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A review by surbhi_reads
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
5.0
This re-read was as good if not better!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Six people, but a thousand ways this insane plan could go wrong.”
Well this book was nothing but a marvellous and adventurous ride. A ride that got me good, like real good because this piece of literary brilliance is not only dazzling and engrossing but also so badass, epic and coherent. It took me several days to finish reading this book because this month is proving to be a quite busy one for me but every time I returned to this book and to its characters, I felt like never leaving it again. I can happily say that I savoured every single page, every single quote from the book and then some more because this awesomeness of a book is exactly what I needed and I cannot explain how deeply it has influenced me.
“Kaz leaned back. “What’s the easiest way to steal a man's wallet?"
"Knife to the throat?" asked Inej.
"Gun to the back?" said Jesper.
"Poison in his cup?" suggested Nina.
"You're all horrible," said Matthias.”
The story is not exactly complicated in fact it is quite simple. A heist is supposed to be carried by a bunch of oddballs; the head of the gang is the infamous bastard of the barrel and the deadliest boy in Ketterdam, Kaz Brekker also known as “dirty hands”. There is nothing that Kaz will not do for the right price and in this case, 30 million kruge is at stake. Kaz’s crew consist of Inej, also called “The wraithe” who is a spymaster, Jesper, a sharp shooter, Nina, a Grisha heart render, Matthias, an ex-convict and former druskelle (witch hunter) and Wylan, a way ward son of a rich merchant. These people are to break into the Ice court, which also happens to be the most secured prison and breakout a high security prisoner. Now what could go wrong? Indeed.
“Jesper: “If Pekka Rollins kills us all, I’m going to get Wylan’s ghost to teach my ghost how to play the flute just so that I can annoy the hell out of your ghost.”
Kaz: “I’ll just hire Matthias’ ghost to kick your ghost’s ass.”
Matthias: “My ghost won’t associate with your ghost.”
SIX OF CROWS like the previous books by Bardugo is set in the Grisha universe and the best way to go in this story would be blind. Basically, Grisha are people with magical abilities and that makes this story all too interesting because who doesn’t like a good magical story? Right? Apart from the regular action, escapades and fun, there is a lot of backstabbing, predispositions, murder and violence involved. In addition, there are some very perfectly timed dialogues and witty banter between characters which is beyond any excellence. The story is narrated through each characters POV except for Wylan, who is also the underdog of the group but each ones perspective is like breath of fresh air and the author ties down everything so perfectly at the end which even though a little predictable was nothing else but, extremely nerve-wracking and gobsmacking perfection.
“I will have you without armor, Kaz Brekker. Or I will not have you at all.”
Without a doubt, the world building, the convolutedly woven plot and the attention to detail is astounding, fascinating and extremely remarkable. The build-up is slow but every moment is so worth because, every character has such an interesting backstory and somehow to understand them, it is important to understand their history, their fears and their expectations. Each one of them carries enormous baggage but these characters were once victims and now they are survivors and my heart literally goes out to them.
“She was not a lynx or a spider or even the Wraith. She was Inej Ghafa, and her future was waiting above.”
Like I wrote earlier, the plot is not quite complicated but the characters are. These are some of the most complex, multi-layered, flawed and ethically profound characters I have read about in a long –long time and I can’t say enough how much I loved all of them. Each one of them has a different flare to their personalities and it is just beautiful how much they grow throughout the novel. Theirs was a gang formed on a common agenda to carry out an impossible heist but somewhere along the way they found themselves and the purpose of their existence and that made them utterly human and real, for which I cannot praise the author enough.
“It's not natural for women to fight."
"It's not natural for someone to be as stupid as he is tall, and yet there you stand.”
The relationship arcs are nothing sort of flawlessness and the beauty of these relationships is that, even though so much is happening between them, their goal is a common one and it never overshadows the heist. I absolutely loved Nina and Matthias, they have this love-hate relationship and it gets so emotional towards the end but even before that, theirs is one relationship, which has just the perfect amount of drama, anguish, betrayal, sacrifice and humour involved. In fact, Nina’s character is one of my personal favourite; she is brave, intelligent and so fierce. Matthias on the other hand is this broody guy, who is literally torn between his feelings for Nina and his duty towards his country and honestly, I loved every moment of them together.
“I’m a very valuable investment.”
“Tell me he didn’t say that.”
“Of course he did. Well, not the valuable part.”
“Idiot.”
“How’s Matthias?”
“Also an idiot.”
Then of course, there is Kas and Inej. Kas is actually an anti-hero but he also has this deeply moving and disturbing past, which has made him the way he is today and Inej is just so selfless, kind and compassionate. They are the opposite of each other in so many ways but that only makes them perfect together. Besides them, Jesper and Wylan has this cosy chemistry, which, made me laugh aloud, but I also absolutely rooted for them. Even the girls, Nina and Inej, they share such a good rapport and gave some serious friendship goals. Honestly, I cannot seem to have enough of these characters and I totally want to be a part of this incredible and fabulous group.
“Nina might not be able to put you back, you know. Not without another dose of parem. You could be stuck like this.”
“Why does it matter?”
“I don’t know!” Jesper said angrily. “Maybe I liked your stupid face.”
Do I even need to write an overall? I think no, because this is hands down a must read. I will say this much though, this book raised my level of expectations from the YA Fantasy genre to a completely new level and I cannot wait to read its sequel CROOKED KINGDOM already as well as the Grisha trilogy.
