Six of Crows

I somehow missed the fact that Six of Crows is YA. I saw it billed as an Ocean's Eleven-type heist, set in a fantasy world, and was intrigued. It probably took 50-100 pages for me to realize that the main characters are all teenagers, look at the cover, and realize there was a YA sticker on the spine. (I would not survive a minute in the Barrel with my pathetic powers of observation.)

First of all, until the characters' ages are stated, they seem much older. As their backstories are revealed, this makes sense. They've had tough lives and have had to grow up quickly, so their maturity is believable. And they do exhibit more typical teenage behavior at times. There's a bit of romance, but it's never the main focus, and thankfully, there show more are no love triangles. (Oh, how I loathe YA love triangles.)

Second, Ms. Bardugo sets the bar very high for YA fantasy. Her world building is on-point, with everything introduced within the flow of the story. The characters are complex and believable; the dialogue is intelligent and witty; the plotting a bit complex, but exciting and logical. Her female protagonists, Inej (known as the Wraith for her ability to be seemingly invisible) and Nina (a Grisha with genetic magical powers) kick ass, both figuratively and physically, and the male characters (especially Kaz) are pretty awesome, too.

Smart, well-written YA that gave me, as the kids say, "all the feels." I can't wait to read [b:Crooked Kingdom|22299763|Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows, #2)|Leigh Bardugo|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1456172607s/22299763.jpg|42090179]. show less

Recommended to me by my darling of darkness. She was not wrong! In this case, I think the multiple POVs were really helpful in establishing each character, otherwise they would have blended together, especially the guys. The use of flashbacks was also extremely well done; I think this is going to be my standard from now on. Which means no one can use them ever again. Did these characters feel like teenagers? No. But I'm 42 and I feel like I'm 16, so what do I know?

Very Amsterdam-y vibes, which was fun and...wet. I kept worrying someone was going to slip.

2025 reread: i stand by that i don't believe the characters' ages--they still feel like adults with jarring teenagerisms thrown in just to remind the reader how old they're supposed to be. i DO think the kaz-inej thing was slightly more well-founded upon a reread--but i wonder how much of that was only because i was specifically looking for the moments that build their relationship? hmm. i like this book, i do! these little things just stick around in my mind.

2019 review: i have my issues with this book. i know that kaz is meant to be trauma-hardened, grew up too fast, etc., but i stand by that we should still be able to believe he's a child, and i don't. that's true for every main character except wylan--they're all supposed to be show more teenagers, but i don't believe it. they act and speak like adults, and every mention of their ages was startling, because each time i had forgotten, believing them to be older. i also frankly don't think the characters are all that likable. i hate matthias especially and don't care for his change of heart. nor do i find kaz's crush on inej (and vice versa) well-developed.

however. i can appreciate a good heist novel, and leigh bardugo is fantastic at heightening the tension and drawing you in. in the final stages of the escape from the ice court, i was on the metaphorical edge of my seat, and i was absolutely floored by nina's decision that got them out of there. the action was great, the banter was well-placed, and the progression of events felt fairly logical. there were a few leaps i struggled to follow, but overall i had fun with the sections of the book that took place in the ice court.

essentially... for a story that is both character- AND plot-driven, i think (in terms of strength) the plot-driven parts won out. and if that's your vibe, you'll like this book. show less

The worldbuilding is topnotch, the characters are likable, and the story is just *chef's kiss*.

I enjoyed the tumultuous feelings Inej and Kaz have for each other. It would've gotten stale and even obnoxious in another author's hands, but Bardugo handles it expertly, keeping us on our toes the whole time with the will-they-won't-they. Jasper and Wylan's flirtations were quite interesting, too, though that went nowhere. I loved the way Nina and Matthias's relationship evolved and grew into something stronger and beautiful by the end.

As for the story, it was full of the adventure I expected it to be. A friend had described it as "Ocean's Eleven in a fantasy setting," and they couldn't be more right. It was charming, full of twists and show more turns, and abilities that were used in fascinating and exciting ways.

Can't wait to read the next in the series! show less

If there were a gold standard for books, this would be it. Never in my life have I read a book as phenomenal and spirited and fierce as Six of Crows. Since the day of its publication, it has been my favorite book of all time. As much as I've loved the hundreds of books I've read since, nothing's ever come close to replacing Six of Crows for me.

Let me begin by ranting about Leigh Bardugo. I read her Grisha trilogy long before I devoured Six of Crows, and I've been her biggest fan for about forever. I've had the honor to grow up and mature in parallel with Bardugo's writing style, which is something I am unbelievably grateful for. In the hands of any other author, Six of Crows would surely have been a disaster, but Bardugo's remarkable show more talent as both a writer and a thinker make this book a true treasure.

