Reviewed: June 10th, 2021
Released: September 29th, 2015
Genre: YA Fantasy
Criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker 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.
Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist.
Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction – if they don’t kill each other first.
Helen’s thoughts:
First off, Let me say I wasn’t a fan of Shadow and Bone, but my daughter insisted that I read Six of Crows because it was so good and she wanted to discuss it with me!
I am glad to be able to say that I enjoyed this book so much more than Shadow and Bone.
The characters are more engaging and distinct, and the depth of their history and their resulting behaviour is great to read. I did struggle a bit with them being so young and yet so skilled. But that is a minor point that you can ignore.
This book is so well written, and easy to read that you get through a lot quicker than you expect. Bardugo has created an amazing world in the Grishaverse, and reading the Shadow and Bone trilogy gives you more grounding on how the magical system works, but you don’t have to read it to enjoy Six of Crows.
If you watched Shadow and Bone on Netflix then the Nina/Mathias scenes are exactly as in Six of Crows. They are an awesome couple and their enemies to lovers journey is written so well you can see it happenening and the way they react to each other is amazing.
I must admit Kaz is my favourite character, so enigmatic and yet his clever brain is constantly churning ideas and solutions. His struggles to relate with the other characters, especially Inej is painful to read, which shows how well Bardugo wrote it.
I love books with maps, and this book had the layout of the Ice Court in the front, which is really helpful to follow where the characters are when they go on the heist and all split up and how they get back together again.
This book is so cleverly written, and the heist is so cool, especially when it all starts to go pear-shaped! Can’t wait to read book two The Crooked Kingdom, which my daughter assures me is much darker and where Kaz really earns his nick name of ‘Dirty Hands’.
I managed to get hold of the collectors edition and it is so pretty with the red foiling on the hard cover, and the red sprayed edges. At the back is some amazing character art of the Crows. I am sure my daughter will be nabbing it when she comes home!
About the Author:
Leigh Bardugo is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of fantasy novels and the creator of the Grishaverse (now a Netflix original series) which spans the Shadow and Bone Trilogy, the Six of Crows Duology, The Language of Thorns, and King of Scars–with more to come. Her short stories can be found in multiple anthologies, including the Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy. Her other works include Wonder Woman: Warbringer and Ninth House (Goodreads Choice Winner for Best Fantasy 2019) which is being developed for television by Amazon Studios.
Leigh grew up in Southern California and graduated from Yale University. These days she lives and writes in Los Angeles. For information on new releases and appearances, sign up for Leigh’s newsletter: http://bit.ly/bardugonews.
You can purchase Six of Crows here:
Link to book on Amazon UK: eBook | Paperback | Hardcover
Link to book on Amazon US: Paperback | Hardcover
Link book on Amazon Canada: Paperback | Hardcover
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If you enjoy fantasy books then you will love my books which are available in eBook or paperback: Book One: Sentinals Awaken. Book Two: Sentinals Rising. Sign up to my newsletter and download a free novella called Sentinals Stirring and get notified when my next books are published.
Helen Garraway 