Exquisite, whimsical and dumbfounding!
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Six people, but a thousand ways this insane plan could go wrong.”
Well this book was nothing but a marvellous and adventurous ride. A ride that got me good, like real good because this piece of literary brilliance is not only dazzling and engrossing but also so badass, epic and coherent. It took me several days to finish reading this book because this month is proving to be a quite busy one for me but every time I returned to this book and to its characters, I felt like never leaving it again. I can happily say that I savoured every single page, every single quote from the book and then some more because this awesomeness of a book is exactly what I needed and I cannot explain how deeply it has influenced me.
“Kaz leaned back. “What’s the easiest way to steal a man's wallet?"
"Knife to the throat?" asked Inej.
"Gun to the back?" said Jesper.
"Poison in his cup?" suggested Nina.
"You're all horrible," said Matthias.”
The story is not exactly complicated in fact it is quite simple. A heist is supposed to be carried by a bunch of oddballs; the head of the gang is the infamous bastard of the barrel and the deadliest boy in Ketterdam, Kaz Brekker also known as “dirty hands”. There is nothing that Kaz will not do for the right price and in this case, 30 million kruge is at stake. Kaz’s crew consist of Inej, also called “The wraithe” who is a spymaster, Jesper, a sharp shooter, Nina, a Grisha heart render, Matthias, an ex-convict and former druskelle (witch hunter) and Wylan, a way ward son of a rich merchant. These people are to break into the Ice court, which also happens to be the most secured prison and breakout a high security prisoner. Now what could go wrong? Indeed.
“Jesper: “If Pekka Rollins kills us all, I’m going to get Wylan’s ghost to teach my ghost how to play the flute just so that I can annoy the hell out of your ghost.”
Kaz: “I’ll just hire Matthias’ ghost to kick your ghost’s ass.”
Matthias: “My ghost won’t associate with your ghost.”
SIX OF CROWS like the previous books by Bardugo is set in the Grisha universe and the best way to go in this story would be blind. Basically, Grisha are people with magical abilities and that makes this story all too interesting because who doesn’t like a good magical story? Right? Apart from the regular action, escapades and fun, there is a lot of backstabbing, predispositions, murder and violence involved. In addition, there are some very perfectly timed dialogues and witty banter between characters which is beyond any excellence. The story is narrated through each characters POV except for Wylan, who is also the underdog of the group but each ones perspective is like breath of fresh air and the author ties down everything so perfectly at the end which even though a little predictable was nothing else but, extremely nerve-wracking and gobsmacking perfection.
“I will have you without armor, Kaz Brekker. Or I will not have you at all.”
Without a doubt, the world building, the convolutedly woven plot and the attention to detail is astounding, fascinating and extremely remarkable. The build-up is slow but every moment is so worth because, every character has such an interesting backstory and somehow to understand them, it is important to understand their history, their fears and their expectations. Each one of them carries enormous baggage but these characters were once victims and now they are survivors and my heart literally goes out to them.
“She was not a lynx or a spider or even the Wraith. She was Inej Ghafa, and her future was waiting above.”
Like I wrote earlier, the plot is not quite complicated but the characters are. These are some of the most complex, multi-layered, flawed and ethically profound characters I have read about in a long –long time and I can’t say enough how much I loved all of them. Each one of them has a different flare to their personalities and it is just beautiful how much they grow throughout the novel. Theirs was a gang formed on a common agenda to carry out an impossible heist but somewhere along the way they found themselves and the purpose of their existence and that made them utterly human and real, for which I cannot praise the author enough.
“It's not natural for women to fight."
"It's not natural for someone to be as stupid as he is tall, and yet there you stand.”
The relationship arcs are nothing sort of flawlessness and the beauty of these relationships is that, even though so much is happening between them, their goal is a common one and it never overshadows the heist. I absolutely loved Nina and Matthias, they have this love-hate relationship and it gets so emotional towards the end but even before that, theirs is one relationship, which has just the perfect amount of drama, anguish, betrayal, sacrifice and humour involved. In fact, Nina’s character is one of my personal favourite; she is brave, intelligent and so fierce. Matthias on the other hand is this broody guy, who is literally torn between his feelings for Nina and his duty towards his country and honestly, I loved every moment of them together.
“I’m a very valuable investment.”
“Tell me he didn’t say that.”
“Of course he did. Well, not the valuable part.”
“Idiot.”
“How’s Matthias?”
“Also an idiot.”
Then of course, there is Kas and Inej. Kas is actually an anti-hero but he also has this deeply moving and disturbing past, which has made him the way he is today and Inej is just so selfless, kind and compassionate. They are the opposite of each other in so many ways but that only makes them perfect together. Besides them, Jesper and Wylan has this cosy chemistry, which, made me laugh aloud, but I also absolutely rooted for them. Even the girls, Nina and Inej, they share such a good rapport and gave some serious friendship goals. Honestly, I cannot seem to have enough of these characters and I totally want to be a part of this incredible and fabulous group.
“Nina might not be able to put you back, you know. Not without another dose of parem. You could be stuck like this.”
“Why does it matter?”
“I don’t know!” Jesper said angrily. “Maybe I liked your stupid face.”
Do I even need to write an overall? I think no, because this is hands down a must read. I will say this much though, this book raised my level of expectations from the YA Fantasy genre to a completely new level and I cannot wait to read its sequel CROOKED KINGDOM already as well as the Grisha trilogy.
Exquisite, whimsical and dumbfounding!
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