The characters in this novel are, in fact, six of the greatest characters even written into existence. Bardugo somehow manages to flawlessly create a story told from six wildly different perspectives, but keeps it remarkably organic and fluid. And better yet, the characters are all real and independent and wonderfully flawed. And the diversity! I'm a sucker for diversity, and this book has it in oodles.

Six of Crows is full of nonstop action and powerful magic and even a little bit of romance here and there. It's a delightfully unpredictable and exhilarating read. Mysterious, adventurous, and breathtakingly beautiful, this book is spellbinding as can be. If I could make every single person I know join one gigantic book club and force them all to read a single book, you'd better believe that this would be it.

Six of Crows in an undeniable modern day literary masterpiece, and I will never be able to get enough of it. show less

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this. I put off reading it for about a year because I'd heard so much about its grimness. And, well, it is grim. But it isn't grimdark -- it isn't an endless sea of hopeless awfulness, in which things only get grittier and worse. There are moments of connection and of humor that lighten this enough that it feels like a story, not a slog through misery. (Note, though: there were chunks that I had to skip. People who don't like eye injuries or animal harm are going to want to avoid bits of this book.)

The heist -- eh. I am impressed at how much clarity there was in the heist sequences, because when you have six people divided into multiple groups doing multiple things in different places with careful show more timing, yikes. That's hard to track, hard to convey. And Bardugo manages it. (However, because I am always and ever a wimp, I had to put the book down a few times, take a break from the suspense when it all got Way Too Tense.) But honestly, the book was not about the heist for me. It was about the characters doing the heist.

I am a tough sell on antiheroes. Generally, I'm rooting against them by chapter three. But that didn't happen here. Bardugo makes an excellent case for why these people do the things they do. She also makes them feel real, and, again, that really matters when you're supposed to root for people who do some terrible things.

She also makes the relationships between them matter, and the sometimes-tiny changes they're able to make for the better feel like huge victories. Basically, this is a Big Stakes novel, but the stakes aren't the payoff from the heist. They're the connections the characters form, some of them for the first time in their lives, and the difficult, treacherous steps they take toward trust and each other.

But the thing I liked most about the characters -- well. In my review of Palacio's Wonder, one of my most-hated books of 2016, I talk about how there are three kinds of books featuring people with disabilities. Six of Crows is the kind I like most, the kind where the characters are disabled, and it informs the story and their actions, but it isn't the point of the book. Three of the six Crows are disabled. And it does definitely affect the narrative, the choices the characters make, the way they act. But they are just -- who they are, disabilities included. They are not a Very Special Learning Opportunity for the Real People (whoops, Wonder bitterness sneaking in again), they are not a tool for the author to use to express an opinion, they aren't a metaphor for anything. They're just people. Disabled people. Doing stuff. Comparing the two books teaches you pretty much everything you need to know about patronizing people with disabilities vs treating them like actual humans, and it wouldn't surprise me at all to learn that Bardugo is disabled.

So, yeah, I enjoyed this, even if it was, at times, a difficult read, right on the margin where I wimp out. And I will definitely start Crooked Kingdom with a lot more enthusiasm than I had for Six of Crows, because as long as these characters are there, and they stay true to themselves, I should really enjoy the book. show less

5 Stars!

Edit: I have more word vomit with this book!

Holy Shit! This was a damn good book! Is this book even real? Is this really the same author that wrote Shadow and the Bone? The book I read last week and gave it a one star? I mean seriously.

THIS IS A MILLION TIMES BETTER THAN SHADOW AND BONE.

NO!

A BILLION TIMES BETTER!

THE CHARACTERS!

THE PLOT!

THE WORLDBUILDING!

THE FRIENDSHIPS!

THE FREAKING BUDDING ROMANCE!

I JUST! WHAT!

I don't know why I feel like Leigh wrote The Grisha series just to get her foot into the YA world while Six of Crows is her true baby..... I think the main reason I didn't like Shadow and Bone because it felt very generic YA to me. That disappointed me because heard how amazing the book and Leigh was, Now with SoC. it show more felt more original and her able to explore her world she build in Grisha series without to many constraints. Everything felt more organic and not rushed at all. I mean all three potential couples in SoC have way more chemistry than Alina and Mal did... That's refreshing to me. Also their backstories were so rich and made you understand the character present day actions better. ( Oh My darling bastard Kaz. No 9 year shouldn't have to go through that shit at all. Inej is a fucking survivor. I want to have waffles with Nina.)

The only gripe I have is wanting to know more of Wylan which I have a feeling I will in CK. He was the only one of the six that I really didn't know to much about until towards the end. Other than that it was amazing!

It's worth the hype! show less