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A review by finding_novel_land
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
5.0
4.5*
Let me tell you a story.
Up until now there has been only one form of fantasy that has really and truly caught my attention. It goes a little something like this. Girl from the slums/unassuming background finds herself with magical powers/a position of power, and the chance to save the world. She normally ends up falling for some tall dark hunk who is sometimes evil but turns out not to be. In other words, your classic fantasy romance story line. See The Grisha Trilogy, The Black Magician Trilogy, The Folk of the Air series, The Hunger Games, change the gender and you have Harry Potter.
This was therefore nowhere near the top of my reading list.
It's a heist. There is no scent of romance from the blurb. There is no girl rising from the slums to save a kingdom.
Was it not for me reading everything Grisha in the run up to the upcoming Netflix Shadow and Bone series (current trailer watch count: 20), this book would have continued to pass me by. Everyone else raved about it. It's the best Grisha book, they said. Kaz 4eva they said. Where's the romance? I said...for 5 years.
Oh guys, I was so unbelievably wrong.
This book is nearly flawless.
Simply for being different to all the other fantasy books that have swept me away and made me weep for a week upon ending, this one of the best books I have read. And yeah, maybe the surrounding hype is making me hyperbolic, but try as I might I can hardly fault this book. Was it a 3 day read? No. Did it take me a while to get into? Yes. Did I read the final third of the book in one sitting. 100%. The only reason I hesitate to give it 5* is that, despite writing this review straight after finishing, I am not filled with the same excitement 5* books normally fill me with upon ending. It might be that this much hype around a book was always going to leave me wanting more. Or it might just be that excellent build up to book 2 at the end which I'm still processing...we'll see.
Here's the review
Things that annoyed me, that no longer do:
Kaz's near perfection for the first half of the book. He didn't place a step wrong, until he did (which I saw coming from a mile off, they were obviously going to mess up at the Ice Court ) and made the book 1000% better for it.
The continuous changes between perspectives. It was confusing at first, but on reflection there is so much action to follow, so many nuances, that it actually makes the book more complete, more interesting and the characters more complex and dimensioned (so. much. backstory - this isn't Kaz's story this is everyone's story!)
Things that still annoy me:
*The fact that all of the crows have to get together with one of the other crows. Like why? So you all get in a boat together and all 6 of you happen to be each other's soulmate? I love romance, but that's just silly. Don't get me wrong, Matthias and Nina's storyline is great and different, and Inej and Kaz had me on the edge of my seat, but trying to force something between Jesper and Wylan? Almost as bad as trying to force Darryl and White Josh together in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Actually, that's harsh. At least J&W have some chemistry. I suppose 3 romances stops anyone in the group from being overshadowed and forced into the background as a single love story takes over, but honestly with no Wylan narration, him and Jesper do anyway.
* These kids are not 16-18 and you can't convince me otherwise. I'm sorry, but this is classic Bardugo. It didn't work/convince me in the original triology, and doesn't now. They are too mature, even for kids who had to grow up fast to survive the slums. Make them min 20, please and thank you.
Things I love that make it all better:
* Another review pointed out how great Leigh's world building is in this book. How excellent her descriptions are. And I have to agree, it is true Goldilocks. Just enough to be able to picture the world in your mind but without it being 5 pages of unnecessary description and no action. This book is perfectly paced and action packed.
In the acknowledgements Leigh talks about the books she read and people she consulted to make this as real as possible. I loved the setting and Ketterdam as a magical Amsterdam. The Russian setting of the original trio was quite cliché so this was just *chefs kiss*. Everything has been thought through, from the weaponry, to the Ice Court, to the different locks and tricks they pull. I'm all outta chef's kisses, but urgh it was greatly appreciated and really heightened the story.
* Nina. What can I say, she's hilarious and her spats/flirting with Matthias/everyone are pure gold. Hmhmm, may I present Item One of all the evidence you need:
Give this girl a medal and call her an Inferni. She is on fireeee!
* I have mixed feelings aboutInej and Kaz . Mainly because I knew from the beginning that they were going to get together because I read it in a review (oops), so therefore the romance reader in me read most of this for their love-story-line. But oh my gosh I was not prepared for page 460. My heart is broken and I need to get my hands on the next book ASAP because you cannot leave me hanging like that. Quote time so we can all cry together:
* The diversity.
Someone in another review/comment mentioned this and once they said it I couldn't stop noticing it. We have different races, sexualities, representation of people with disabilities (and not one, but two - Kaz's leg and Wylan's dyslexia). All are completely normalised and don't feel at all tokenistic (though as a white, straight ,'able-bodied' woman, I don't know if I'm really the right person to make the judgement on this). So basically snaps for Leigh, showing us that it can be done.
In conclusion, I made a mistake ordering the next book from the library when someone already has it out because now I've got a 3 week wait before I find out what happens. Off to bookshop.org I stroll.
