Take a photo of a barcode or cover
fifi9527 's review for:
Six of Crows
by Leigh Bardugo
There’s nothing better than a good heist story.
Six of Crows follows the story of six characters, each with alternating narrative chapters, each with their own special set of skills, quirks, and baggage.
One day Kaz is approached with a dangerous, but lucrative proposition: break into the impenetrable Ice Court and retrieve the package. The package, in this case, being a man named Yul-Bayur, who has the formula for a highly addictive drug called Jurda parem which amplifies a Grisha powers to extreme ends. Kaz accepts leading to the crew to pull off one of the greatest Heists in history.
Once you get past the boring first chapter, the book opens in Ketterdam, as Kaz is having a showdown with another gang leader where he shows his mastery of the situation by never moving from the mark on which he stands while, all around him, a plan carefully laid off-page comes clicking together with clockwork precision. This book would have been a lot better if this was the first chapter as it’s a nice set up for the rest of the book.
Six of Crows has a solid plot, great action, impressive world building, and a well-constructed heist that pays off fantastically, but it is the characters that really make this book stand out from the crowd. Bardugo has constructed a team with the goal of maximising friction between everyone. Kaz Brekker: thief and brutal street lord. The backbone of Ketterdam’s Dregs underground business, Kaz’s past is haunted by death and abandonment, guilt, and trauma. Inej a light-footed spy so good at her job she’s simply known as “the Wraith”, Kaz’s secret keeper, and former sex worker (whose contract was purchased and discarded by Kaz). Jesper–a sharpshooter with exceptional skill, but also a weakness for gambling that is his downfall. Wylan the privileged son, who runs away to live amongst the rabble and hone his skills at demolitions. Matthias a brawler, soldier of the Ice Court, and prisoner turned gladiator, with a murderous grudge against the woman who he thinks betrayed him. Nina Grisha Heartrender, polyglot, and woman of secrets. Bardugo give us scenes from each of these characters perspectives, some of which overlap with each other, some that give us information being hidden from other characters, and some flashbacks that give us detailed backstories for each of our characters so we can better understand the motivations behind their decisions. Bardugo does a fantastic job of differentiating the characters and making them seem like real people with real pain, hopes, dreams and nightmares.
This book does get quite dark and gritty, from playing dead amongst a barge of plague-ridden bodies, to some graphic torture involving eyeball relocation, Bardugo / Dirtyhands does not shy away from the darkness of violence when something needs to be done. It's the reason why Kaz Brekker and his team were hired, they will do the things that nobody else will do to get the job done, and not only do these actions make for excellent reading, but so does the fallout from these actions. Kaz Brekker may not care about consequences, urging his team on with the mantra "No mourners. No Funerals", but everyone else cares about the consequences and will make their own decisions accordingly.
However, I do have one big problem with this book, and that is ages. Six of Crows is an YA novel and because of that it hits that sweet age spot of 17. But, if you’re going to write a novel about 17-year-old characters, it's your responsibility to make them think and act like 17-year-olds, yet, never of the Six of Crows characters do (expect Wylan) Every character could easily be aged up into their 30s or older for Kaz, who acts like criminal mastermind who’s been doing jobs for 20 years.
Yet Six of Crows is still one of the best fantasy heist books going around. It is funny, tragic, witty, silly, murderous, thoughtful, and more all in one package. Bardugo has created an impressive grimy fantasy that is full of knives and rifles, magic, and technology. It's a slick trick of world-building that eschews the info-dump in favour of making the world simply the world, defined by the way the characters move through it.
Six of Crows follows the story of six characters, each with alternating narrative chapters, each with their own special set of skills, quirks, and baggage.
One day Kaz is approached with a dangerous, but lucrative proposition: break into the impenetrable Ice Court and retrieve the package. The package, in this case, being a man named Yul-Bayur, who has the formula for a highly addictive drug called Jurda parem which amplifies a Grisha powers to extreme ends. Kaz accepts leading to the crew to pull off one of the greatest Heists in history.
Once you get past the boring first chapter, the book opens in Ketterdam, as Kaz is having a showdown with another gang leader where he shows his mastery of the situation by never moving from the mark on which he stands while, all around him, a plan carefully laid off-page comes clicking together with clockwork precision. This book would have been a lot better if this was the first chapter as it’s a nice set up for the rest of the book.
Six of Crows has a solid plot, great action, impressive world building, and a well-constructed heist that pays off fantastically, but it is the characters that really make this book stand out from the crowd. Bardugo has constructed a team with the goal of maximising friction between everyone. Kaz Brekker: thief and brutal street lord. The backbone of Ketterdam’s Dregs underground business, Kaz’s past is haunted by death and abandonment, guilt, and trauma. Inej a light-footed spy so good at her job she’s simply known as “the Wraith”, Kaz’s secret keeper, and former sex worker (whose contract was purchased and discarded by Kaz). Jesper–a sharpshooter with exceptional skill, but also a weakness for gambling that is his downfall. Wylan the privileged son, who runs away to live amongst the rabble and hone his skills at demolitions. Matthias a brawler, soldier of the Ice Court, and prisoner turned gladiator, with a murderous grudge against the woman who he thinks betrayed him. Nina Grisha Heartrender, polyglot, and woman of secrets. Bardugo give us scenes from each of these characters perspectives, some of which overlap with each other, some that give us information being hidden from other characters, and some flashbacks that give us detailed backstories for each of our characters so we can better understand the motivations behind their decisions. Bardugo does a fantastic job of differentiating the characters and making them seem like real people with real pain, hopes, dreams and nightmares.
This book does get quite dark and gritty, from playing dead amongst a barge of plague-ridden bodies, to some graphic torture involving eyeball relocation, Bardugo / Dirtyhands does not shy away from the darkness of violence when something needs to be done. It's the reason why Kaz Brekker and his team were hired, they will do the things that nobody else will do to get the job done, and not only do these actions make for excellent reading, but so does the fallout from these actions. Kaz Brekker may not care about consequences, urging his team on with the mantra "No mourners. No Funerals", but everyone else cares about the consequences and will make their own decisions accordingly.
However, I do have one big problem with this book, and that is ages. Six of Crows is an YA novel and because of that it hits that sweet age spot of 17. But, if you’re going to write a novel about 17-year-old characters, it's your responsibility to make them think and act like 17-year-olds, yet, never of the Six of Crows characters do (expect Wylan) Every character could easily be aged up into their 30s or older for Kaz, who acts like criminal mastermind who’s been doing jobs for 20 years.
Yet Six of Crows is still one of the best fantasy heist books going around. It is funny, tragic, witty, silly, murderous, thoughtful, and more all in one package. Bardugo has created an impressive grimy fantasy that is full of knives and rifles, magic, and technology. It's a slick trick of world-building that eschews the info-dump in favour of making the world simply the world, defined by the way the characters move through it.