Six of Crows: Collector's Edition (Six of Crows, #1) (Grishaverse, #4)

by Leigh Bardugo

See the Grishaverse come to life on screen with the Netflix series, Shadow and Bone - Season 2 streaming now!

A glorious Collector's Edition of New York Times bestselling, epic fantasy novel, SIX OF CROWS. Beautifully designed, with an exclusive letter from the author and six stunning full-colour character portraits. This covetable hardback with red sprayed edges is a perfect gift for fans, and a perfect way to discover the unforgettable writing of Leigh Bardugo.

Criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker is offered a chance at a deadly heist: break into the Ice Court - a military stronghold that has never been breached - and retrieve a hostage whose knowledge could change Grisha magic forever. To succeed would mean riches 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. Together they might just be unstoppable - if they don't kill each other first.

'Fast, thrilling heist fantasy, boasting a brilliant new cast of characters.' METRO

'A full-throttle adventure . . . crackling dialogue and sumptuous description. Bardugo dives deep into this world.' - NEW YORK TIMES

• ISBN10: 1510106286
• ISBN13: 9781510106284
• Publish Date: 11 October 2018 (first published 29 September 2015)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Hachette Children's Group
• Imprint: Orion Children's Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 512
• Language: English
• Special: Exclusive Design Sprayed Edges Collector's Edition

Reviews

[neddieb]

So I’ll be honest, a few times I picked up this book to read only to put it down and go to another book.

But, finally I decided that I really needed to attempt to read this book. Boy, am I glad I finally did. I think at first the reason why I did not get into it was because I really did not know what was going on and who was what and did what, but once I continued to read through several chapters and the story and people began to fall into place.

The twists and turns this story takes its amazing. Bravo to the author for being so creative. Loved all of the characters. They all worked well together. Jesper and Wylan are a great pair. Nina and Matthias have a great backstory. Kaz’s story is very captivating and Inej is quiet but interesting.

Great story and I can’t wait for the next book.

[lisacee]

it just ended. I wasn't done yet.

[bumblingbookworm]

This review was originally posted on The Bumbling Bookworm

Actual rating - 4.5 stars

After finishing Ruin and Rising, I had to jump straight into this book - I needed more Grishaverse!  What can I say, Bardugo delivered because this book is phenomenal.  It was kind of like the movie Oceans 11, except in book form, which I loved.  I love Bardugo's writing style and the world that she builds.  This time we focus on other countries in the Grishaverse and it was fabulous to see that world being expanded.

While I had a few issues with the pacing of this book, it didn't stop me from putting it down and indeed I struggled to put it down for the last 200 pages or so.  The twists and turns, none of which I saw coming, were super exciting, and the characters were far more likeable that those from her first trilogy set in this universe.  Kaz is so precious, I adore him!  And I also love that Bardugo wrote in elements of her disability into Kaz, it was great to see a main character with a physical disability, and he wasn't the only diverse character in the book.  I loved this, and the ending was such a cliffhanger, I can't wait to read Crooked Kingdom! 4.5 stars.
Check out the rest of my review here!

[leahrosereads]

I'm late to the game, but when am I not?

So here's the thing - I'm going to be really upfront for a second. I have not read all of the Grisha trilogy, because I didn't like the main character in it. I actually DNF'd the first book, but gave it 3 stars because I could see the potential. The writing was incredible, the magic system was interesting, and the story itself was fascinating. But the main character ruined it all for me.

SIX OF CROWS is everything I wish Shadow and Bone was. And it all boils down to the characters.

These characters are so fleshed out and fantastically written. They may not all be the type of characters you should empathize with, but I did. Every single one of them. But, mainly Kaz. And maybe he should be the one that no one empathizes with, but I saw myself in him (mainly in the fears and convictions he has - less with the cruelty). He's just one of the best written characters I've read in a while.

Again, this world is as fantastically brilliant as I remembered it from Shadow and Bone, but even it has felt more fully developed. I think it's because this is a duology vs. trilogy, and I already knew a smidgen about the world before entering it. Still, it felt stronger, more real, like I could reach into these pages and feel the corruption and cruelties of Ketterdam and the bitter, bleak coldness of the White Island.

I'm so happy that I've tried more of Leigh's writing, because she's an incredible storyteller. I wish I enjoyed the first trilogy, but I have no doubt in my mind, that I'll be reading and loving more of her work in the future.

