed to shine much light onto them, but they do help the feeling of realness of a fabricated world (and I guess that makes me more picky of what I end up liking, but oh do I love when a book tries to develop these things). Six of Crows answers a lot of those questions, and even uses them to help the plot, like the scene in the Ice Court where Kaz discovers a water system right below the White Island.
I was also thoroughly impressed with the care put into the very niche subjects, such as the way Kaz picked a lock or Inej did her acrobacies and stunts. Leigh Bardugo did her research well, as any author should do when breaching uncommon topics of knowledge, and we see the result with every aspect of this book connecting together just like pieces of a huge puzzle.
The magic of this universe is also well integrated with everything else. It's a bit unclear if the Grisha are originated from Ravka or if it's just the country they're the most prevalent, but it's very clear how they're treated in each place of importance and how they affect power relations between different sectors. It's because of their already estabilished importance that we really understand just how vital is the success of the heist. It's not just about four million kruge, but also how much jurda parem will affect the whole world if it is released.
But after you get acquainted to the characters and the overall situation, around page 90 or so, it becomes a most enjoyable experience. There are just so many iconic scenes and dialogues that I would tell the whole book if I started counting them. If the introduction to Kaz and the Dregs had me intrigued, the break into Hellgate was what really hooked me into this book. Everything seems so dangerous and magical that I couldn't stop reading, easily excited to see what miracle Kaz Brekker would attempt next. Despite the events of the whole book taking place in just some weeks, the mix between flashbacks and current events was perfect to keep the story neither too slow nor too fast, so even though we do take some time to get through the characters, it's all worth it at the end.
I know that alright, the whole operation was deemed impossible so of course it seems like the events were a bit too lucky, but I kind of missed the Fjerdans in this story. In my head, they were supposed to be the big obstruction to the plans, so when we didn't get a single major antagonist in the Ice Court besides maybe Jarl Brum I was a little bit disappointed. Of course, it's not like the series wouldn't have an antagonist as we see after the escape from the Ice Court, but it seems like there were a lot less consequences to everything than I thought it would've.
I was expecting someone to be badly injuried, or to Bo Yul-Bayur to be dead already and everything to have been in vain(which I was right about, just not entirely lol), but everyone left alive and generally unscathed. Of course, Nina and Inej suffered some pretty bad consequences, but besides that nothing that life-changing, which is the least realistic thing about the whole book. But it's honestly a very minor complaint, and I still enjoyed every chapter a lot.
One thing I did enjoy a lot was how each of the main characters had to relive and get over a trauma of their past to be able to complete the plan. It didn't mean they were automatically healed, but those conflicts helped them overcome their own difficulties not only for themselves, but for their friends. Be it Inej going against Tante Heelen, Matthias finally choosing Nina over his country or Kaz enduring skin contact, they all made sacrifices so everyone could come back alive, and it just strengthened their bond even more.
The ending still felt a bit rushed, as we didn't even see the repercussions of the heist to the rest of the world, but it's justified because right after they arrive at Kerch Jan Van Eck is revealed as the main antagonist and Inej is captured, so even the Crows didn't have time to sit down. I'm not a huge fan of cliffhangers, but since I was able to start reading Crooked Kingdom right after (and because I loved this book so much) I wasn't irritated by it. It actually raised the stakes for the next book, with Inej's life on the line and the fate of Kuwei Yul-Bo still nebulous.
The plot twists never ceased to amaze me, even to the very end. Of course, some of them were easy to predict, such as Van Eck betraying the Crows, but others had me jumping off my chair in surprise. Honestly, those two chapters where Nina is seducing Jarl Brum had me sure that he knew it was her, only to make me scream when it was Matthias who locked her in the cell only to betray his people again to save her. Damn. Guess is just like Kaz Brekker says: always hit the mark where it's not looking.
Technical Details and Final Thoughts
Speaking of plot twists, one thing that definitely helped their construction was the different point of views of the Crows. Because we were seeing everything as the characters were, it was easy to be surprised because they also were surprised, and the same applied to every other emotion they were feeling at the moment. I like POVs in books, and it seems in this case it made me relate even more to the characters and understand them even more deeply.
The POVs were well distributed between the characters (despite the lack of Wylan, which I'm still a bit sad about), divided by chapters so it was easier to keep track of what was happening, and weren't neither too long nor too short. I never felt like the flashbacks were being dragged out or that some character's POV was boring. Because of their chemistry together, reading the inner voices of the Crows was always entertaining in some way.
And oh boy are Leigh Bardugo's descriptions entertaining. Along with writing dynamic dialogue and stunning descriptions without too much poetry or over-the-top flourishes, the analogies she presented gave a better understanding of the feelings each character had while also tying everything to their own "aesthetic". We didn't need to be told that Kaz was panicking, we just knew that the water was rising, and it was going to pull him under fast.
Going back to the descriptions, they were also a strong point in the book that I enjoyed a lot. Colorful descriptions are always very welcome, but Bardugo paints the world of Six of Crows with such a grace that it's almost as if you've been there before.
Finally, I can't end up this section without talking about the art of the book. I mean, have you seen the Collector's Edition above? It's just so beautiful, I can stare at it all day. The original cover is also amazing, and I love the crow's wings transforming into the towers of the Ice Court. The maps are easy to understand while also being aesthetically pleasing, so that's a great bonus too. What can I say, I appreciate when a book sticks to a vibe, it helps set the mood.
I finish this gigantic review by saying that, despite having some minor issues (as everything has), Six of Crows was the best book I've read in a long time, specially considering the fantasy genre. It's impossible not to fall in love with everything this world has to offer, and I'm so glad the Netflix show about Shadow and Bone, which is set in the same universe but years before, has been gaining attention. The Grishaverse definitely deserves it.
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