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rapante 's review for:
Six of Crows
by Leigh Bardugo
I actually had some problems with this book.
First things first:
- This is the first book I read of Leigh Bardugo - I didn't read the Grisha-trilogy (set in the same world) first, and I'm not planning to do so, because its premise simply doesn't appeal to me.
- I read this in english, which is not my first language. You'll probably notice reading this review.
(Both of these things have nothing to do with the main issue I have with this book)
SO, me struggling with this book, and ending up loving it anyway:
I WHISH somebody had told me that the first chapter didn't introduce any of the main characters. Because I read a few pages, couldn't make myself like or care, and I basically put this book down, telling myself I would read it when I had the time. Well. I managed to avoid reading it for quite some time... and picking it up was like preparing for a battle - It always takes some time to warm up to the characters, and I thought in this case I would have to force myself through a lot before that could (perhaps!) happen. I didn't want to read it, I was just determined to give it a chance.
Good thing I did!
Another thing that turned me off was the idea of having six main characters. I personally like to follow a story from the perspective of just one, sometimes two characters. In this book the main plot is told from the perspective of FIVE characters. Since this book tells an 'Ocean's Eleven'-kind of story, it was probably necessary - each member of the team has a task, and you'll need to hear about it.
It still isn't something I'm fond of, but it was ok. All of the characters have their story, all are kicking ass in their own way - while being very much human at the same time. That's probably one of the best things about this book. I'm so very sick of ('accidentally') epic heroes. I'll have more to say about characters later, here I just want to say:
If you're thinking of NOT reading this because of multiple POVs - read it anyway.
Now, what are my ACTUAL problems with this book?
First of all, the first two protagonists (who seemingly everybody loves) that are introduced bothered me somehow, because I felt I could just tell myself: okay, so, she's that kind of character, and hmmm, okay, he's that kind of character. They seemed to have characteristics, talents and even backstories that are quite typical of this kind of setting. A setting I love, by the way. Still, I really like to be surprised, and with these I just wasn't. They are awesome characters, but, you know... reading a new book shouldn't be like 'I know this.'
Anyway, 'I know this' doesn't mean 'you know this', so maybe it is just me. They become more individual over time and I found another character to love, whom I could even identify with, so it wasn't really a problem for long.
This is me saying: if you should experience something similar, just go on reading. It's worth it.
While trying to get into the story I was also struggling with the way exposition was handled. You get a lot of new words (due to the setting) and things (magic, grisha-stuff) without explanation. Sometimes there is an explanation, but two pages after the term was first used. Trying to keep an overview over all those sentences I couldn't fully understand because of that while still following the story, always hoping to finally get the piece of information I needed... it was a bit exhausting. Sometimes I have the problem that I can't really pay attention to what's happening, when I haven't fully understood things about setting, characters etc., because I'm so focused on filling the gaps.
It was probably harder for me, because english is not my first language, and, of course, because I haven't read the Grisha-trilogy. I still think it was quite irritating. Not everything needs to be explained, but in the first chapters (the second one mostly) it was just a little too much 'throwing the reader in there' for my taste. I'm not asking for extensive explanations or descriptions - in most cases just another word, half a sentence would have done the job! It felt like it was done on purpose, to create a kind of suspense that I really didn't need.
As a whole this story is playing with the reader not knowing things, which can be good - who doesn't like a good plot twist? Unexpected events? Seemingly impossible things made possible?
I love it.
However, this is actually my biggest issue with this book. Because you are living this story through the POVs of characters, and you should feel somewhat close to them, right? You do, because you get to know them, you get their thoughts and feelings and everything. Sometimes you (deliberately) just don't get their knowledge. Because suspense.
You will follow the action through someone's eyes, and that someone will know exactly what he or she is doing/planning - just you, the reader, won't know anything. This happens SOMETIMES (!!!) in 'Six of Crows'.
I'm a fan of not knowing what's happening, and I also like to wonder about peoples motives, about their plans etc. Just not when the person through whom I am experiencing it all actually has all the information. The suspense is artificial in a way, because you as a reader are simply denied information that is there. Your POV is artificial, it doesn't exist in the actual story.
It creates a strange distance between you as the reader and the characters you are reading about.
I don't like it. I think it shouldn't be necessary to use this 'method' to create suspense.
I'm not sure if this is understandable at all.
I tried to explain :)
'Six of Crows' is still amazing. Even after all this whining I can't bring myself to give less than five stars. Because this story is fun. It is awesome. I still love it. If you have no problem with this POV/suspense thing I explained above, you will probably LOVE LOVE LOVE this book.
So here is what I think was handled really well:
- World-building. The world is brought to the reader in a very subtle way. It all feels real and alive without having to fight through tons of description etc. I actually can't remember any boring 'I need this to understand this world'-descriptions at all. Through all of it, the lack of information never felt like a lack of world to be informed about. It's all there, and you will only be bothered with the bits you actually need to follow the story.
- characters and character balance. I'm not saying there aren't any characters with hero-qualities in this, but this story doesn't give black and white. And it does it so well! You'll get your anti-hero, you'll get people who just weren't lucky at all, you'll get people who screw up, people who've been a disappointment in some way... and they are all still great and strong, lovable characters that you will care about. I feel that sometimes this 'all is grey' element is very much 'in-your-face' in stories, and here it is not, even though it is. It just feels natural.
- there is romance in this, yes, BUT - the romance is not actually needed to get you involved, because all of the connections feel important. Even if all the relationships in this story were based on friendship, I would still care deeply about them. The characters and all their personal conflicts are strong and fine enough for that.
