I am doomed to love any book that promises thieves, assassins, heists, and evillery. WELCOME TO THE DARK SIDE AND ITS COOKIES. (Yes, “evillery” is a word, why are you looking at me like that?) Plus when a book promises to be “dark and scary” and actually is dark and scary, it has my vote. And love. And all the epic feels. Six of Crows is insanely dark, ergo I love it insanely much. (Although not as much as I thought I would?! But I’ll get into that in a minute!)
SO THIS CALLS FOR A LIST! 6 Things about Six of Crows, obviously, because six.
(Oh and quick note: this is by the same author, Leigh Bardugo, and set in the same world as the Grisha Trilogy. You do NOT have to read the Grisha books first!! So go wild with this one, young crows.)
6 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT SIX OF CROWS
(Which sort of rhymes! Admire my genius!)
- It puts the EPIC in “epic fantasy”. No doubt. No question. ONLY SCREECHING. It’s basically a heist book, set in a Russian-inspired fantasy world, where a crew of thieves go after The Ultimate Big Haul to become rich as kings or queens respectively. They’re dark and dastardly fiends. And when I say “dark” I mean SUPER DARK. Their backstories are heartbreaking and there’s torture, slicing, bleeding and dying. Also magic. ALSO CAKE.
“How about cake?”
“What about it?”
“I’m very keen on cake. I’m wondering if we can find some common ground.”
(You found common ground with me, Nina. <3)
- The characters are INCREDIBLY dimensional. It balances 6 main characters, and 6 POVs. That’s, um, a lot. And while I do have twitches about this, ultimate the characters were extraordinary. And I’ll throw a brief description of all these dark hearted darlings at you, just because:
• KAZ: He’s the coldhearted mastermind and yet somehow so tragically wonderful?! He cheats death and he’s endlessly clever. And he has a limp.
• INJE: She’s the “spider”, acrobat, and hears and sees everything. I be shipping her with above very very aggressively.
• NINA: She’s a Grisha (magician, basically)! She’s also sassy and capable and epic.
• MATTHIAS: He is like a bulldozer and hates everything. Meh to him.
• JESPER: The dorky comic relief and likes to shoot everything copiously.
• WAYLAN: He’s the filler character who’s name I forgot the second I read it but he was little and defiant and still cute.
I loved the characters…they are dimensional and interesting and I loved and hated them all at once. I particularly love Kaz because — HELLO MASTERMIND. I also have a decided weakness for clever, tortured and despicable characters. #sorrynotsorry Matthias I did not like becuase he has a self-righteous vibe going and it just annoyed me.
When everyone knows you’re a monster, you needn’t waste time doing every monstrous thing.
- Buuuuut, the characters are also the reason the book lost a star for me: TOO MANY. NOT ENOUGH FOCUS. Everyone narrates. Everyone has this massively complex backstory. While reading pages of Matthias/Nina’s backstory (which was interesting, don’t get me wrong) but I started to think “Is this strictly necessary????” I drowned in too much info. Plus I don’t think we needed ALL the perspectives. You can enjoy a character without seeing out their eyeballs, okay?! Plus we didn’t even get that much of Kaz!! Is it his story or not?! GAH. I felt he was knocked to the wayside a lot and while I liked the other characters, I would’ve way preferred more Kaz. (And less of Matthias’ whinging. Omg, dude, go eat a sugar cube and lighten up.)
- And the book is super long. Too long? If we’d had less backstory that would’ve kept the pace chuffing along faster. I loved reading it, but when I put it down I had a severe sense of exhaustion. I crave conciseness.
- Buuut, HEISTS AND WORLD BUILDING AND HUMOUR AND HEISTS. Did I mention heists?! I LOVE HEISTS. Show me Ocean’s Eleven, The Italian Job, or Leverage and I shall prattle on for HOURS. (Though, I assure you, I personally do not steal. I mean, I stole chocolate from the fridge once? So that was pretty evil since it wasn’t strictly mine.) And the heist is complicated and the plans are awesome. Plus stuff continually goes wrong and the characters aren’t spared and the world-building is complex and blood everywhere and YESSSS. I LIKE THIS. Did I mention cons and manipulation?!!
- I loved it. But it lacked tightness for me. I wanted less of EVERYTHING and more intensely a few things. Also please no to that nail-biting ending. I need the sequel now. I NEEDED THE SEQUEL YESTERDAY. I’m entirely sure Six of Crows is the kind of book I will hug and then murder softly with a small 50ft pole because it hurt my feels but I love it. Definitely a new favourite fantasy!!
THE DEAL IS THE DEAL.
THANK YOU TO HACHETTE AUSTRALIA FOR THE REVIEW-COPY! Six of Crows (book #1) by Leigh Bardugo was published October, 2015.
