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cryotart 's review for:
Six of Crows
by Leigh Bardugo
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
As much as I wanted to love this book, partially due to my love for crime and the insanely positive reviews online, it was just... Okay. I enjoyed reading it, to an extent, but I didn't love it. I guess you could say that I am disappointed, having expected something that the book did not end of giving me.
I could not connect with the characters or their motivations. Neither could I connect with the storyline. It just did not draw me in. I struggled to feel immersed, and I have several reasons, a significant portion of which is just me, and probably not the fault of the book. My EQ and the overall "ability to understand what others are feeling" made it very hard to get involved with the characters. I just did not care enough, at least not until everything started going horribly wrong at the Ice Court and curiosity got the better of me - I wanted to know how they would get out. That's about the only part that was quite interesting to me. Then, I've realised that perhaps, I'm just not the target audience, and that maybe, I just don't like YA. If the characters were adults, perhaps it would make more sense for my brain. Most of all, however, I found that the writing style was more "tell" than "show". The book was very action packed, but actions upon actions did nothing for me. I need solid descriptions of emotions and body language to understand how the character feels, and most importantly - to care. The book had very little of that. The moments that were supposed to feel sad, intense, or personal, felt dull to me. I was just like - well, okay, moving on. Once again, I think it's just me and my neurodivergent brain.
Most importantly, while this book was the first in the duology, it was not the first in the overall "universe", so I found it hard to understand the world building and the lore. There were too many names, too many locations, too much information about the past that was given to me with no proper explanation. Sure, I understood that there was a war, that all the nations hate each other, and that everyone hates the Grisha, but there was simply too much for me to grasp and not enough time or explanations to fully understand it all.
I'm also not the biggest fan of the ending. Yes, it hints at a part 2, and there is one, but I have little interest in reading it. The characters did not get the prize, and while they accomplished their mission, all it gave them was a new goal - to get back at Van Eck, and rescue Nina and Inej. The ending felt partially unresolved, and it did not feel satisfying for me.
Either way, I did like most of the characters. Nina is an absolute diva, I love my sweets-obsessed queen. Jesper is also quite lovable, he's just a guy with ADHD who loves guns and gambling!! I need more Jesper content. And Wylan grew on me. He's just a lil guy. <3 Most importantly, I need more Muzzen - the waffle loving king - content, even though he's a very background character who appears in like 2 chapters max. Inej was also a badass diva, can't deny that. And Matthias, oh, I loved his character development. It was very interesting to see. Kaz is the only one I didn't really like. He was smart, very smart even, but not likeable to me.
I don't regret having read this book, no, but I didn't love it. After all, everyone's tastes are different, and it's impossible to appease every single one of them.
I could not connect with the characters or their motivations. Neither could I connect with the storyline. It just did not draw me in. I struggled to feel immersed, and I have several reasons, a significant portion of which is just me, and probably not the fault of the book. My EQ and the overall "ability to understand what others are feeling" made it very hard to get involved with the characters. I just did not care enough, at least not until everything started going horribly wrong at the Ice Court and curiosity got the better of me - I wanted to know how they would get out. That's about the only part that was quite interesting to me. Then, I've realised that perhaps, I'm just not the target audience, and that maybe, I just don't like YA. If the characters were adults, perhaps it would make more sense for my brain. Most of all, however, I found that the writing style was more "tell" than "show". The book was very action packed, but actions upon actions did nothing for me. I need solid descriptions of emotions and body language to understand how the character feels, and most importantly - to care. The book had very little of that. The moments that were supposed to feel sad, intense, or personal, felt dull to me. I was just like - well, okay, moving on. Once again, I think it's just me and my neurodivergent brain.
Most importantly, while this book was the first in the duology, it was not the first in the overall "universe", so I found it hard to understand the world building and the lore. There were too many names, too many locations, too much information about the past that was given to me with no proper explanation. Sure, I understood that there was a war, that all the nations hate each other, and that everyone hates the Grisha, but there was simply too much for me to grasp and not enough time or explanations to fully understand it all.
Either way, I did like most of the characters. Nina is an absolute diva, I love my sweets-obsessed queen. Jesper is also quite lovable, he's just a guy with ADHD who loves guns and gambling!! I need more Jesper content. And Wylan grew on me. He's just a lil guy. <3 Most importantly, I need more Muzzen - the waffle loving king - content, even though he's a very background character who appears in like 2 chapters max. Inej was also a badass diva, can't deny that. And Matthias, oh, I loved his character development. It was very interesting to see. Kaz is the only one I didn't really like. He was smart, very smart even, but not likeable to me.
I don't regret having read this book, no, but I didn't love it. After all, everyone's tastes are different, and it's impossible to appease every single one of them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Classism