jeannamichel
Written on Feb 7, 2017
Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone. . . .
A convict with a thirst for revenge.
A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager.
A runaway with a privileged past.
A spy known as the Wraith.
A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.
A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.
Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz's crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don't kill each other first.
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo returns to the breathtaking world of the Grishaverse in this unforgettable tale about the opportunity—and the adventure—of a lifetime.
Source: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781627795227
- ISBN10 1627795227
- ISBN13 9781627795227
- Publish Date 29 September 2015
- Publish Status Active
- Imprint Henry Holt & Company
- Format eBook
- Language English
Reviews
kimbacaffeinate
Written on Jan 30, 2017
Joséphine
Written on Jan 14, 2017
The characters were each so multi-faceted, I must say I'm a great deal more impressed than I thought possible. World building-wise, however, I couldn't fully divorce Ketterdam from its supposed Dutch inspiration; much how I couldn't see Ravka independent of Russia. Sometimes that made me stumble while reading. On the plus side, the pacing was so on point, that it pulled me ahead right through to the end. Oh, and that cliffhanger! I'm lining up the sequel to read in the coming weeks.
bestmessever
Written on Jan 13, 2017
nannah
Written on Jan 9, 2017
Book content warnings:
human trafficking
drug abuse/addiction
slavery
(probably more; I can't think of them at the moment . . . )
Simply put, this book's plot is an elaborate heist. Six misfits bound together by strange attractions/debts/common goals/etc. have to enter the most tightly-guarded palace in the world and free the creator of a dangerous drug. The drug can amplify a Grisha's (basically a type of witch/sorcerer) power to a scary degree, but it also leaves them addicted until the drug kills them.
The six incredible misfits are as follows: Kaz Brekker, leader of the criminal gang, the Dregs, and full of tragic backstory; Inej Ghafa the Wraith, a former (forced) prostitute now part of the Dregs to be their "spider", a gatherer of information; Jesper, a (bisexual? :) ) member of the Dregs addicted to gambling, over his head in debt with a specialty in sharpshooting; Nina Zenik, a Grisha in prostitution who has a loaded past with Matthias; Matthias Helvar, a former Drüskelle, Grisha-hunter, from the very ice palace the six are going to break into; and finally Wylan Van Eck, the (also bisexual?) son of the man commissioning them to do this foolish job for a whole ton of money.
The biggest difference between Six of Crows and The Grisha Trilogy is that the world in this book seems bigger, vaster, and definitely better-realized. In Shadow and Bone, the world felt like a cheap imitation of Russia, like something you'd buy in a tourist shop (or many tourist shops). Here, I understand that this world is like a parallel universe, where cultures mirror our own, but with slight differences. Matthias's culture resembles the Scandinavian peninsula (as far as I know), Ravka (where Nina the Grisha) comes from resembles Russia, of course, etc.
On its own, without comparing it to what I've read from Leigh Bardugo before, Six of Crows stands strongly on its own. The characters are vibrant, (quite dark), interesting, and very well-rounded. They are wonderfully diverse, having different ethnicities, races, religions, sexualities, and Kaz - the leader of them all - has a disability. Being disabled myself, I've never felt more happy to read about an interesting disabled character like this, written by a disabled character.
Yeah, I'm surprised I liked this so much. I'll be reading on.
liz089
Written on Dec 27, 2016
But well that is only a small part of it, I cannot even phantom how great this first book was. I loved all the characters, how she switched between them, how we got to know them all and what they have been through before this heist. How I loved the plot, how it kept me guessing and really surprised me a couple of times. Just woow !! I think this is one of the best books I've read this year. Give me the second one !!
Sam@WLABB
Written on Nov 15, 2016
My daughter had described this to me as a little bit The Usual Suspects and Ocean's 11. I can totally see that in the style. The way the action unfolds and all the twists. They were brilliant! And the romantic in me was so satisfied. Six characters and 3 ships. Awesome! So many things to love, so many things to love. The way LB crafted this story that is set in this gritty, cutthroat world, but at the center of it, there is this makeshift family, who would go to extremes for each other.
Overall: Loved the characters, the world, the story! It's all good.
Artemis
Written on Sep 29, 2016
As a fan of Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone, I was excited for this continuation of the Grisha world but also a little hesitant. This book had so much hype behind it, I let it sit on my iPad “to-read” shelf for well over a year. It wasn’t until the second book was about to be released that I finally got over myself and picked it up. And boy, am I glad I did.
Six of Crows is set an an alternate Netherlands world, the bustling hub of Ketterdam. Bardugo weaves a complex tale complete with six main characters, five perspectives, and a detailed world building filled with a blend of darkness, magic, action, humor and romance. The characters are so multi-layered, each flawed and sometimes unlikable in their actions but are able to feel so tangible to the reader. Bardugo excels on every level and this has to be the strongest first in a series I’ve ever read. The world building is so rich and ripe, I had no problem imagining each and every location. Third person narrative was extremely effective, allows the pace to move swiftly while also allowing us equal time with each complex part of the plot. Like how Kaz can see every angle on a situation, we were able to see all sides of this story.
The characters were wonderful. I usually have a hard time with so many main characters and points of view, but Bardugo really made it easy on the reader. Not one character is a copy of another and just when you think you have someone figured out she knows when to pull the rug from beneath your feet. The relationships that unfolded (romantic and otherwise) never felt forced, overpowering or distracting to the heart of the story. If anything they allowed us to understand these characters on a deeper level.