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.
….click to read my reviews…
I only heard wonderful things about this. I’m definitely NOT reading the Grisha first if this one centers around evil masterminds, come on. How am I going to pass this up? Thank you for a new suggested read, definitely buying this.
You CAN’T pass it up basically. Six of Crows is whispering for you to come devour it immediately. #legit
I tried reading this one, and I just.. I couldn’t get into it. Plus I’m not a huge fan of anything more than three characters (I’m a wimp, I know). I don’t have a whole lot to say about it other than the fact that I haven’t even read the Grisha series yet. I plan to, and maybe I’ll retry Six of Crows too. We’ll just have to see, Kaz sounds really wicked though!
Lovely photo by the way, I adore the black pages! Awesome review, as always c:
AWK. Thank you! <3 I had fun going for a dark theme with the photos. 😉
And I totally get that! Last year I would've screeched, but this year I've read Game of Thrones and some of those books have like 10+ narrators. *dies a little still* SO YEAH. But I still feel like Six of Crows could've been tighter?! *sighs*
Telling me something is dark is like offering me free candyfloss for reading it.
I’ve seen nothing but stellar reviews for this one, so I want to get round to it eventually.
Whether I enjoy books with a million POVs or not depends on the characters. Inje sounds awesome 🙂
iT CALLS TO YOU. CAN YOU HEAR IT’S SHRIEKING WHISPERING CALLS!? (That sounded entirely creepy, but still.) I like my fantasy dark and with plenty of evillery. *rubs hands together in glee*
All the reasons you mentioned that lost you a star for this book, I loved. I am huge fan of multiple POVs and I am always interested in ALL THE DETAILS and backstories. Super long books are my favorite (if I am loving book, I want it to have million pages!). So yeah, I adored everything about this book. I felt like it was written right for me. And I am glad you enjoyed it enough to give it 4 stars, Cait 🙂
Haha!! Goes to show how we all interpret books differently, right?!!? 😛 I’m glad you enjoyed all the POVs and backstories!! I did love the details, I just wanted to see more details on fewer things. *sighs* But I am definitely a picky berry. XD And it was definitely a solid 4! If not 4.5!
GUUUUUURL, so not fair! You make me want to leave everything behind and read this book right now buuuut I have a big exam on Monday!! Life is very unfair, I tell you. This is already sitting in my ereader and I can’t start it. 🙁 Hopefully, I will soon!
Screamingly awsome review btw! 😀
omG GOOD LUCK FOR THAT EXAM. Six of Crows can reward you, eh?! 😉
THANKS! Definitely so! 😀
Aah, I am getting crazy excited for this book! I haven’t read any of Leigh Bardugo’s books so when I first heard about Six of Crows I was a bit like, meh, (which is stupid because assassins and thieves!) but I’ve just reserved it from the library and can’t wait for it to arrive!! I usually don’t like books with multiple narrators just because it tends to slow me down but oh well, Six of Crows seems freaking epic 😀 Awesome review, Cait!
Zareena @ The Slanted Bookshelf
I actually felt meh about it initially too! Mostly because I read a snippet of the prologue and it was kinda random and boring?! (Seriously it’s WAY better after the prologue.) BUT YES IT WAS GLORIOUS AND DARK AND NEFARIOUS. XD
It’s a duology I believe so I’ll pick this back up when the second book is out so I can read them back to back. 😀
Omg only a duology?! *cries* I could read a TON of books about these characters.
THIS SOUNDS FANTASTIC AND I AM GOING TO GET IT. Sometime. Maybe. I know you said I don’t have to read the Grisha trilogy, but what if I did’t LIKE it? But there’s cake! I actually haven’t read very dark YA, because I go to adult for the darkest stuff, but Unwind (MG?) was pretty creepy.
YOU WOULD REALLY LIKE IT. I just have this feeling. *nods* I felt like Unwind was YA, since they were like in their teens, right?! AND IT WAS CREEPY. I had nightmares from that. xD that shark…arm….omg.
Ooh this sounds awesome! I haven’t read the Grisha trilogy yet, but Shadow and Bone is waiting for me on my shelves (I just need to get over my reading slump caused by Winter before I start it haha)
Go heed the call of Shadow and Bone. GO MICHELLE. IT CALLS TO YOU. XD
Oh my gosh, yes- I adored this one too. I read it last month while I was on a school trip. I liked reading all the point of views- but I’m with you- they didn’t really develop- all the development was in the backstory, so that was how we saw them change. I actually adored Wylan, and it was a really interesting choice that he didn’t get a perspective. Nina and Inej are my faves. Heists and cons are fabulous, I love seeing the plot unfold (shout out to the heist society books by ally carter, which were so great) I quite like darer YA, though I can’t stand dark movies. Fairest by Marissa Meyer was pretty dark, as was Speak and Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson. Thanks for the review!
