Review: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
Published: September 29, 2015
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company
Pages: 491 (paperback)
Series: Six of Crows #1
Source: Bought
My Rating: 5 of 5 stars

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.

I feel really late to the game on this book, but after reading Leigh Bardugo's Grisha trilogy I was skeptical that I would enjoy this one, especially because it's set in the same world. I actually ended up picking this book up on a whim while I was waiting in an airport after my flight was rescheduled. I had a lot of time to kill and the selection was seriously lacking, so I picked this one up, not really expecting to like it. Oh boy was I surprised. I didn't believe the hype surrounding this book, but I should have because this book is something.

Six of Crows is one of those books that it seems like everyone has read and everyone is constantly talking about. There's a good reason for that and I'm incredibly happy that I have managed to avoid any spoilers surrounding this book and the next one. The suspense and intrigue about how the characters handle each new situation that comes their way was one of the things that kept me reading when all I wanted to do was sleep.

While the world is the same as the Grisha trilogy, it feels incredibly different. If it hadn't have been for the Grisha similarity, these could have been two completely unrelated series. I'm definitely not complaining about that because it gives the world more dimension and I honestly enjoyed the setting of the Barrel so much more than anything in Shadow and Bone.

What really set this book apart from others are the characters. There are multiple points of view, which can be tricky to do sometimes because voices often sound the same or it makes it more difficult to relate to them. Leigh Bardguo did an excellent job making each of her characters unique and believable. Each one had unique characteristics that made them human and believable. Even though they're criminals and definitely people that do bad things, it's so easy to root for them.

The romances in the book also weren't forced. It was a slow build up and all of them were couples I felt like I could root for. Sure, I have my favorite, but that's mainly because Kaz is my favorite and I love those angsty "I'm not good enough" romances for some reason. Maybe I just like to torture myself.

Anyway, if you were like me and had been avoiding this series, I highly recommend that you give it a try. It's very different from the Grisha trilogy and highly enjoyable. I'm definitely going to try to find the next book sometime soon.