[EBookObsessed]

This is captivating adventure story that you can share with your older children.

Six of Crows is a story of six teens with nothing to lose, and thirty million kruge to gain, if they can break into the most impenetrable fortress to rescue a scientist making the most atrocious drug imaginable.

The gang is made up of Kaz Brekker, a boy from the Barrel, the poorest and most dangerous place in the Ketterdam. Kaz rose from a naive boy to a talented thief and leader the gang known as the Dregs. There isn't a lock he can't pick or a job he can't plan. While most believe Kaz wears gloves because there is so much blood on his hands they are permanently stained, there is a crueller story behind Kaz desire not to touch other people.

Inej, the pretty Suli girl with her lovely coffee skin, abducted from her acrobat family by slavers and sold to the Menagerie, the pleasure house also known as the House of Exotics. Inej was rescued from that life by Kaz Brekker who convinced the local boss to buy her indenture since Inej's unique skills were better suited to collecting the dirty secrets of the rich and powerful. Her performance upbringing gave her ability to move silently and climb across the tops of buildings which has earned her the name of the Wraith.

Nina Zenik is a former Ravka soldier and spy.  Nina is one of the Grisha, those born with supernatual powers.  As a heartrender, Nina can stop a heart with a wave of her hands.  Nina was captured by the Fjerdan drüskelle, who believe it is their purpose to hunt down and kill the unnatural Grisha.

Mattias Helvar one of the Fjerdan drüskelle who captured Nina and was taking her to Fjerda for trial until he was arrested as  a slaver and thrown into Hellgate prison.  Nina and Matthias are trapped in a love/hate cycle; enemies who try to fight their desires.   The Fjerdans and their propaganda of hate against the Grisha and their witch hunters known as drüskelle remind me of Nazi and the Hitler Youth Groups raised in hate to become the SS soldiers.

Jasper is a member of the Dregs.  A former farmer who makes a better sharpshotter than cardshark.

Wylan Van Eck is a demolition expert and son of the man who hired this crew.  Kaz keeps him as much an insurance policy as a needed member of the team.  As the youngest member (only 15) and the son of a rich merchant, Wylan makes us realize that while we might like some of the others, such as Kaz, some of the things they do tread over the line into a darker world.

In Six of Crows, every country is going to send a team to try and break out the scientist out of the Ice Court.  No one would bet on this ragtag bunch to make into the inpenetrable fortress, let alone out again.  But then again, they aren't a mercenary team.  They are a group of thieves and killers who might just do the impossible.  The question isn't if they can; it is if they should.

The scientist Bo Yul-Buyur has taken a relatively harmless stimulant drug, jurda, and created jurda parem.  Jurda parem enhances the power of the Grisha in inimaginable ways, leaving fabriaktors able to change lead to gold or healers who are able to control minds but can anyone really control those Grisha under the influence.  Yet, the most horrific part is the immediate and unstoppable addiction which jurda parem creates.  The Grisha waste away chasing the need for more of the drug.

With thirty million kruge on the line, can Kaz and his team break the scientist out of the Ice Court, and even if they can, do the turn Bo Yul-Buyur over to someone who will make him create more of the most dangerous and addictive drug ever created?

This story is a favorite with my teen so I decided to give it a try.  It was captivating story of how this bunch of teens figure out how to get into the Ice Court and then back out again.  Not all their plans go smoothly, and in between the action, we get backstories on everyone.

This story is geared towards the younger teen crowd but it still held my attention.  While some parts can be violent, most other things such as the fact that Inej was abducted and sold as a prostitute are more glanced over.  We don't hear graphic descriptions how creepy, old men touched 15-year-old Inej.  Just that she was forced to work in a pleasure house and no real discussion of what that means.

Inej was my favorite character while my daughter favored Wylan.  It was also interesting to discuss plot and characters with her and see the story from a younger person's perspective.  The romantic in me was appeased with the awkward teen feelings between Kaz and Inej and Nina and Matthias, and there was even a hint of something between Wylan and Jasper.  It was almost a Nora Roberts romance trilogy set up.

Each chapter is from another character's POV and the audiobook uses different narrators for each which was good as a distinction, except then each narrator has difference voices for the other characters who were talking so that we hear Kaz interpreted in several different voices.

This story does end in a cliffhanger, but thankfully the second part is already out so you don't have to wait to continue.