OOH yes. You worded that so perfectly. *nods* Like Nina changed a lot, I think, in her actions and decisions, but mostly everyone else was just backstory focused. :O I loved ALL the characters (apart from Matthias haha) but I don’t think they all needed POVs. Maybe just Kaz, Inej and Nina? Eep.
Fairest was totally dark. *shivers* And entirely awesome. I love how Marissa Meyer made me understand Levana but not feel sorry for her?! That’s such talented writing. :O
I FEEL YOU ON SO MANY LEVELS CAIT! I loved this book so much. Can we just take a moment and appreciate how brilliant, evil, and cold-hearted Kaz is but is still so tortured and tormented that you can’t help but feel for him and AHHHH so many emotions I can’t even. I also loved Nina, her sass was awesome. But but I loveeeed the backstory! Backstories are practically all I live on. Broken hearts and shattered dreams that contribute to a character turning cold and hard… GOSH I love that stuff. I kind of hoped that this story would be contained to a single novel… but who am I kidding, the world needs more Kaz. Lovely review Cait! And that photo, spot on *winks* xx
YES LET’S TAKE A MOMENT. A GOOD LONG MOMENT BECAUSE AFJDKLAFDJS KAAAAZ And I’m totally going to go read your review immediately. Squeee!! 😀 I did love the backstories! I just…for me it was too much and too intense. Like I wish some stuff had been held back for future “Ooh, but I want answers” sort of feel? Instead I feel like we got everything very fast.
This is my next read and reading your review has me so damn excited Cait!! I love heist, and magic and evillery (which of course is a word, anyone who says otherwise knows nothing [John Snow]). I really love multiple POV books, I love experiencing the story from so many angles so maybe I’ll enjoy that element more then you seems to. The Grisha world is so magical and brilliant and I can wait to dive into it again!!
GOOD. MY WORK HERE IS DONE. hehe. Evillery is basically going to be in the dictionary next year, just you wait and see. I have this knowledge of things.
JONNNNNN. HE IS ALIVE. HAVE YOU SEEN THE POSTERS?!?!? AJFDKLSAFJDKLJ
Omg yes I saw the posters!!! But I kind of new before hand, it popped up on my fb aggeess ago that Kit Harrison had been spotted in Belfast (I have no idea how to spell that) when they were filming the upcoming season. I just started Six of Crows and I’m really enjoying it so far!
I AM TORN, CAIT. I despise too many narrators, but HEISTS. RUSSIAN INSPIRED EPIC WORLD. MAGIC. How could I resist??? I hope it’s good! I’m weird with darker books, because I love dark backstories and when there are actually consequences, but I don’t like it when the TONE of the book is too bleak if that makes sense? I also like antiheroes, but TBH I also want the characters to be somewhat redeemable at least? How to Lead a Life of Crime was pretty good, and The Darkest Minds has some dark moments.
DON’T RESIST. RESISTENCE IS FUTILE. And the darker the book, the better, mwahhahha. *rubs hands together evilly* Antiheroes are always my favourite, tbh, and I’m glad that we’re allowed more in YA. Like I feel as if it was nearly taboo at one stage?! BUT NOW ALL THE ANTI-HEROES OMG. *happy evil dance* HTLAOC is still one of my ultimate favourites. BUT I NEED A REREAD. It’s been like 3 or 4 years. 0_0
I LOVED The Grisha Trilogy and I can’t wait to read this book! I’ve read the excerpt and it looks amazing. I have a feeling though that Kaz would be my favorite<33 *flails*
SQUEEEEEEE. I HOPE YOU LIKE IT. I cannot hug this one enough, tbh, and the sequel!! *flies about and wails* I NEEDS IT.
So… I haven’t read this book. Please refrain from killing me.
I really loved the Grisha trilogy, though, and I can’t wait to get hold of this. I mean, I might just buy it for the cover and then stare at it for days on end. SO MUCH BEAUTIFULNESS.
I love your photography!
Of COURSE I won’t kill you!! It’s new, come now. 😛 And I will fully support buying-it-for-the-cover-and-staring-at-it because that is a wise life decision. NO REGRETS.
I NEED DIS BOOK *grabby hands* fank you for reading and reviewing it XD
“I’m entirely sure Six of Crows is the kind of book I will hug and then murder softly with a small 50ft pole because it hurt my feels but I love it.”
omo I love how you word your emotions XD This is beautiful and hilarious. *feeds you all the cake and pie*
yES YOU DO. I feel like this will be one where you’ll adopt all the tragic tortured characters and adore them.