The plot is essentially a high-stakes heist novel (comparisons to Ocean’s 11 are abundant in every review I read), but also seeks to answer a larger moral conundrum towards the end that will be the heart of the next books (I assume). Told through five perspectives (Nina, Inej, Kaz, Matthias, and Jasper) no side or personal felt out of place. Each character had agency, every memory uncovered crucial plot points, about the past as well as the present. Six of Crows set the tone, and there is no backing down.
A rare five stars from me because I enjoyed every sentence, every space, and everything about Six of Crows. I know I’m not alone in this. This excelled in ways I couldn’t have even imagined! So excited to pick up Crooked Kingdom in a week or two (trying to pace myself). A must-read if you haven’t already.
cornerfolds
Written on Jul 27, 2016
Initial reaction:
So here's the thing: I am obsessed with The Grisha Trilogy. It is probably my favorite series and the only one (besides Harry Potter) that I own multiple copies of from multiple countries just because it's pretty. But something about Six of Crows made me wary when it first came out and, although I bought a signed copy soon after release, it has taken me until now to read it. I just wasn't sure I could love it as much as Alina's story.
Six of Crows is about members of a gang called the Dregs in Ketterdam, a trade city set in the same universe as The Grisha Trilogy. Each member has unique abilities that makes them valuable to the team, which has been chosen by Kaz Brekker to pull of a deadly heist. I'll admit, this is not a description that really appeals to me, which is part of the reason that I took so long to finally read this. Still, just about every single blogger I know has recommend this book to me and Leigh Bardugo did write it, so I fully expected to be blown away.
One of the aspects of this book that people have gone on and on about is the characters and how incredible each of them is. Six of Crows is told from five points of view (with a couple others thrown in for good measure). In general, I hate books with switching POVs, especially when there's an excessive number, but I'll admit it worked here. The viewpoint changed to keep the most important events at center stage and it also really helped in getting to know each character. I wouldn't go as far as saying I loved all of them though.
The characters I most enjoyed were Nina, Matthias, and Jesper. I loved Nina's fire and wit and loved each of her chapters! I liked the struggle I saw in Matthias and felt he had the most growth of all the characters. Jesper was just the most fun to read about! The other characters I didn't quite connect with and, honestly, I'm still unsure what to think of Kaz. I know a lot of people absolutely adore him but he didn't seem to change much from beginning to end and I'm still waiting for Crooked Kingdom to see if he has any redeeming qualities. People have also gone on and on about the romance and how wonderfully swoon-worthy it all was. Now that it's over I'm really just wondering what I missed. Could someone please point me to the swoony romance?
Something I did really enjoy was the world building, which was almost as incredible as it was in The Grisha Trilogy! I loved getting to explore new parts of the Grishaverse that I'd never seen before. I especially loved Fjerda and the Ice Court. That being said, I had a really hard time coming to grips with Ketterdam belonging to the same world as Ravka. The city itself was really well done, but it all seemed so far removed that it took me awhile to make it work in my head. Leigh Bardugo said the world of Six of Crows would be familiar to fans of The Grisha Trilogy, but Ketterdam seemed way more like a modern city than the fantasy world of the Grisha.
But let's talk about the plot - there's a super amazing, dangerous heist, right! Well, um... Eventually? Kind of? The first 75% of this book is getting ready to carry out the heist and backstory, about 15% is the actual heist action, and the last 10% is finding out whether they were successful and setting up a cliffhanger for Crooked Kingdom. To put it simply, I was bored. A lot. The pacing of Six of Crows almost killed me. If Leigh Bardugo hadn't written this book, I would have probably DNF'd it really early on. It did finally pick up at around page 350 and the last 100 pages were really interesting, but it should not take 350 pages to feel invested. There were some really good twists, which I always appreciate, but it just wasn't enough to blow me away.
I wanted to love this book SO much! I wanted it to be an incredible addition to the Grishaverse. I wanted to buy it in multiple languages and have an entire Grisha shelf in my library, but Six of Crows just wasn't everything I'd hoped it would be. Were the characters great? Half of them. Was the world incredible? Parts of it. Was the plot fantastic? Some of it. And that's really my problem with this book. Some of it was really good, but some of it was incredibly underwhelming. I still have every intention of reading Crooked Kingdom because it's a Grisha book and I want more of the universe, but I'm really sad to say I can't add this series to my favorites shelf.
Chelsea
Written on Dec 23, 2015
You can always count on a gorgeous cover from Leigh Bardugo it seems. It didn’t disappoint.
Initial Thoughts
I was really nervous starting this book. I tend to not like over-hyped books so I had my fingers crossed the whole time.
My New BFF
I think a lot of people will agree with me in saying that Inej is probably the best character in this book. I don’t know if it’s how bad ass she is or her sad back story but she will grab your heart and rip it out of your chest. Emotionally and physically. She’s also extremely loyal to Kaz which was nice because you couldn’t say the same thing about all of the crew.
My Crush
So far I’m liking Kaz the most of all the male characters. I just found him easier to connect with. I did like the others but Kaz has a little mystery to him and I think that makes him more interesting. I was impressed with his back story and how he seems to have risen above it and become a decent man. I say decent because he still is a thief but he could have gone in so many other directions.
Writing Style
I found the beginning of this book very slow. It ended up taking me much too long to read this book because it wasn’t one of those books where you absolutely couldn’t put it down. I had no problem putting it on pause for a while. It was still a great book though! Just not quite 5 star worthy. I feel like I’m biased to talk about world building because I have read her other books so I already knew the world fairly well. It was nice seeing a different part of it though.
Closing Thoughts
I’d say this book is worth the read! It’s exciting and who doesn’t like a good heist book. I also ended up liking the different points of view in this book too. I liked some more than others but it was nice seeing each part of the heist as it was going on. I’m looking forward to reading the next book so we can learn more about these characters.