Let me tell you a story.
Up until now there has been only one form of fantasy that has really and truly caught my attention. It goes a little something like this. Girl from the slums/unassuming background finds herself with magical powers/a position of power, and the chance to save the world. She normally ends up falling for some tall dark hunk who is sometimes evil but turns out not to be. In other words, your classic fantasy romance story line. See The Grisha Trilogy, The Black Magician Trilogy, The Folk of the Air series, The Hunger Games, change the gender and you have Harry Potter.
This was therefore nowhere near the top of my reading list.
It's a heist. There is no scent of romance from the blurb. There is no girl rising from the slums to save a kingdom.
Was it not for me reading everything Grisha in the run up to the upcoming Netflix Shadow and Bone series (current trailer watch count: 20), this book would have continued to pass me by. Everyone else raved about it. It's the best Grisha book, they said. Kaz 4eva they said. Where's the romance? I said...for 5 years.
Oh guys, I was so unbelievably wrong.
This book is nearly flawless.
Simply for being different to all the other fantasy books that have swept me away and made me weep for a week upon ending, this one of the best books I have read. And yeah, maybe the surrounding hype is making me hyperbolic, but try as I might I can hardly fault this book. Was it a 3 day read? No. Did it take me a while to get into? Yes. Did I read the final third of the book in one sitting. 100%. The only reason I hesitate to give it 5* is that, despite writing this review straight after finishing, I am not filled with the same excitement 5* books normally fill me with upon ending. It might be that this much hype around a book was always going to leave me wanting more. Or it might just be that excellent build up to book 2 at the end which I'm still processing...we'll see.
Here's the review
Things that annoyed me, that no longer do:
Kaz's near perfection for the first half of the book. He didn't place a step wrong, until he did (
The continuous changes between perspectives. It was confusing at first, but on reflection there is so much action to follow, so many nuances, that it actually makes the book more complete, more interesting and the characters more complex and dimensioned (so. much. backstory - this isn't Kaz's story this is everyone's story!)
Things that still annoy me:
*
* These kids are not 16-18 and you can't convince me otherwise. I'm sorry, but this is classic Bardugo. It didn't work/convince me in the original triology, and doesn't now. They are too mature, even for kids who had to grow up fast to survive the slums. Make them min 20, please and thank you.
Things I love that make it all better:
* Another review pointed out how great Leigh's world building is in this book. How excellent her descriptions are. And I have to agree, it is true Goldilocks. Just enough to be able to picture the world in your mind but without it being 5 pages of unnecessary description and no action. This book is perfectly paced and action packed.
In the acknowledgements Leigh talks about the books she read and people she consulted to make this as real as possible. I loved the setting and Ketterdam as a magical Amsterdam. The Russian setting of the original trio was quite cliché so this was just *chefs kiss*. Everything has been thought through, from the weaponry, to the Ice Court, to the different locks and tricks they pull. I'm all outta chef's kisses, but urgh it was greatly appreciated and really heightened the story.
* Nina. What can I say, she's hilarious and her spats/flirting with Matthias/everyone are pure gold. Hmhmm, may I present Item One of all the evidence you need:
"How can you call yourself a soldier? You'd sleep until noon if I let you."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"Discipline. Routine. Does it mean nothing to you? Djel, I can't wait to have a bed to myself again."
"Right", said Nina. "I can feel just how much you hate sleeping next to me. I feel it every morning."
Give this girl a medal and call her an Inferni. She is on fireeee!
* I have mixed feelings about
'He took a breath. "I want you to stay. I want you to ... I want you."
"You want me." She turned the words over. Gently she squeezed his hand. " And how will you have me Kaz?
...
He released her hand, his shoulders bunching, his gaze angry and ashamed as he turned his face to the sea.
Maybe it was because his back was to her that she could finally speak the words. "I will have you without armour, Kaz Brekker. Or I will not have you at all."
Speak, she begged silently. Give me a reason to stay. For all his selfishness and cruelty, Kaz was still the boy who had saved her. She wanted to believe he was worth saving, too.
The sails creaked. The clouds parted for the moon then gathered back around her.
Inej left Kaz with the wind howling and dawn still a long while away.'
* The diversity.
Someone in another review/comment mentioned this and once they said it I couldn't stop noticing it. We have different races, sexualities, representation of people with disabilities (and not one, but two - Kaz's leg and Wylan's dyslexia). All are completely normalised and don't feel at all tokenistic (though as a white, straight ,'able-bodied' woman, I don't know if I'm really the right person to make the judgement on this). So basically snaps for Leigh, showing us that it can be done.
In conclusion, I made a mistake ordering the next book from the library when someone already has it out because now I've got a 3 week wait before I find out what happens. Off to bookshop.org I stroll.