Six of Crows (Six of Crows #1) by Leigh Bardugo

Love the Grisha Universe? Whether you have explored the Grisha trilogy or not, you will want to read this book!

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo is the first in a young adult fantasy duology.

Synopsis:

” 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.

Kaz’s crew are the only ones who might stand between the world and destruction—if they don’t kill each other first.“

My Review:

If you haven’t heard of this book, you may have been stuck reading somewhere, but for those of you that have, you will remember that this was one of the most anticipated reads of 2015.

With that came ALOT of hype and reviews all over the place, so this book has been on my radar for quite some time now. But for some reason, I never picked it up until now. I have only read Shadow & Bone, so I already had a taste of this world (which I thought was awesome to explore).

If you don’t know, the Six of Crows duology (2 books in the series) is set in the same world as the Grisha (Shadow & Bone) trilogy but with new characters and plot line.

Because of this, I sort of had to ask myself on whether or not I needed to read the ENTIRE Grisha trilogy in order to fully understand what would be going on, and the answer is NO!! I repeat, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO READ ANY OF LEIGH BARDUGO’s SERIES IN ORDER TO PREPARE FOR SIX OF CROWS; it is a completely separate story.

Anyways…

So needless to say, I jumped right into it!

I read this book in ONE DAY. No joke, I ended up picking this book up on my day off, and I did not stop until I was finished.

At first, I was not getting into the world at all. I began to struggle big time with this book to the point where I even thought I was going to have to put it down, but of course, I didn’t. It could have just been my reading mode, or it could have been that the plot was slow to take off; it took me a big chunk before I was able to dive right in.

Once events started to pick up, I slowly began to get hooked!

There was a definite unique tone to the book. This book felt like I was in the middle of a 1920s mob city. The writing style just absorbed me into this time frame. I know that Leigh is very influenced by Russian culture, but 1920s American mobs and gangs felt like the perfect scene for this book. We get to hear a lot of the pleasure houses run by bosses and the gang activity where the characters have to be careful in certain territories.

The writing has a dark feel to it that adds to the danger of the world. You always feel on your toes. The atmosphere she creates is very unique and adds to a historical reading experience.

The characters are also complementary to the plot. We follow six unique characters that are brought together for a heist. This also allows for a ton of backstory without even realizing it. Each one takes up into a diverse section of the world that when brought to together, finish the puzzle. There were so many times throughout the book where I forgot that the cast consisted of all teenagers. They felt a lot more like trained adults than a group of 17-year olds which I found fascinating.

The ending was amazing! A LOT of twists are scattered throughout the plot which brought me to the edge of my seat each time. It was mind-blowing, and unexpected. The world building leading up to the last few pages set a great tone for Crooked Kingdom (Book 2). I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. I wanted to give it 5 stars, but the beginning dragged a little too much for me to feel like it was all-around amazing. BUT, don’t let it fool you. The last 2/3 was a definite 5 out of 5 stars. We get to explore Grisha magic, forbidden love, and an impossible heist. I highly recommend this series!

More Book Information:

Published: 29 September 2015

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Pages: 465

How I Read IT: Hardcover

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