Review: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Six of Crows
(Six of Crows #1)
by Leigh Bardugo
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company
Publication date: Sept. 29, 2015
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Rating:

Criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker has been offered wealth beyond his wildest dreams. But to claim it, he’ll have to pull off a seemingly impossible heist:

Break into the notorious Ice Court
(a military stronghold that has never been breached)

Retrieve a hostage
(who could unleash magical havoc on the world)

Survive long enough to collect his reward
(and spend it)

Kaz needs a crew desperate enough to take on this suicide mission and dangerous enough to get the job done – and he knows exactly who: six of the deadliest outcasts the city has to offer. Together, they just might be unstoppable – if they don’t kill each other first.

 

 

 

Six of Crows in an interesting fantasy about a group of teen criminals who come together to form a team in order to break into the Ice Court. Their mission is to “rescue” a scientist who is able to make a drug that amplifies magic users powers. However, not only do they have an impossible mission ahead of them, but they also have to learn to work together and trust each other as well.

“A gambler, a convict, a wayward son, a lost Grisha, a Suli girl who had become a killer, a boy from the Barrel who had become something worse.”

I will say that I felt like this would have been better suited if it wasn’t a young adult novel. Not that there was anything wrong with what happens or that I felt like it needed to be darker, but I just felt like the characters were older than that of a 15-year-old. I mean, they break into a high security prison in order to rescue an inmate that’s been there a year, a guy who is hardened not only by his time in the military, but also by the time he’s spent in prison, fighting in the arena for his life… and he’s a teenager! Kaz is this hot-shot leader among criminals in his little pocket of the world. He’s known by a lot of people as being a ruthless killer… and he’s a teenager. I think he’s like 16! I just had a hard time picturing all these kid prodigies running around. You have an assassin, a criminal warlord, a gun wielder with a serious gambling problem, an ex-military member… I just felt like they should have been in their mid 20 to early 30’s, not young teenagers.

My issue with their ages aside, the author wrote one heck of a story. I will be honest and say that I wasn’t feeling the beginning. Heck, I wasn’t really feeling the story until almost halfway through. The only reason why I stuck with it so long is because everyone raves about this series and more particularly this author, and I needed to know why. I hoped I would find a stronghold to latch onto and thankfully I did. It was around the time when we started to get glimpses of their pasts. We got to see why the characters were the way that they were. My favorite was Nina’s character. She is a magic user and her kind is hunted for being different. I was really interested in her story and loved when we’d go back in time to see how she wound up where she was.

While the story took a while to get into it, I did enjoy the world the author created. The story is rich with both character and world development. From the bonding moments to the suspenseful fight scenes, there’s always another layer added to the story line. She weaves the story together so seamlessly that you don’t feel like you’re an outsider looking in, you feel like you’re part of the action. I know it started out rough for me and I thought about putting the book down a handful of times, but I’m glad I stuck with it.

 

 

Favorite quote..

“When everyone knows you’re a monster, you needn’t waste time doing every monstrous thing.”

 

 

8 Thoughts on “Review: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

  1. I still have to put my hands on it, but lots of people I know seem to really enjoy this duology, so I guess it’s only a matter of time before I give it a go. Glad it worked well for you in the end!

  2. Sorry it didn’t deliver as much as you thought. I haven’t tried the novel but I heard a lot about it. Maybe one day

  3. This is one of the reasons I always stick with a book once I start reading it. I’m always hoping it will get better.

  4. Alas, it did not work at all for me

  5. I LOVED this one but I can’t seem to get into the second one. I’ve been reading it (or not reading it lol) since January. I even ordered the collectors set but I can’t get more than the 1/2 way point. I’m bored and irritated.

    I can see how you would want them to be older though.

    For What It’s Worth

    • Since January?! Oh my goodness. Kudos to you for keeping with it. I would have thrown in the towel months ago. This makes me nervous to pick up the second book. I own it, I just haven’t read it yet.

  6. I had trouble with the beginning as well

  7. I feel better reading this. I tried this one a couple times and I did find it hard to get into. I usually love heist stories, so I keep meaning to re-try it. I have had it sitting by my bed for a long time!
    Jen Ryland Reviews

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