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katie_curran's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
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? Yes
4.0
rychelereads's review against another edition
5.0
I would give this 6 stars if I could.
A very adult read for the young-adult/fantasy reader. There are not words enough to describe how refreshing, and absolutely brilliant this book is, but for now it will suffice to say that it definitely eclipses epic.
Typically a book in the young-adult and fantasy genres will shine for one particular aspect: world-building, character development, relationship development, the author's ability to turn a phrase, OR overall plot development. But Six of Crows shines in all of these categories almost equally. This is a story set in a yet developing world wrought with all the dark and sin of any red-light district/city slum area, about a heist performed by an incredibly diverse (truly diverse especially for this genre) set of characters, with actual political development, magic, and gangsters. The story all the while testing the boundaries between life and death, past and future, different loyalties, and of course self-discovery and individual morals.
This is literally the story you never knew you needed, and after you've had a taste, you'll only want more.
*minor spoiler(s) alert*
It's as addictive as jurda parem, and with a group consisting of a gang-leader called "Dirtyhands," an ex brothel-girl nicknamed The Wraith, a Grisha Heartrender, an ex-convict/ex-military madman, an aristocrat's son made bomb-connoisseur, and my favorite the mysterious and charasmatic farmer's son with an affinity for gambling debts and ornate guns, who can argue with the tale that is bound to follow by their unique reasons for working together? Also, and I'll just leave this here, their group's "handshake," or special greeting for lack of better explanation are the following spoken words:
"NO MOURNERS, NO FUNERALS."
I just cannot believe I have to wait another 5 months for the next book, it's killing me.
A very adult read for the young-adult/fantasy reader. There are not words enough to describe how refreshing, and absolutely brilliant this book is, but for now it will suffice to say that it definitely eclipses epic.
Typically a book in the young-adult and fantasy genres will shine for one particular aspect: world-building, character development, relationship development, the author's ability to turn a phrase, OR overall plot development. But Six of Crows shines in all of these categories almost equally. This is a story set in a yet developing world wrought with all the dark and sin of any red-light district/city slum area, about a heist performed by an incredibly diverse (truly diverse especially for this genre) set of characters, with actual political development, magic, and gangsters. The story all the while testing the boundaries between life and death, past and future, different loyalties, and of course self-discovery and individual morals.
This is literally the story you never knew you needed, and after you've had a taste, you'll only want more.
*minor spoiler(s) alert*
It's as addictive as jurda parem, and with a group consisting of a gang-leader called "Dirtyhands," an ex brothel-girl nicknamed The Wraith, a Grisha Heartrender, an ex-convict/ex-military madman, an aristocrat's son made bomb-connoisseur, and my favorite the mysterious and charasmatic farmer's son with an affinity for gambling debts and ornate guns, who can argue with the tale that is bound to follow by their unique reasons for working together? Also, and I'll just leave this here, their group's "handshake," or special greeting for lack of better explanation are the following spoken words:
"NO MOURNERS, NO FUNERALS."
I just cannot believe I have to wait another 5 months for the next book, it's killing me.
bieberbeaver's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Am I the only one who just doesn't know how to feel about the ending
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction and Death
crosswarrior7's review against another edition
4.0
This is it! After slugging through the Grishverse trilogy, dealing with the utter headache that is Alina’s narrative, we have reached the all-raved-about Six of Crows!
And I’ve just gotta say…
It was mostly worth it.
Now before I get into gushing, I’ll go over why I say mostly. SoC is written in third person limited. And the distance of the limited seems very… inconsistent. Sometimes it was a close third person, other times it was distant. Which I get sometimes this is okay, but the difference between how close it could get and how distant it could get was quite jarring. And when the whole reason for the distance is to keep things hidden from the audience, it’s very off putting. The distance felt like it was there because Leigh didn’t know how else to keep us from knowing all the intricacies of Kaz’s schemes, and she needed to be able to pull crazy twists out of everything. It just felt really annoying and cheap to me. Were the reveals entertaining? Sure. Did the way they were done feel very cop out and remind me of that dreaded ending of S&S? Also yes. It is likely this that pulls the book down from a five star to a four star for me.
Other than that, I really loved this story. I’m glad that I read the trilogy first, because although it isn’t required to understand SoC, understanding it and already having a connection with this world made it so much more enjoyable. The object desired in this story made sense because of all the knowledge I’d gained in S&B from the teachings Alina had earned, like a natural next step of what could go wrong for the Grisha. And seeing so many cultures that I’d only heard of in S&B got to be filled in and developed, some of which included a background influenced by a civil war I’d been able to see first hand.
SoC had a wonderful cast of snarky, hardened, *different* characters, and I think the different part is very important for a book featuring multiple characters and PoVs. All of them felt like they had a motivation and reason to do what they did. Some a little less than others, but their determinations and motivation became stronger as the story went.
I think Kaz would be my favorite if he wasn’t the worst culprit of the inconsistent distance I mentioned above, but because of that distance, I think it’s a tie between Inej and Nina, with Kaz like, less than a centimeter behind them. Inej is just a strong, interesting character overall, having to go through horrible things and struggling to adapt to who she is and who she was. Nina I have all kinds of biases toward because of her Ravka connections, but she’s also just a very amazing example of what many try to do with a strong female character.
Matthias and his soldier ways and all the teachings vs his own views thing is so fun, and the difficulties that Jesper faces closer to the end has me very excited to see where things will go to him in Crooked Kingdom. Wyland… Feels like he could have had more for him in SoC, but I trust he’ll get more love in CK.
I also like how there is obviously some struggles with some neurodiversities, all without actually naming the neurodiversities.
The heist itself is fun and action-packed, while still being very character driven, so it proves an amazing combination of the two.
