Six of Crows Review

My Review

Rating: ✨5 stars✨

Review Updated: 5/24/2024

This book…. well, this entire series (but we’re going to focus on only this book right now :D) is one of the BEST books and one of my all-time favorites!! I honestly cannot recommend it enough, and if given the option, this book would definitely be getting 10/5 stars (if not more)!

Six of Crows is about 6 characters (Kaz Brekker, Inej Ghafa, Nina Zenik, Matthias Helvar, Jesper Fahey, and Wylan) who band together to attempt to pull off a daring and almost impossible heist.

“When people say impossible, they usually mean improbable.” Sorry, sorry, I just had to 😊.

So, let’s dive into what’s amazing about this book and why you should read it:

The POVS

Six of Crows has alternate POV’s, one for each of the characters. It’s written in third person, but each chapter focuses on just one character. Wait. How is this a good thing again? I know, you’re probably thinking that right now. I would be too. Usually, in a multiple POV, I’ll look forward to some character’s parts more and end up skipping or skimming over some of the POVs where the plot is a little slower. I especially don’t like it when I’m reading one character’s POV which is exciting and fast paced and in the middle of the action, and then the book just jumps to another character’s that is much slower and honestly… boring compared to what I was just reading. But the author did so well with writing this story from different perspectives. There were really great transitions between POVs, and I liked reading them all.

The characters and dynamics

This book has some of the best characters, dynamics, and friendships. All the characters in this book (series) develop, grow, have a lot of layers to them, their own backstory, and become some of my favorite characters all over again! Their backstories are all revealed slowly throughout the books (sometimes in flashbacks), and as the book progresses, we learn more and more about these characters, where they come from, what they’ve been through, and how that impacts them currently. There’s more to them than it seems, and the best thing is that there are huge growth arcs throughout the series for all the characters.

• Kaz (aka Dirtyhands) is our cold, morally gray, scheming face, all-about-the-money main character. But as we get further into the book, we learn that Kaz has a lot of layers to him. He’s more than just the cold exterior, 10 steps ahead, tearing my enemies down brick-by-brick person. Note: It is so much fun (and kind of mind blowing) seeing Kaz think ten steps ahead of his enemies and the readers, fool everyone, and come out on top. All the things he manages to do, it’s impossible, or should I say improbable, to see coming (at least for me 😊).

• There’s Inej, who still believes in her Saints, has a good heart and good intentions, aspires to hunt slavers and stop them, yet still finds herself with Kaz and the crew, acting as a spy, as the Wraith for the Dregs, surrounded by so much blood and death in Ketterdam, a hub for illegal activity.

• There’s Jesper, a sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a good hand. He’s witty, funny, teasing, and a flirt, but he’s also very loyal and caring, has hidden secrets, struggles to balance his real family and newfound family in the Dregs, has a good heart; but like Inej, still finds himself drawn to his life in Ketterdam as part of Kaz’s crew.

• There’s Wylan, the newest demolitions member of the crew. He’s young, naïve, inexperienced, but he’s a fast learner, has a sharp mind, and a complicated background with not-so-great family relationships.

• There’s Nina, the Grisha Heartrender. Loyal to her country and to her people, she still finds herself falling for and staying loyal to someone sworn to be the Grisha’s enemy, druskelle Matthias. She faces tough choices and an even tougher journey throughout the books.

• And then, there’s Matthias. He’s a trained druskelle, sworn to capture and try Grisha (who’s power seem unnatural to the druskelle) for their ‘crimes’. But he’s still in love with Nina, a Grisha, and his loyalties are tested again and again throughout the book.

Humor and witty banter

The dynamics between the characters are just…awesome! There’s a lot of humor and there’s so much banter! And since a lot of this book is dialogue, it’s one of the best parts. There’s obviously Jesper and Nina, who can, and do flirt with anyone and anything. But it’s kind of hard to explain this section without giving a lot away, so we’ll stick to examples 😊.

• “My ghost won’t associate with your ghost,” Matthias said primly, and then wondered if the sea air was rotting his brain.

• “’Inej!’ Jesper crowed. ‘You’re not dead!’”

  “She smiled faintly. ‘No more than anyone.’”

  “If you’re spouting depressing Suli wisdom, then you must be feeling better.”

• “‘I speak Fjerdan,’ Wylan protested.

  ‘Schoolroom Fjerdan, right? I bet you speak Fjerdan about as well as I speak moose.’

  ‘Moose is probably your native tongue,’ mumbled Wylan.”

• “Nina just liked to flirt with everything. He’d once seen her make eyes at a pair of shoes she fancied in a shop window.”

Plot

The plot of this book is exciting, fast paced, and so engaging. It’s one of those can’t put down books, and I guarantee that once you start reading and get into the book, you won’t be able to stop. From the first time I flipped this book open to when I turned the last page, I was drawn in and couldn't leave. And be warned, there are plenty of plot twists and turns at every corner, and you won’t be able to see them coming!

World Building

We get to see a lot of Ketterdam and Fjerda in this book. There’s a lot of details and world building, so the streets of Ketterdam come to life and it’s easy to picture the long stretch of ice, ice, and wait….more ice in Fjerda, or the coast town of Djerholm with its colorful yet neat rows of houses.

Romance

This book does have romance. Pretty much all Bardugo’s other Grishaverse series have romance in them as well. In this book, multiple romances start developing and this book kind of sets the stage for the next book, with a lot of potential for many of our characters. It is not the main plot of the book, just a nice addition :)!

Book Information:

Book Title: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Genre: YA, adventure, fantasy

Published: 2015

Kindle Unlimited: no :(

Series: yes, duology and part of the Grishaverse