books by s.r.

Title: Six of Crows

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 5/5 Swords

WARNING: Contains Mild Spoilers

“Six Dangerous Outcasts,

One Impossible Heist.”

Six of Crows is book one in the renowned Six of Crows duology written by Queen(TM) Leigh Bardugo.  Fair warning, guys, this is one of my favorite books of all time.  I’m going to try to keep things coherent but there will also be a lot of *FLAILING* throughout this book review.  You’ve been warned…

Six of Crows is told through the point of view of six different outcasts, thieves, and ruffians.  Kaz Brekkar is the leader of the Crow Club, a popular gambling hall in Ketterdam, and most importantly, the leader of the Dregs, his gang.  A dark brooding boy with a hidden past and greed in his bones, he leads his gang without mercy and is the most renowned, bloodthirsty gang leader in his city.  Inej Ghafa is his Wraith, a girl that loves her proverbs but has learned to kill and cheat and steal to make her way in the world.  She is the best spy in the Dregs, handy with her knives, and as silent as Death.  Nina Zenik is a Heartrender, a member of the Grisha Order that has the power to take over your bodily functions.  Despite the cruelness of her title, she has a big heart, one that’s especially meant for Matthias.  Matthias Helvar is a Druskelle soldier from Fjerda, trained to hunt down Grisha since the Fjerdans believe Grisha to be devils and unnatural beings.  He is conflicted over Nina, however, because she is wonderful and kind and not anything like he was told the Grisha were, and yet she was the one that put him in Hellgate, a most dangerous prison, and let him rot there for a year.  Jesper Fahey is a farm boy that moved to Ketterdam.  He’s dangerous as heck with his guns, but his own danger is gambling tables.  And finally, there’s Wylan Van Eck, a wealthy merchant’s kid that ran away but refuses to say why.

When Kaz is approached by Jan Van Eck, Wylan’s father, about a job, Kaz thinks it has to be some kind of joke.  Jan Van Eck is not only a wealthy merchant, but he rubs elbows with Ketterdam’s council, and the council doesn’t like dangerous boys like Kaz.  Instead, Van Eck reels Kaz in with the promise of four million kruge (Ketterdam money).  All he has to do is break into the Ice Court, the most secure fortress in the world, and retrieve a scientist known as Bo Yul-Bayeur.  Yul Bayeur has created a drug known as Jurda Parem that, when given to a Grisha, causes them to use the full extent of their powers instead of normally only being able to tap into a portion of them.  The problem with this drug is that it is highly addictive, and once a Grisha has taken a dose or two, they will do anything to get more of it.  Van Eck and the Merchant Council want to free the scientist and make him stop creating the drug, because if the drug were to get out for the world to use, the Grisha would be unstoppable or different countries could force Grisha to fight for them and take over other countries.

Kaz could care less about the fate of the world, but at the mention of four million kruge, he agrees to the job.  He takes on Inej, Nina, Jesper, and Wylan, and then frees Matthias from Hellgate to help him complete the job.

But when they reach Fjerda to complete their mission, they soon realize that perhaps they’re in over their heads.  And when things do, indeed, go wrong, it’s up to them to get out of the Ice Court alive or face the end of the world as they know it.

THERE ARE SO MANY REASONS WHY YOU NEED TO READ THIS BOOK.

• Leigh Bardugo is the Queen of Writing.  Her writing style, her characters, her story setting…  Everything is flawless and beautiful and it’s like the perfect story.
• Her characters.  They are so diverse – in where they’re from, in their reactions to the story events, in their individual goals.  With such a large cast, it can be hard to make sure every character has their own voice in the story instead of all of them blurring together.  This never happens once!  The characters have their own individual style and tone, so you’re never wondering which character’s point of view you’re reading from.
• The stress level through the last half of the book.  You won’t be able to put it down.  All of the chapters are super intense and you just.  Have.  To.  Keep.  Reading.
• Just when you think things are one way, PLOT TWIST!  PLOT TWISTS EVERYWHERE!
• The ending of the book gives you life and then destroys you in the worst possible way.  Luckily for you, there’s a second book, and it is every bit as good as the first, my word.
• Once you read this book, you will quote it to your friends.  There are so many quotable lines that it’s not even funny.  Since I wanted to reread Six of Crows with a friend, we’ve been able to discuss parts we’d forgotten about or missed or text each other quotes from the book.  It’s been awesome.
• Most Importantly: NETFLIX HAS SIGNED A CONTRACT TO MAKE THIS BOOK AND ITS COMPANION SERIES, THE GRISHA TRILOGY, INTO A T.V. SHOW!!!

Please read this book so we can flail about it together.  And if you have read it, please let me know what you thought of it so we can flail together in the comments!