*eats all the pie because is agreeable like that*
ummm
I always do that
the tortured, broken, hurting, tragic characters are my FAVORITE and they need all the love, so I will give it. *passes around cookies of love*
I’m actually reading this book right now. I love it so far, and mostly because of Kaz.
You and I are in COMPLETE agreement here. <3
The deal is the deal~
I loved it. Though I agree it isn’t as tight as it could have been, it didn’t really bother me all that much. 🙂
You can have Kaz. I’ll take Jesper.
GREAT. WE SHALL DO THAT. *takes Kaz and runs away with him* DEAL IS THE DEAL HERE.
I LOVE heists and cons. I thoroughly enjoyed the Grisha series. I drooled over Six of Crows’ black pages. This should have been my favorite book of the year! But it wasn’t. At all. The very end managed to catch my interest and bump it up to 3 stars, but I had to force myself through the first 90 percent. For some reason it didn’t work for me at all. There were way too many POVS (and they were still being introduced, over 100 pages in, ugh), I didn’t really care about any of the characters, I was bored, I had no idea what was going on most of the time…basically it was a mess. I’m still disappointed in myself.
Is Red Rising considered YA? That’s probably the darkest one I’ve read this year.
AWK. *pats shoulder* I am sad for you. I hate it when books that should be a favourite (ergo me and Mosquitoland XD) just flop in our faces. *heavy sigh* I seriously don’t think we needed that many POVs and I see a lot of authors doing that these days. Like they’re terrified we can’t get to know a character properly without being in their head?! NOT TRUE. Some of my favourite characters are secondary characters!! And I loved Sturmhund in the first series and that was 100% Alina’s perspective. SOOOOO. (Maybe the author just got over-zealous after being so limited in the first series with just Alina?!)
I thought Red Rising was YA but everywhere I see it shelved as Adult. XD I LOVED IT THOUGH. (Did you like it?)
Exactly! What about Zuzana, only the best secondary character ever?! Or Zuri. Basically Laini Taylor writes the best secondary characters ever. Besides JKR, of course.
Erm, I still haven’t decided what I think about Red Rising. I think I need to read it again.
yES EXACTLY. And I would also like to take a moment for Despina from The Wrath and the Dawn, because she owned that boo, omg.
Oh no, WHO IS THAT? (I didn’t read the book *that* long ago, eek.)
OMG YES. ALL THE – WAIT WHAT IS THE PLURAL OF YES? NEVER MIND JUST… THIS BOOK, OKAY!!!!! Ahhh I finished reading Six of Crows last night and for the few weeks I have been reading it, it has not left my mind alone. I adore it all. The. Best. The heist aspect was AMAZING and the character development was AWESOME and the imagination and world building was BRILLIANT. I need to read The Grisha trilogy now. Inej & Kaz, I ship it so so much. <3 Nina = aww, Jesper = aww, Wylan = sshhh okay aww and Matthias = sheesh I get it (aww)
I don't know if any of that made sense!?!? 😀
Just wanted to add (because amid all my fangirling I forgot to mention it) that yes, I would have loved to read more of Kaz’s POV. At the end of each chapter I was all excited like NOW ARE WE GOING TO READ MORE INTO THE LIFE OF THE CRIMINAL MASTERMIND??? Oh okay, another Jepser chapter. That’s fine, I can deal with it.
However, I actually really enjoyed the whole backstory part??? I loved how intricate everything is.
Ooh, maybe there weren’t that many Kaz chapters because of the whole idea of the legend and story he built around his reputation for other people in the story; the author wants to see how much of that legend readers fall into the trap of believing and judging Kaz through other characters’ perspectives before, BOOM here is a Kaz chapter to dispel all your worries and erase what you thought you knew. Haha I sound like an English Lit essay. I am not ashamed. <3
Yeses? Yesness?! LET’S GO WITH YESNESS BECAUSE IT’S FUN TO SAY. *nods sagely* AHHH I’m so glad you loved it too!! I need more fantastical heist books in my life, tbh. They shouldn’t be so far and few! THEY ARE AWESOME. And don’t worry, your comment makes PERFECT sense. So many dfkjsa2wqtqtqqqqq feels.
AND yUS. I wanted more of Kaz. I wanted to see his brilliance. And I guess that would’ve been hard to write, maybe?! BUT STILL. Jesper was adorable and I loved him but I’m not sure we needed his POV, tbh. And I didn’t think we needed Nina AND Matthias. But. What do I know?! 😛
I saw “Six of Crows” in the post title and instantly lost my mind. I am also aggressively shipping Kaz and Inej, but also Matthias and Nina, which is probably why I was fine with hearing so much of their backstory. The romance was EVERYWHERE so I pretty much floated on a cloud of happiness the whole time. And there were no love triangles everyone just fit together the way they should!!
