The Six of Crows Duology

Name: Six of Crows

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Published: 2015

Song: Believer by Imagine Dragons

Kaz Brekker is a criminal prodigy. He rules the streets of Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price. Kaz is offered the chance at a deadly heist that will make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone. However, as the dtakes raise higher and higher, Kaz and his band of deadly convicts and thieves may be the only thing standing between the world and destruction. If they don’t kill each other first. 

WOW. Wow indeed. You are looking at the next Harry Potter (with slightly more gang violence and prostitution.)

THE REVIEW

Six of Crows was so fast paced and clever, I was literally staying up all night reading it; my social interactions definitely suffered. But just look at that cover. Worth it. I was a bit worried about reading this at first because I wasn’t sure it would live up to its extensive fandom, but it 100% did. First of all, The CHARACTERS. I think I fell in and out of love about every other page. I was very proud of Leigh Bardugo for not writing them all as greasy-haired idiots who ran around shooting people (although I think I that might be Jesper in a nutshell…) Kaz Brekker was so slick and had the coolest lines, but he wasn’t your stereotypical gangsta in any way. And I mean in any way. Aside from the fact that he is only 17, he was actually likeable (totally unexpected) and wasn’t 2D at all (equally shocking.) It was great too he had a slight disability from his past, yet didn’t let it hold him back. In fact, all of the characters had really interesting back stories.

“Crows remember human faces. They remember the people who feed them, who are kind to them. And the people who wrong them too”
– Kaz Brekker, Quote Extraordinaire, Six of Crows

THE BEST BITS

Characters aside, there was just so much going on in Six of Crows. From dark revelations to plot twists literally every chapter, it was pretty hard to turn the page. And there was romance too, in amongst the graphic detailing of executions. I loved how the couplings turned out, totally shipped them all, although it seems unrealistic that everyone to get into a relationship? It’s hard to avoid spoiling it for the people who havent read it. (Read it. Read it now.)

Again uncharacteristic for a book of this genre, the perspective flicked from between the six main characters, which was an interesting way to do it, although some perspectives tended to be more interesting than others. However, the dialogue was absolutely perfect, along with the setting, plot, characters and just about everything…

JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING

I’m not sure what age rating I would give this book. I’ve seen some sites that say no child should ever read this, others that recommend it to 10+ readers. It does include (extremely infrequent) strong language which I wasn’t entirely sure about. It seems a bit unnecessary to stick in 2 f-words about 100 pages apart – they didn’t add anything and some might deem it unsuitable for younger kids just because of that. Although there was some quite graphic violence, romancing and prostitution. Okay, maybe it wasn’t the language… but still! And at some points the plot got pretty confusing, because whilst it’s all good to hide bits of the plot from the reader, when there are sections where you literally have no idea what is going on, it’s not effective!

NO MOURNERS, NO FUNERALS
-The Coolest Catchphrase from the Coolest Gang in the Barrel that needs to be on a t-shirt right now

THE SEQUEL

The most disappointing thing about this book was the ending. I now officially hate cliffhangers. I was getting closer and closer to the ending and really stressing out about how it was going to resolve itself… and it never did. Luckily, there is such a thing as The Book People and Express Delivery, so I didn’t have to panic for too long before I could read the second book. However, I don’t know what I’d do if I’d had to wait a whole year for ‘Crooked Kingdom!’ The extra pound for fast delivery was totally worth it.

‘Crooked Kingdom’ is my new favourite book. It was sooo clever, the dialogue was so perfect; the characters were hilarious and the plot was honestly nail biting. Sadly, I was flicking through a memes account for Six of Crows fandom and saw a major plot spoiler (oops) but it was still just as traumatic when I read it. If you know what I mean, please comment below and we can bawl our eyes out together. Leigh Bardugo will never be forgiven. If you don’t know what I’m on about read the book! I implore you. You won’t regret it.

Have you read this book? Got any recommendations? (song recommendations also excitedly accepted) Please like and tell me in the comments section!