For whatever reason, Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo took me a lifetime to read! And I’m mad at myself for it, because it was a good book! Life just got in the way, but I did finally finish this extremely popular young adult novel the other day.
In all honesty, I don’t know that this is a book that would have popped up on my radar were it not for my friend’s recommendation and the extremely popular Netflix series, Shadow and Bone, that dropped earlier this year. Despite its popularity, this young adult fantasy novel really never made it by me. I will say that Ben Barnes’ involvement in the series is what might have given me the final push I needed. What I’ve discovered since reading this first novel is that it makes up only a portion of the characters in the show. It seems to be mixing Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone trilogy and the Six of Crows duology into one entity, and that’s fine! I’m glad I know. I also thinking mixing the two series into one will give fans less to moan about (come back several months from now when I actually do watch it).
Anyways, in Six of Crows, we’re introduced to a grim world with a seedy underbelly, called the Barrell. It is led by the angry and tricky Kaz Brekker, who almost immediately proves his mettle and is then asked to take on an almost impossible quest. Money is the name of the game, so he agrees and assembles a very small team of trusted individuals. They include his right and left hand “men,” Jesper and Inej. It also includes a Grisha named Nina, a weapons “master” named Waylan, and Nina’s extremely bitter ex, Matthias. Now before I go further, let me explain that a Grisha is sort of like a witch, but each one has sort of their own specialty. Nina is able to control organs/blood flow, so that means she can kill you with the flick of a wrist – very handy! Matthias is needed for this journey because it involves the most high profile prison in his home country, Fjerda. The group are trying to get a scientist who came up with some drug that amplifies Grisha power.
Kaz is really just in it for the money, and so are Inej and Jesper really. Nina and Matthias agree early on that the scientist should be killed because that kind of drug could be very dangerous to both Grisha and others. Their quest is long and met with many speed bumps, but the intricate plans (both A and B) are so well thought out that they actually manage to reach their destination. From there though, things go awry and it takes everyone’s skills beyond their plan to get them out alive. It’s incredible how vividly I am able to picture everything Bardugo is describing of this made up world. Admittedly, it’s up there with the world of the Shadowhunters, and that’s high praise!
Despite all of the very engrossing action going on, even more intriguing is the person thoughts and feelings of all of these characters. Everyone besides Waylan gets their own chapters, where we really get to dive deeper into their psyche. Everyone has really had a rough go at life, although Kaz’s is rather heartbreaking. It’s revealed that when he was much younger, he and his older brother were duped out of their money, and then his brother dies of a plague. From there, Kaz grew up and tried to master the streets, but his ultimate goal was to get back at the man that ruined his life. Inej also had a rough backstory, where she was ultimately abducted and then forced into sex work. Kaz essentially rescued her, but there’s always something in it for Kaz: information. Inej is just looking for freedom and retribution. Everyone else has their own intricate backgrounds, but those are the two that stood out the most.
Six of Crows does indeed have an ending that could be satisfying enough on their own, but I am eager to get my hands on the next novel to see what happens next. Do they all stick together? What happened to the scientist? And Nina?! Will Kaz get his revenge? So, okay, I guess still lots of burning questions, but I did get plenty enough answers to tide me over. I would say if fantasy at all interests you, or you’ve watched Shadow and Bone and you like to read, then check this series out!