I absolutely understand the feeling that we didn’t need every character’s perspective. Often I would be all excited reading about Kaz and then it would jump to Jesper and I’d have to stop myself from screaming in rage. But I guess that’s to make sure that everyone’s fav character gets their air time. But I agree, more Kaz next time, all Kaz next time. Okay maybe not all Kaz, but mostly Kaz.
I disagree about the book being too long, but that’s just because I wanted to read more :p Great post as always!
Ahhh YES, right?! No love triangles, on this glorious day. :’) And I just think all the couplings were adorable and cute. I still ship Matthias and Nina because they have history and chemistry and I LOVE Nina. I just still don’t care much about Matthias. MY BAD. XDXD
I agree!!! I liked Jesper just fine, but I’m not sure we needed his POV…>_> KAAAAAZ. Omg. And Inje. I particularly loved her POV too.
I promised myself I wouldn’t read your review until I finished the book buuuut I failed at this BECAUSE CAIT REVIEWING A BOOK I’M ACTUALLY READING HOW OFTEN DOES THIS HAPPEN *flails*
Basically I’m very very excited.
I LOVE KAZ HE IS THE BEST. “coldhearted mastermind and yet somehow so tragically wonderful” yesh, all of the yes.
Oh no you spelled Inej’s name wrong in the list! O_O (BUT YES I’M SHIPPING HER AGGRESSIVELY WITH KAZ AND HAVE BEEN DOING SO SINCE LIKE THREE CHAPTERS IN. <3)
I… haven't seen aaall that much of the other characters yet, so I haven't decided on them. *dies at you calling Matthias a bulldozer* XD
I knoooow I want more Kaz! *wails* However, I'm very used to my favorite characters ALWAYS getting the least screen-time in EVERYTHING, so I'm just happy I'm getting so much. XD What can I say… I'm a fairly easy bookworm to please. *shrug* Also I LOVE being in his POV but I'm ALSO a big fan of seeing mah favorite dark characters through others' POVs so that I can see him from the outside and what others think of him because that's glorious too. XD
BUT HEISTS AND I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE MAIN HEIST PART TO START AND THE FACT THAT YOU LIKED IT MAKES ME SUPER EXTRA EXCITED.
Cliffhanger though? O_O NOOOOO.
I rather suspect that I'll be wanting less of everything and more intensely a few things as well, but we shall see. (Specifically, I'm not sure I'm all into Matthias/Nina either–thought I'm willing to give it a try–and I think I want it all to be about Kaz being fabulous and coldhearted and about him and Inej because they're awesome together. BUT WE'LL SEE.)
Loved reading your review! *flails* And I suspect I'll be coming bawling to you about the book (again) when I actually finish it, so stay tuned. XD (Of course I read slow and am still drowning in NaNo, so this may be in a couple of weeks because I am not a read-a-book-a-day-masterful-Cait.)
ALSO I HAVEN'T SEEN OCEANS ELEVEN BUT I SAW OCEANS TWELVE. AND I HAVE ELIOT FROM LEVERAGE AS MY BACKGROUND ON MY LAPTOP FOR NANO WHICH I MADE: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/471611392207833181/
I thought you might be proud. XD ALL OF THE HEISTS. <3
OMG I SPELT INJE WRONG!!??? Gah. *facepalm* I feel like I can’t remember if it was Wayland or Wyland either. 0_0 So bascically Kaz’s name is all I’m sure of here. XD hehe. But squeee!! I’m glad you liked the review.
I do know what you mean *nods* And I like seeing Kaz from other’s POV’s. But I still reckon 3 POV’s could’ve covered everything quite nicely instead of like 5 or 6 or whatever it is. *dies a little* OMG DID YOU GET TO THE EYEBALL SCENE??!?!?
Heists tho. I knew you’d like it because of that. XD
I SHALL STAY TUNED AND WAIT WITH MUCH ANTICIPATION. *nods*
ELIOOOOOOOOTTTTTTT. *FLAILS FOR 9 YEARS*
EEEE I can’t wait to read this book! It is EVER SO HIGH on my list (but Winter is higher and actually in my possession right now so it gets priority). As you well know I ADORE anything with Slavic vibes so GAH SO EXCITED!
And yes! Heists! I actually didn’t realize how much I love them until I thought about it – but I DO love heists.
