Reviews

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

cbleyer's review against another edition

5.0

First, this book is stunning. The black pages are excellent. The whole appearance of the book is exceptionally enticing
I also fell in love with the writing of this book- it felt like a relaxed conversation
I read this before shadow and bone. But, if you want to do that as well- you should probably watch this video first- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgeGvI2E5AU
Six of Crows is set two years after Shadow and Bone.
Set in Ketterdam, a city on Kerch. Ghetto of Ketterdam= Barrel
**Characters**
Kaz- Smart, skilled, leader. Known as "Bastard of the Barrel" and "Dirtyhands"
17 years old, has a limp, always carries a cane, which he uses as a weapon, and wears gloves.
"A boy whose only cause was himself."

Inej- Sly, sneaky, agile, powerful, acrobat. 16 years old. She comes from the Suli- a nomadic people.
"He'd heard other gang members say she moved like a cat,, but he suspected cats would sit attentively at her feet to learn her methods."
Nina- Heartrender, dramatic. 17 years old.

Matthias- Former Druskelle (Hunter of Grisha) from Fjerda

Wylan- Jan Van Eck's son- likes to blow stuff up

Jesper- Sharpshooter, funny, sarcastic. Gambler.
"Jesper always felt better when people were shooting at him."
Many gangs roam the streets of Ketterdam. One of those gangs- the Dregs is led by Kaz
The Dregs are also in charge of a casino type place- The Crow Club
"Now the Dregs were feared. Kaz had given them that."
***SPOILERS AHEAD***

So, basically, Grisha aren't treated the best. Mostly, they're seen as slaves in Kerch and abominations in Fjerda.
A new drug is formed by a Shu scientist- Bo Yur-Bayur. The drug is jurda parem. It enhances the abilities of Grisha, but makes the user addicted after a single use.
A member of the government of Ketterdam- Jan Van eck- approaches Kaz and offers thirty million kruge to infiltrate the highly secure Ice Court in Fjerda where Bayur is imprisoned. He claims to want to destroy all jurda parem so the world doesn't suffer under its influence.
"'You can't break into the ice court at all.' The Ice Court wasn't an ordinary building. It was a compound, Fjerda's ancient stronghold, home to an unbroken sucession of kings and queens, repository of their greatest treasures and most sacred religious relics. It was inpenetrable."
Kaz recruits a crew to accomplish this task. They break Matthias out of prison, which Nina put him in. Oh, yeah, then Matthias strangles Nina because they have to implement enemies to lovers in here! Basically Nina and Matthias had fallen in love but then Nina turned him in as a slaver and he was imprisoned. But, eventually we figure out if Nina hadn't done that- Mathhias would've been executed.
"He'd hunt her in Kerch, in Ravka, whatever hole or corner of the world she thought would keep her safe. He would run Nina Zenik to ground and make her pay in every way imaginable."
So, they then travel to the Ice Court and sneak in by becoming prisoners- and then escape from their cells and deeper into the court.
Basically, they eventually escape but they discover Bo Yul Bayur is dead but his son, Kuwei is alive
When they meet with Jan Van Eck- it's discovered he had other motives and he intends to use jurda parem to harm the world
He also kidnaps Inej so that's fun

Also, Kaz is focused on killing Pekka Rollins- the cause of his brother's death- the leader of the Dime Lions- the biggest gang in Ketterdam
Kaz's backstory is truly heartbreaking and give a lot of insight on why he is the way he is.
"Kaz expected to wake in the next world, warm and safe, his belly full, Jordie beside him. Instead, he woke surrounded by corpses."
"The swim back from the Reasper's Barge had been Kaz's rebirth. The child he'd been died of firepox. The fever burned away every gentle thing in him."
"Survival wasn't nearly hard as he'd thought once he left decency behind him."
"When he was fourteen, Kaz had put together a crew to rob the bank that had helped Hertzoon prey on him and Jordie. Hid crew got away with fifty thousand kruge, but he'd broken his leg dropping down from the rooftop. The bone didn't set right, and he'd limped ever after. So he'd found a Fabrikator and had his cane made. It became a declaration. There was no part of him that was not broken, that had not healed wrong, and there was no part of him that was not stronger for having been broken."
"The cane became part of the myth he built. No one knew who he was. No one knew where he came from. He'd become Kaz Brekker, cripple and confidence man, Bastard of the Barrel."
It's also hard for Kaz to come to terms with his love for Inej.
"She'd laughed, and if he could have bottled the sound and gotten drunk on it every night, he would have. It terrified him."

The crows frequently quote a saying "No mourners, no funerals." There is an explination given to this.
"What bound them together? Greed? Depression? Was it just the knowledge that if one or all of them disappeared tonight, no one would come looking?"

I also love these quotes Matthias said,
"She'd shown him in a thousand ways that she was honorable and strong and generous and very human, maybe more vividly human than anyone he'd ever known. And if she was, then Grisha weren'tinherently evil. They were like anyone else- full of the potential to do great good, and also great harm."
"The life you live, the hate you feel- it's poison. I can drink it no longer."
"Jer molle pe oonet. Enel mord je nej afva trohem verret." (I have been made to protect you. Only in death will I be kept form this oath.)

In general, I love this quote Inej's father told her
"Many boys will bring you flowers. But someday you'll meet a boy who will 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 you as no one else does. Only that boy earns your heart."

armaust's review against another edition

fast-paced

4.5

anna77beth's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

jordinedg's review against another edition

5.0

crying

isi130400's review against another edition

5.0

THE BEST BOOK EVER !!!!!!!

lezi_hannah's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

goodeggreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

losallie's review against another edition

5.0

4.5/5.

laurad_reads's review against another edition

4.0

First of all, I love Kaz Brekker. I really really like him. Just had to get that out there.
But yes this book was very good but it was one of those books where you could tell where the plot was going (but that was okay because the characters was "deep" enough to make it work)

All in all, it was a very good read and I will be picking up the next one as soon as I can!

naeris's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5