All in all, so many of the aspects were just hit so right, and if the writing just felt like it wasn’t trying so hard to keep things hidden from us for the sake of shock, I could definitely have seen this being a 5 star book.
Either way, I adored this story, I adored the characters, and although underwhelmed by the writing, I can understand why this book is so beloved (especially because of them characters). I’m excited to see where this goes, and where S&B left me disappointed in the grandness of the Grisha world, this book delivers so well on just what the Girshaverse can be. Enough so to ignite the excitement that Alina worked three books trying to douse.
Seriously. How did she create Nikolai, the Darkling, and the SoC stuff, yet also had Alina and Mal poopiness...
And I’ve just gotta say…
It was mostly worth it.
Now before I get into gushing, I’ll go over why I say mostly. SoC is written in third person limited. And the distance of the limited seems very… inconsistent. Sometimes it was a close third person, other times it was distant. Which I get sometimes this is okay, but the difference between how close it could get and how distant it could get was quite jarring. And when the whole reason for the distance is to keep things hidden from the audience, it’s very off putting. The distance felt like it was there because Leigh didn’t know how else to keep us from knowing all the intricacies of Kaz’s schemes, and she needed to be able to pull crazy twists out of everything. It just felt really annoying and cheap to me. Were the reveals entertaining? Sure. Did the way they were done feel very cop out and remind me of that dreaded ending of S&S? Also yes. It is likely this that pulls the book down from a five star to a four star for me.
Other than that, I really loved this story. I’m glad that I read the trilogy first, because although it isn’t required to understand SoC, understanding it and already having a connection with this world made it so much more enjoyable. The object desired in this story made sense because of all the knowledge I’d gained in S&B from the teachings Alina had earned, like a natural next step of what could go wrong for the Grisha. And seeing so many cultures that I’d only heard of in S&B got to be filled in and developed, some of which included a background influenced by a civil war I’d been able to see first hand.
SoC had a wonderful cast of snarky, hardened, *different* characters, and I think the different part is very important for a book featuring multiple characters and PoVs. All of them felt like they had a motivation and reason to do what they did. Some a little less than others, but their determinations and motivation became stronger as the story went.
I think Kaz would be my favorite if he wasn’t the worst culprit of the inconsistent distance I mentioned above, but because of that distance, I think it’s a tie between Inej and Nina, with Kaz like, less than a centimeter behind them. Inej is just a strong, interesting character overall, having to go through horrible things and struggling to adapt to who she is and who she was. Nina I have all kinds of biases toward because of her Ravka connections, but she’s also just a very amazing example of what many try to do with a strong female character.
Matthias and his soldier ways and all the teachings vs his own views thing is so fun, and the difficulties that Jesper faces closer to the end has me very excited to see where things will go to him in Crooked Kingdom. Wyland… Feels like he could have had more for him in SoC, but I trust he’ll get more love in CK.
I also like how there is obviously some struggles with some neurodiversities, all without actually naming the neurodiversities.
The heist itself is fun and action-packed, while still being very character driven, so it proves an amazing combination of the two.
All in all, so many of the aspects were just hit so right, and if the writing just felt like it wasn’t trying so hard to keep things hidden from us for the sake of shock, I could definitely have seen this being a 5 star book.
Either way, I adored this story, I adored the characters, and although underwhelmed by the writing, I can understand why this book is so beloved (especially because of them characters). I’m excited to see where this goes, and where S&B left me disappointed in the grandness of the Grisha world, this book delivers so well on just what the Girshaverse can be. Enough so to ignite the excitement that Alina worked three books trying to douse.
Seriously. How did she create Nikolai, the Darkling, and the SoC stuff, yet also had Alina and Mal poopiness...
shaunasbookshelf's review against another edition
5.0
Obsessed with this book, the characters are so well written even with so many of them being in the main crew you still get to know and love each one my personal faves being inej and nina. The magic and thrill of the book never gets old. I'm not one for re reading but this book I could read ten times over.
babycheeses's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
syrairai's review against another edition
5.0
I'm not sure how Leigh Bardugo wrote a book that made me love all the main characters from the moment I met them but - I love them all.
The book did start a little bit confusing for me with trying to figure out who Joost was but I did understand soon after. The pacing of everything was I was hooked from the get go and so interested in wondering how it would all play out. I was not disappointed and it made me want to pick up the next book right away.
I really felt for everyone and their back stories and loved having all their POVs (even in third person). Nina and Matthias had major enemies to lovers vibes and I was living for it!! Can't wait to see what happens in the next book. Can't help but love Kaz and Inez <3 and Jesper is the fun, comedic relief that would be so missed if he wasn't there. I also enjoyed Wylan within this book and the way he added a sort of innocence to everything cos I really did find myself forgetting that this team were a bunch of teenagers lol
LOVED the lil shadow and bone trilogy nods to Zoya and Alina - i'm also glad that I just finished that trilogy so everything about the grishaverse was fresh in my mind.
Absolutely brilliant!
The book did start a little bit confusing for me with trying to figure out who Joost was but I did understand soon after. The pacing of everything was I was hooked from the get go and so interested in wondering how it would all play out. I was not disappointed and it made me want to pick up the next book right away.
I really felt for everyone and their back stories and loved having all their POVs (even in third person). Nina and Matthias had major enemies to lovers vibes and I was living for it!! Can't wait to see what happens in the next book. Can't help but love Kaz and Inez <3 and Jesper is the fun, comedic relief that would be so missed if he wasn't there. I also enjoyed Wylan within this book and the way he added a sort of innocence to everything cos I really did find myself forgetting that this team were a bunch of teenagers lol
LOVED the lil shadow and bone trilogy nods to Zoya and Alina - i'm also glad that I just finished that trilogy so everything about the grishaverse was fresh in my mind.
Absolutely brilliant!