Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
- Jodie
- Oct 17, 2018
- 6 min read
Book Review
Title: Six of Crows
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Genre: YA/LGBT/Fantasy/Romance
Rating: *****
Review: So, I didn’t know much about Six of Crows going into it, so I was pleasantly surprised when I learned this book is set in the same universe as the Grisha trilogy which I loved despite the fact the romance we ended up with wasn’t the right one. We are first introduced to Joost who is the first in a cast of characters we are you going to meet. Boost works with the guard of a mercher who also owns Grisha and Joost has a crush on one; Anya. However, things take a darker turn early on when Anya is used in an experiment for her owner’s pleasure. In this experiment she is given a drug that increases her Grisha healing power to an incredible level, but it also allows her to display abilities that were never associated with her type of Grisha. One thing I noticed was in the Grisha universe the Grisha themselves are seen as a rare warrior while here they are portrayed as nothing more than pets kept on the whims of their masters.
The second perspective belongs to Inej, who is a member of the Dregs along with Kaz Brekker, they are preparing to meet with a rival gang known as the Black Tips and we see why the Dregs are so notorious and why Kaz and Inej, in particular, have earnt their reputations. Inej nicknamed the Wraith moves much like an assassin; silent and deadly while Kaz is the strategist and despite being under Per Haskell he is undeniably the boss. The scene is the Exchange is tense and atmospheric and I can’t wait to see Kaz’s perspective which comes next. Kaz ends up getting kidnapped by a mercher who has a proposition for him, he wants Kaz to rescue a man who invented the drug we see tested in the first chapter and we learn more about the drug itself and what it can do.
So, as Kaz accepts the job to retrieve Bo Yul-Bayur for a hefty price tag, he now has to put together a team and the first two people he thinks of are Inej and Nina. Nina unlike the characters we have followed so far is a Grisha who works for Kaz despite not liking him. When he offers her the chance to free her friend from prison by helping him she jumps at the chance. However getting her friend out is riskier than it seems and as they descend into the bowels of the prisoner they are greeting to some horrific sights. I was also intrigued by Jordie who it seems was Kaz’s older brother and is now dead and one of the other gang leaders is to blame. After Kaz puts his team together we can see it is really a ragtag group. Including Matthias was an interesting choice given his history with Nina, coupled with the fact he wants to kill her, but he is there best chance of getting in and out of the Ice Palace alive. It was also interesting to learn that Wylan is Van Eck’s son and Kaz isn’t keeping him with the Dregs because he is useful but because he makes good insurance on their part, but I do have to admit under pressure the team does work well.
As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, the Dregs crew have finally managed to start their journey in earnest, but they now have to worry about the fact that someone else might be trying to steal their prize from right under their nose. So far, I am liking the male characters far more than the females, Kaz and Matthias for example, how very complex personalities and backstories while female characters like Nina are whiny and Inej is confusing. Inej, is my least favourite character so far because one minute she is the deadly Wraith and the next a besotted teen and I felt she should be one or the other, take a character like Mia Corvere for example, she is deadly and knows it but every now and again she allows herself to open up to another person and share her burden and I felt Inej should have been the same but there is time for her to develop some more. As they begin their journey and bring their plan together properly the banter between the characters is so on point and despite Nina being a whiny little devil, the energy between her and Matthias is delightful, and I can’t wait to see where he ends up whether he will choose to be loyal to Nina or his country.
The relationship between most of the characters are complex but the relationship between Nina and Matthias really intrigues me especially when we get more insight into their history and I need to learn the circumstances that lead to Nina getting Matthias imprisoned and their current circumstances. As we cross into the second half of the novel, we see the opposing forces moving against one another for Bo Yul-Bayur but there is more than one plot afoot and I was beginning to wonder whether any of the group would make it back alive as they have already had some very close calls. As we cross into the second half of the novel, Kaz and his team have their destination in sight and manage to get inside but we begin to see that Kaz isn’t as strong as he seems, and he has weaknesses like everyone else. The scenes from his childhood are heartbreaking and Jordie reduced me to tears.
As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, Kaz and the team are now locked in one of the most secure prisons in the world and some of their tricks like hiding the lockpicks have already been found out and I was seriously wondering whether they would pull off this heist successfully. Despite several hiccups, they encounter they are well on their way to escaping the prison, but something doesn’t seem right, and they still haven’t found where Bo Yul-Bayur is being kept. While Inej is securing their escape route, Kaz and Nina are supposed to be looking for Bo Yul-Bayur but Kaz gets side-tracked looking for Pekka Rollins whose men had been killed at the entrance to the prison and Kaz finally sees his opportunity for revenge even though it may come at a cost he isn’t willing to pay. As an alarm sounds Inej comes up with a plan B but it doesn’t go according to plan and now everything rests on Nina’s shoulders and I am still not sure quite where her loyalties lie.
As we cross into the final section of the novel, their well thought out plan seems to be dissolving before them, but they aren’t dead yet, so they haven’t given up, but some alliances are fragile, and they may break before they can get away. As everything hurdles towards the climax, alliances are tested, relationships are formed, and the truly powerful people are revealed. The way they escaper from the Ice Palace is amazing and genuinely made me laugh out loud at some of these characters and the subtle hints at multiple romance and not all of them heterosexual really made the whole thing worth it for me. Despite everything they have gone through it might not end happily for this crew after all.
The ending of Six of Crows certainly wasn’t what I was expecting, and Crooked Kingdom is certainly something I have to pick up in order to find out what the hell is going to happen next to some of these beloved characters. The romances were amazing, Kaz and Inej’s romance was hinted at from the moment the pair were introduced, Nina and Matthias’ romance was great especially given their history together but the romance that surprised me the most was Wylan and Jesper’s which isn’t set in stone but is hinted at greatly towards the end of the novel. The rep was amazing, there is a lot of ethic rep but there is also a dyslexic character, a character with ADHD and there are several characters suffering from PTSD.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Also see: Shadow & Bone by Leigh Bardugo
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