My NaNovel actually has hints of some and I’m liking the heisty parts better than the other bits and oh gosh do I have to change the entire focus and MC of my novel now OH NO
yESSSS WINTER SHOULD HAVE ALL THE PRIORITY. Everyone is reading it in my Goodreads feed and HOWLING and I’m so worried now. xD My copy is taking foreeever to arrive. *hyperventilates a little*
Oooh, yay for your novel then! 😀 I AM ONBOARD. I wrote and entire novel specifically so I could steal things. XD Actually I was screaming when I heard about Six of Crows at first, because my book is Russian fantasy + heists. GAH. XD But whatever.
I told myself I’m not allowed to read this one until I finish the Grisha trilogy – specifically, Ruin & Rising. I don’t even know why I put it off in the first place, because I loved the first two books, but now its been so long I think I’ve forgotten most of what happens. Gah.
Books with multiple perspectives can be tricky to get right – there’s always the issue of making the voices distinct, and providing a balance between too much and too little information. Sounds like Six of Crows struggled a bit with that, but the action and the heist seem to make up for it! Can’t wait to finally read it!
OMG OMG DELAY NO LONGER HANNAH! EMBRACE THE GRISHA! (Actually I was disappointed with Ruin and Rising, but it was still well written. XD Siege and Storm will forever be my favourite. <3 STURMHOND.) I think Six of Crows does well with the distinct voices! I just think I struggled to attach myself to SO MANY people all at once. Like the story was great, but if there had been less perspectives it would've been so so much tigher.
LEVERAGE!!! *fangirls*
Okay, that was only semi-relevant. . .
Throw the blurb out the window, you had me at copious characters, and dark scariness that delivers! And humor. Must have my laughs. I think I have to read this. And I *usually* like copious narrators if the author does it right. Sooo. . . Yeah. You’ve convinced me. The super longness is the only thing that daunts me. I might be reading it forever.
Epic fantasy always makes things better. I vote that we rewrite all the stories into an epic fantasy setting.
Ah! I looove the masterminds, especially if they are clever AND funny. i. e. Jaron from the Ascendance Trilogy.
IT IS ENTIRELY RELEVANT. *takes a moment to fangirl exclusively because Eliot* AHEM. So yes. I do so love dark humour too, and cake. I was very very happy at the cake quips in this book. All books need cake, tbh. I think you’d enjoy this one a lot then! 😀 I’ve always been a bit iffy about tons of characters (although Game of Thrones has helped a bit…since some books have like TEN narrators or more…omg. 0_0).
I vote that we go with your vote because epic fantasy is life. Also death. BUT LIFE.
I want to read this book with all of my heart, but I told myself I have to read the Grisha Trilogy first…. It’s a painful thing to do, especially since I don’t even own the first book yet. But it must be done. I know I don’t have too, but I want to!
I loved your review of it! Once again its super funny! Thats what i love about your blog!! All your posts seem to show a glimpse of your personality, and it makes me smile:))))
I do get that!! I probably would opt to do it too, if I hadn’t already read the Grisha trilogy. 😛 It gives you more backstory on the magic-y side of the world too. *nods* BUT YOU GOTTA TRY THEM SOON, YES?!?! XD
Awwww, REALLY!!?? *flails about in happy excitement* That seriously makes my day, THANK YOU, MAYA. <3
I really do love dark books, so yay for that! I haven’t read the original trilogy and I really do want too, so I think I”ll wait and get to those before I start this one (even if you don’t HAVE to per se). Sorry there was a bit too many characters and stories going on, but yay for loving it still.
I do understand reading them in order!! I probably would’ve picked to do that if I hadn’t already read the Grisha books too. 😛 The original Grisha books do give you more on what Grisha’s can do *nods*
YAYYYYYYY. I also feel like this book needed more Kaz, but I didn’t mind all the other perspectives. AND WYLAN (WAYLAN?) WAS SUCH A SQUISH. I want to squish him. I don’t think we got a perspective from him, now that I think about him. Oh, nope.
I totally ship Inej and Kaz as well, who wouldn’t? 🙂
Omg I have no idea if it was Waylan or Wyland. XD HE WAS A SQUISH. An adorable squish. Him + Jesper = let this ship sale. THEY WERE ADORABLES. And yES. Who wouldn’t ship Inej and Kaz?! They were wonderful and consequently broke me at the end there. -_-
I’ve been looking at this book for quite some time now. I almost bought it just because THAT DESIGN. Oh my word. The black pages? So cool. And I love the texture of the cover. I have Shadow & Bone, so I’m planning on reading that first before I buy this, that way I know whether or not I like the author’s writing and such. This really has me even more curious about Six of Crows!
