Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

"It became a declaration. There was no part of him that was not broken, that had not healed wrong, and there was no part of him that was not stronger for having been broken."

To be honest I was so overwhelmed with life I almost forgot this book came out. God bless amazon pre-order. I read it slower than most releases, partly because school, but I am glad I did. I was able to drink in this book in slow sips and when it was over, I'm glad I made it last. 

But now I am so painfully thirsty.

Leigh. Where is the next book.

Stats:

Genre:  Fantasy

Feelings: -bitter laughing-

Happiness: I had to stop reading every now and then I was so content with character conversations

Cuteness: GOOD LORD THE SHIPS. Yes. A lot of cute. Background cute, because this book really focuses on the plot. All the cute feels natural.

Fast pacing: A very nicely paced book. I never felt bored

Series: YES THANK THE SAINTS

Read if you like: Large casts, heists, world building, characters!!!! Even if you didn't like the Shadow and Bone books give this a try

Content: Mentioning of various things such as brothels (one of the characters grew up as a prostitute but nothing was graphically described) and stuff like bodies burning, eyeballs being ripped out and more violence then Leigh's Grisha Trilogy. There is a gay character later on, so if you're not comfortable with that, beware.

In one sentence... Kaz Brekker has been given the Impossible Heist, for which he needs to perfect team, a team that will either a) kill each other before they get there b) fall in love with each other c) betray him (like that'd work) d) out-sass everyone or e) all of the above.

Thoughts: the o c e a n. No mourners. No funerals. Blood and feathers and feeling eyes on your back that just make you feel safer

Messages: A lot of very good messages about not giving up, and loyalty, and grief.

Overall

Rating: 5/5 

This is a spoiler free review

The Lovely Bits

-Characters-

How does one begin with the characters. These characters are flawed and messed up, each one standing out and latching onto your hearts. 

There are certain things that almost always guarantee me to fall in love with a characters. Perfectly done snark, is one. Characters who are bitter and broken. Characters who have fears that control them. Characters who refuse to let anyone in because they seem all tough but inside are m u s h. 

Six of Crows takes character archetypes I love and slams them all together. It makes me bleed and cry. I am not even joking, some pages had character conversations I wanted to cry over. See, when you get attached to a cast of characters, one line of dialogue that isn't even sad can make you emotional.

That's how it was for Six of Crows.

Okay. Serious writer talk now. Multi-POV books are hard to pull off. Often times characters don't have developed personalities or good backstories that stand out. There wasn't even a risk of that problem in this book. From the moment you met a character they stood out. And then you learned about their past and cried.

The friendships! I love that Nina and Inej had a real friendship, not one where they shame each other and fight over boys and have pathetic girl-fights. It was so great to see a supporting relationship with them. 

More about romance later.

A+ Characters, Leigh. There was not a single one I didn't like.


-Writing and Structure-

Okay but when I read Shadow and Bone I loved it. It was a fun story, but mainly I loved the Darkling. Book one was rather formulaic though. Of course Siege and Storm came along and blew my mind but. 

Six of Crows. I am so amazed at how well done this book was. It took a lot of scenes and plot devices that have been used before (because everything has) but made them seem like you've never read them before. Something about Leigh's writing and structure really stood out. 

There wasn't a slow part of this book. Of course, there were parts with just talking and not fighting but they didn't seem slow. There was always some sort of importance to every scene, whether it be character relationships, or information learned.

I'm so impressed, man. So impressed. It's seriously just so cool to see her writing and story style develop from debut to now. 


-Messages and other-

I love an underdog story. I love stories about misfits and painfully broken people who become a /little/ more whole with the help of other broken people. I love stories about people who betray but come back only to fail again. I love stories where characters are on the brink of giving up but don't, sometimes because of one person. I love stories where people who were never supposed to be friends form an unbreakable bond. I love sacrifice and journeys. 

Six of Crows had some of the best internal journeys I have seen. Past it's emotions and squishy romance plots and bloody fights, it had some messages that I can really can stand by. 

Speaking of squishy romance plots. The ships. THE SHIPS. What can I say? 

I totally ship them all. But for real. it was so refreshing to have romance that never took center stage and didn't overwhelm the actual plot.


The Less Lovely Bits

??

Six of Crows? Less Lovely?

I don't think you know what you're talking about.

I really hope I am not overhyping it. You know what, I don't care. This is how I feel. Read this book, people. It's outstanding.


Overall: this book is my soul. And I will reread it over and over and love it over and over. 

“Kaz leaned back. "What's the easiest way to steal a man's wallet?"
"Knife to the throat?" asked Inej.
"Gun to the back?" said Jesper.
"Poison in his cup?" suggested Nina.
"You're all horrible," said Matthias.”