[justine_manzano]

Though I had intended to read Six of Crows forever, I chose it because I needed a heist-style/espionage book for the Pop Sugar Reading Challenge this year, and my sister-in-law/reading-partner-in-crime suggested this one. Make that HAS BEEN SUGGESTING this one forever. I didn't think it was my type of book. Boy was I wrong.

The characters in this book aren't good people. Not exactly. Kaz Brekker, the lead, is cold and unyielding, and the group he assembles to accomplish his mission are all of questionable morality or have a twisted understanding of the world. But as the group attempt to accomplish a heist in which they all must help each other survive to make enough money to change their lives forever, we get a view into each character's motivation. We begin to understand them. And we begin to love them, often despite ourselves.

Through Kaz's PTSD and thirst for vengeance, control, and money, through Inej's apologetic brutality and fear of returning to her life as a prostitute, through Nina's questionable choices and former training as a ruthless Grisha soldier, through Matthias' crisis of faith and desire to hunt down every Grisha, through Jesper's gambling addiction, clear ADHD, and love of guns and actions, through Wylan's desire to separate himself from his rich merchant father, we find ourselves wanting the rag tag group of criminals to succeed.

The ending was a shock, but also a welcome moment where plans go awry and nothing ends perfectly. Left with a new mission for the sequel, one can't help but read the final two chapters, and be jazzed.
I just finished this an hour ago, and I'm still desperate to download the sequel. I think I'm gonna stop writing this review and download it already because I'm very eager to find out what happens next!

I'll be back to review that one too. Until then, happy reading! (READ THIS BOOK)

[Kate (Blogging with Dragons)]

I just couldn't get into this book, even though it was well-written. I really wanted to like it, but I was disappointed. It was a struggle for me to even make it through the entire book. I just could not get attached to any of the characters.

[Briana @ Pages Unbound]

Initial Thoughts: It felt long at times, but had an interesting plot and well-developed characters. Better than the Grisha Trilogy, which I liked but not enough to actually read the third book in the series.

[inlibrisveritas]

Six of Crows took me a bafflingly long time to read considering how much I enjoyed it. I started in Janurary and just finished it near the end of March. Depsite this sort of odd time frame, the story itself was never the issue…instead, I had some trouble with the audio narration.

Six of Crows takes place in the Grisha universe, sometime after the events of the original trilogy and in a different city altogether. The focus of this book is less on the Grisha as a whole and more about those who scrap by and take risks to survive. This is very much a heist novel, so has a completely different feel from the trilogy, which is pretty nice. I like seeing a different part of the world and seeing it from different points of view. Instead of having the p.o.v.’s of characters at the head of a rebellion facing insurmountable odds to change their country, we have a rag-tag group who hid in the shadows and making their living through less than reputable means. We see the grimy underbelly of the Grisha world and get to know people who are forced to live in it.

Our cast of characters is larger this time around and we have a wonderfully diverse little group in terms of personality, each with their own story that has really colored the way they see the world. My favorite characters were probably Inej and Nina. Inej is someone who has had her world taken away and replaced with a horror she still can’t quite escape from in her mind. Her new freedom has made her strong and there is a moment towards the end of the book that basically cemented her place in the ‘strong independent woman’ category and had me so freaking happy for her.

Now to this issues I had with the audiobook. As I was getting this post set up I realized there are a lot of narrators working on this one audio. I normally don’t mind having multiple but I think it probably worked against this one for me. There is a different narrator for each point of view, which is awesome…but several of these were hard to listen to. Jesper’s chapters were hard to follow because I couldn’t tell who was speaking, a lot of the male characters sounded the exact same. He also didn’t put a ton of emotion into it either, so it was hard to really understand the character’s feelings. Kaz’s chapters were better but were really slow and full of odd inflections that really threw me off. I think I wouldn’t have even noticed if I hadn’t been listening to the voices of Nina and Inej, which were much better. I’m not sure I’ll go for the audio of the next book unless it’s on sale like this one was.

Despite the issues with the audio I really did love this story. It was action packed and full of awesome characters with a lot to unpack. We get even more world building and see the world from a non-military point of view, and we even get some Fjerda and Kerch perspective instead of just Ravkan. I’m definitely picking up the next book when I can.

[dokie80]

Am glad I try to read this again. Dunno why I give up the first time. The story is good, the characters are great. I will read the grisha series after finishing this series. No mourners...