Squeeeak! I hope, if you do get it, that you like it too. 😛 And I seriously think you HAVE to read Siege and Storm!! IT IS THE BEST BARDUGO BOOK IN THE UNIVERSE. *happy feels about Sturmhond*
I have very, very briefly scanned your review because this is one of the books I’m getting for my birthday next month! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. Alise keeps yelling at me that I need to read it (and I mean YELLING). I am terribly excited for all the dark things 😀
Alise is yelling ALL THE GOOD THINGS THEN. Trust Alise, Bec. TRUST HER AND ME AND READ THIS THE SECOND YOU GET IT FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY.
YES. I AGREE WITH YOU 110%. I feel like the characters were this story’s strength and its main flaw. They were all so well-developed and multi-dimensional, but there were so many of them that sometimes it was hard to keep everyone straight. And I agree about the length – it could have been cut down just a tad, especially at the beginning. So glad you liked this so much Cait and, as always, fabulous review! ♥ #BookishTwinsStrikeAgain
WHYYY AM I NOT SURPRISED?!?! heheh. But yes! It took me a while to kind of get everyone sorted. :O Not that they all sounded the same (they all sounded so so different, which was amazing writing!) but just there was SO MUCH DETAIL and SO MUCH BACKSTORY. *brain smushes* It felt like it could’ve been so much tighter….
I am actually reading the grisha trilogy because I want to read six of crows. (I am weird like that…. I know it isn’t needed, but I just can’t get my mind around not reading the grisha first.)
I don’t even know why I am so keen on reading six of crows. I don’t really like heists. 🙂 But dark and scary… that gets me going!
It’s not weird!! I would honestly probably do that too, just because I really love things in order. XD I only finished off the last Grisha book a few months back. XD I loooove the second, omg, STURMHOND. *ahem*
I say “yay!” to evillery (which is definitely a word) and to those PHOTOS (♥). But the multiple POVs scare me a little, and I have only (so far) read the first book in the Grisha trilogy because it didn’t impress me much? AGH, decisions–I’ll probably end up reading it anyway because I also have an affection for HEISTS and for this review. XD
The first Grisha book didn’t actually impress me a lot either! 😛 MY BAD, TOO, THEN. XD But the second book is everything, and the third book is good but my ship sunk so I ended up super mad. hhaaha. *collapses in tears* BUT STILL. Evillery is a word that everyone should use, tbh.
I’m looking forward to reading this one so much! All of the characters sound like they’re developed super well, even though sometimes it got a bit much and a bit too long. I can’t wait to read this one, thanks for the review Cait!
A good and honest review. I have been hanging out for this book as I enjoyed the Grisha trilogy and like you said a Heist Fantasy book, just take my money now. I hope to enjoy it as much as you did but hope really hope the 6 different points of views don’t annoy me to much (I also hate multiple points of view for the sake of it).
Ohhhh yay, I am dancing around because someone agrees with me! I feel exactly the same way about all these things! It took me SO LONG to read, because yes- you are so right, exhausting is the perfect word! Sometimes I was like “enough!” (I need that Rebel Wilson gif, stat!) because I just couldn’t take any more. BUT I liked it! The characters were amazing. But sometimes I felt like things were too “neat”. Yes, their backstory was awful but… there were conveniences that irked me. Still, like you, I absolutely need the next book. I am just glad I am not the only person who had issues with it!
Thank you so much for sharing your opinion on this!! I have been hearing about this for MONTHS and I didn’t know if it would be my kind of thing. Sometimes, I feel compelled to read a book because of all the hype around it, and it kind of bothers me… and I’m not a fan of SO many different POV, because I tend to get lost at times. BUT I really like complex world-buildings and this one sounds interesting. Hm, maybe I should try it….? I will see 😀
Because of you, I shall have a shelf dedicated to books that include “cake.” lol
I have Six of Crows resting patiently on my TBR shelf, waiting to be read. I can’t wait to finally pick it up! I’m a bit bummed about 6 POVs but I am still excited to dig into this beautiful book.
Ughhhhhh I’m not enjoying this one too much 🙁 I don’t know if it’s a reading slump but I read the first sixty pages TWICE and still started skimming things. Which is so weird. Hopefully it gets better towards the end??? There are a LOT of povs, haha.
OOOH NO YOU BREAK MY HEART, EMILY. *wails* Although I confess, the beginning is the most confusing. It started to become a favourite for me after the first 100-pages?
