A review by ofinkandscales
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense 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

Spoiler-free TL;DR Review:
This book is phenomenal, each character is well written, the pacing is great, and it will absolutely tug at your heartstrings at times.

Spoiler Review:

I originally got into this book because of my love for the Netflix series (#SaveShadowandBone) and boy do I regret not reading this sooner. Kaz Brekker will always be my favorite, the deadliest boy in all of Ketterdam. Of all the scenes in the entire book, the scene with the Crows riding the stolen tank through the Fjerdan streets, the sense of "this is it, we did it" had me in tears because for the entire book, everyone doubted this ragtag group of criminals kids, and despite all the doubters, /they did it/. And just as soon as they did it, it all went kettle up and now I can't wait to get into Crooked Kingdom. Even if I hadn't seen the show first, I believe I still would've fallen in love with this world of criminals and heists, each character is so well written, no one is flat and each one pops off the page as if they were a real, flesh and blood person. The way Leigh Bardugo describes her scenes makes the entire thing similar to a movie; the electric feeling of Nina taking the jurda parem and her power being felt by all, even the reader, the feeling of Jordie's bloated and slippery flesh under Kaz's hands, the turmoil Matthias feels between loyalty to his country or the girl he loves, and the feeling of walking through miles of snow and ice with only the promise of riches keeping you going.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Trafficking, and War

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Sexual assault and Vomit

The entire book revolves around a heist between a crew in Ketterdam and the country of Fjerda. Those who reside in Fjerda have a rank of people known as Druskelle who use religion as a justification for eradicating the Grisha simply for being different. The Fjerdans regularly claim Grisha are less than dogs, are monsters, etc. One of the main characters is kidnapped and trafficked into a brothel and forced to "work down" her debt. One of the main characters has deep trauma and suicidal thoughts at times. One character deals with addiction, and another deals with an abusive family. Gore is described in detail.