I'm gald I gave this book a chance.
First things first:
- This is the first book I read of Leigh Bardugo - I didn't read the Grisha-trilogy (set in the same world) first, and I'm not planning to do so, because its premise simply doesn't appeal to me.
- I read this in english, which is not my first language. You'll probably notice reading this review.
(Both of these things have nothing to do with the main issue I have with this book)
SO, me struggling with this book, and ending up loving it anyway:
I WHISH somebody had told me that the first chapter didn't introduce any of the main characters. Because I read a few pages, couldn't make myself like or care, and I basically put this book down, telling myself I would read it when I had the time. Well. I managed to avoid reading it for quite some time... and picking it up was like preparing for a battle - It always takes some time to warm up to the characters, and I thought in this case I would have to force myself through a lot before that could (perhaps!) happen. I didn't want to read it, I was just determined to give it a chance.
Good thing I did!
Another thing that turned me off was the idea of having six main characters. I personally like to follow a story from the perspective of just one, sometimes two characters. In this book the main plot is told from the perspective of FIVE characters. Since this book tells an 'Ocean's Eleven'-kind of story, it was probably necessary - each member of the team has a task, and you'll need to hear about it.
It still isn't something I'm fond of, but it was ok. All of the characters have their story, all are kicking ass in their own way - while being very much human at the same time. That's probably one of the best things about this book. I'm so very sick of ('accidentally') epic heroes. I'll have more to say about characters later, here I just want to say:
If you're thinking of NOT reading this because of multiple POVs - read it anyway.
Now, what are my ACTUAL problems with this book?
First of all, the first two protagonists (who seemingly everybody loves) that are introduced bothered me somehow, because I felt I could just tell myself: okay, so, she's that kind of character, and hmmm, okay, he's that kind of character. They seemed to have characteristics, talents and even backstories that are quite typical of this kind of setting. A setting I love, by the way. Still, I really like to be surprised, and with these I just wasn't. They are awesome characters, but, you know... reading a new book shouldn't be like 'I know this.'
Anyway, 'I know this' doesn't mean 'you know this', so maybe it is just me. They become more individual over time and I found another character to love, whom I could even identify with, so it wasn't really a problem for long.
This is me saying: if you should experience something similar, just go on reading. It's worth it.
While trying to get into the story I was also struggling with the way exposition was handled. You get a lot of new words (due to the setting) and things (magic, grisha-stuff) without explanation. Sometimes there is an explanation, but two pages after the term was first used. Trying to keep an overview over all those sentences I couldn't fully understand because of that while still following the story, always hoping to finally get the piece of information I needed... it was a bit exhausting. Sometimes I have the problem that I can't really pay attention to what's happening, when I haven't fully understood things about setting, characters etc., because I'm so focused on filling the gaps.
It was probably harder for me, because english is not my first language, and, of course, because I haven't read the Grisha-trilogy. I still think it was quite irritating. Not everything needs to be explained, but in the first chapters (the second one mostly) it was just a little too much 'throwing the reader in there' for my taste. I'm not asking for extensive explanations or descriptions - in most cases just another word, half a sentence would have done the job! It felt like it was done on purpose, to create a kind of suspense that I really didn't need.
As a whole this story is playing with the reader not knowing things, which can be good - who doesn't like a good plot twist? Unexpected events? Seemingly impossible things made possible?
I love it.
However, this is actually my biggest issue with this book. Because you are living this story through the POVs of characters, and you should feel somewhat close to them, right? You do, because you get to know them, you get their thoughts and feelings and everything. Sometimes you (deliberately) just don't get their knowledge. Because suspense.
You will follow the action through someone's eyes, and that someone will know exactly what he or she is doing/planning - just you, the reader, won't know anything. This happens SOMETIMES (!!!) in 'Six of Crows'.
I'm a fan of not knowing what's happening, and I also like to wonder about peoples motives, about their plans etc. Just not when the person through whom I am experiencing it all actually has all the information. The suspense is artificial in a way, because you as a reader are simply denied information that is there. Your POV is artificial, it doesn't exist in the actual story.
It creates a strange distance between you as the reader and the characters you are reading about.
I don't like it. I think it shouldn't be necessary to use this 'method' to create suspense.
I'm not sure if this is understandable at all.
I tried to explain :)
'Six of Crows' is still amazing. Even after all this whining I can't bring myself to give less than five stars. Because this story is fun. It is awesome. I still love it. If you have no problem with this POV/suspense thing I explained above, you will probably LOVE LOVE LOVE this book.
So here is what I think was handled really well:
- World-building. The world is brought to the reader in a very subtle way. It all feels real and alive without having to fight through tons of description etc. I actually can't remember any boring 'I need this to understand this world'-descriptions at all. Through all of it, the lack of information never felt like a lack of world to be informed about. It's all there, and you will only be bothered with the bits you actually need to follow the story.
- characters and character balance. I'm not saying there aren't any characters with hero-qualities in this, but this story doesn't give black and white. And it does it so well! You'll get your anti-hero, you'll get people who just weren't lucky at all, you'll get people who screw up, people who've been a disappointment in some way... and they are all still great and strong, lovable characters that you will care about. I feel that sometimes this 'all is grey' element is very much 'in-your-face' in stories, and here it is not, even though it is. It just feels natural.
- there is romance in this, yes, BUT - the romance is not actually needed to get you involved, because all of the connections feel important. Even if all the relationships in this story were based on friendship, I would still care deeply about them. The characters and all their personal conflicts are strong and fine enough for that.
I'm gald I gave this book a chance.