Awesome review! I really hate the “too many POV’s” thing. Sometimes authors just go overboard with telling me what every single person in the book is thinking. I don’t need it all. But it sounds like this is a great book despite that. I will be adding it to my TBR. Thanks for adding to my pile yet again. You are evil!
yES I TOTALLY AGREE!! There can be stupendous characters in a story without having a POV…>_> I don’t think it enhances the story to give EVERYONE a look in. I think it slows it down, tbh?! BUT ANYWAY. This book was still glorious. hehe. Your TBR is welcome. XD
The book is dark! Yes! No one told me that. After Ruin & Rising, I’m super excited to hear that. Of course, I’m a Slytherin, so I’m already on the dark side. *eats a cookie* Can I tell you that I am amazed you found a book that talks about cake like you talk about cake? I have heard that issue about the length, and about it being slow for the first 100 or so pages. Which I think is part of the reason I delayed reading it for so long. But everyone seems to have given it a 4 or 5 regardless of this, so I think it’ll be one of my December books I read. Great review!
I AM SLYTHERIN TOOOOOO. *joins you on the dark side with darker cookies* I do hope you enjoy it when you read it. 😉 I think once I got a hang of who everyone was, the pace got faster and I kept up with the plot more. *nods* IT IS INTENSE. AND GLORIOUS.
😀 IT WAS LIKE THE FIRST HALF OF LEVERAGE, NO?
I really liked Six of Crows for many of the same reasons as you, although the number of characters didn’t bother me much, because I believe there were more than six. Like, that random guard dude who was killed in the first chapter. And since I like books like Unwind that didn’t bother me.
I didn’t like Matthias either, though. I did not fall in love with his moral dilemma, which is a bad sign, because usually I am a big fan of moral dilemmas, especially when they make the wrong choices.
Still, even if it’s not a perfect book, I am STILL looking forward to reading the next one when it comes out! 😀
yESSS IT SO TOTALLY WAS. Mixed with Ocean’s Eleven for the humour and nobody-gets-along part. XD and yes, *nods* there was the random guard, and then the dude at the end? I can’t remember his name… a villain anyway. >_> But then maybe they were all secretly villains?! hehe
Matthias just ticked me off constantly. GAH.
And I’m definitely excited for the sequel too! BRING. It. ON.
Commenting so late because I wanted to wait until after I read it, and I agree with so much of this! The writing definitely didn’t feel as tight to me as Bardugo’s previous books and the pacing was very strange to me as well. And more Kaz, yes! I am never into “bad boys,” and well, I’m still not into Kaz *that* way, but he was definitely the most interesting character. He had so many different facets and I want to know so much more about him! (And yes, him + Inej!) I’m hoping the next book will have a little less backstory, and maybe that will help!
Yesss, Kaz is endlessly intriguing. ENDLESSLY. Omg. I really want to know all about his motives and thought process and just…everything. Which is Why I was so disappointed the book didn’t focus on him as much. WAH. xD Him and Inej for sure (ermagerd that cliffhanger!)
Even your complaints of this book make me want to read it. xD I’m pretty sure I’d enjoy the numerous characters and backstory and relaxed pace, BUT we shall see what I think when I read it!
yES WE SHALL SEE. *waits impatiently for you to read it*
I absolutely LOVED this book. I enjoyed this one more than you. I just really loved all the characters, they were just such a crazy bunch. I adored Kaz because he acted so cold hearted and like he cared for no one. But it was so obvious he really did have feelings and he was rather terrible at times when it came to hiding them. He cares for Inej, but he’s just too chicken to admit it. I found that all so adorable. I can’t wait for the sequel. It’s only going to be a duology so I am excited to see how it all ends.
I do love how tough and callous Kaz is…but in reality he’s too SCARED TO ADMIT HE LIKES INEJ. Oh adorable messed up little darling. *feeds him cookies of the dark side* SEQUEL = NEED IT NOW TOO.
Loved the review, Cait! I jusrt finished reading this book (2 years after you reviewed :P) and found it absolutely amazing! *off to read the Crooked Kingdom
P.S. I ship Inej and Kaz toooooo!
Eeep, I’m glad you liked the review! I’ve since read SoC a second time and love it 10000% MORE NOW.😂
I love Six of Crows with all my heart. I started reading at 10, but it was A LOT of POVs and a little too complicated for me at the time. When I was 12 I finished it and immediately read Crooked Kingdom. It is my favorite book now and I think the complicatedness is what makes it so good. Also, I must disagree with you on Wylan. I love him and how he isn’t what he appears to be. I don’t know if you’ve read Crooked Kingdom but his and Jesper’s relationship is so perfectly imperfect. As for Kaz, I have had a crush on him since Chapter 2. His character is so cleverly developed, and I love his snark. Nina is such a perfect character. Powerful, beautiful, and unashamedly herself. She of course is more than that under the surface, and I love her. Matthias is such a good example of (religious people don’t get offended) what happens when people leave their toxic religion. He learns and it’s wonderful to see. Jesper is just perfectly layered, with his family issues, gambling addiction, but altogether amazing personality. I’m so excited to see the TV show!