Review: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
Published: September 29, 2015

Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz 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 thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.

Kaz’s crew are the only ones who might stand between the world and destruction—if they don’t kill each other first.

PERFECTION. 
That’s all you need to know for this review is that word. Because that’s what this book is.  If you want to see what my face looked like upon finishing this book, please reference the gif below:

Yup that’s right. That’s exactly what it felt like. Lights and shiny things and everything and all I could do was sit there. Mouth open. Wondering what to do with myself BECAUSE THIS BOOK WAS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING.

I haven’t read a Leigh Bardugo book yet. And I heard the Grisha trilogy is amazing. and I know this takes place in the same world. But anyway I’m having trouble writing up this review because I don’t know where to begin with expressing how I feel. I guess characters is an okay place to begin.

Six delinquent characters, all very different in their own way, working together to one goal. To get into the Ice Court, the most impenetrable place and a most impossible task. The Ice Court is one of the most well guarded places. And this group of six has to get both IN and OUT of The Ice Court in order to rescue a scientist who has been held captive within the Ice Court. Each character is thoroughly different. Actually, everyone is leaps and bounds different than the next person. I have to give tons of props to Bardugo. Each character has their own share of flaws, and downfalls. Kaz, can never say no to a good sum of money, and the mastermind of this whole heist, Inej, a.k.a. the wraith is a silent killer, in love with her daggers, and tenacious, Nina a Grisha who is beyond charming and witty, Wylan a newcomer, a youngin’ and a boy who’s family tree proves to be something the group holds against him and Matthaias the druskalla (witch hunter) who holds his religion close and moral standing even higher to his home of the Ice Court and Jesper, the flirty, cunning and deadly shot. All of these characters work….less than flawlessly together but still somehow end up being a very tight group of misfits. You couldn’t really ask for more separate yet together group from this book. Each character is written to the point where you either go hate to love, love to love even more, or love to hate, or love to love to love love to love love love even more. Either way, at one point or another you find yourself  completely enamored with all of these characters.

The pace of this book was great. Never a dull moment, even during the points of travel. It was the perspective switching in my opinion that kept it moving and all the back story you got on each character was wonderful. And how each few characters intertwined with each other was absolutely flawless. It was the perfect amount of intertwined stories, not so much that all their lives revolved around oneanothers, but enough that you knew that they were tied to each other in one way or another. That being said. Thank god there were no love triangles because that would have completely ruined the book. BUT the romance that was there, was BEAUTIFUL. Wonderfully written and just the right amount! I couldn’t  have asked for a better romance (my favorite being between Nina and Mathaias) between the character pairs. And even if there wasn’t full fledged romance, it was still a good sense of caring and love between them. It was beautiful.

And now, for my final thoughts on action and plot. I don’t think there was a moment throughout this book where I felt lost or bored or even “over it”. Fully engaged throughout, and constantly having an issue with putting down Six of Crows. There were nights where I was up all night trying to get my full satisfaction in finding a spot where I could put the book down due to a lull so I wouldn’t miss anything, but no. There was no such thing. A constant moving and flowing river of perfection. The action was great and descriptive and I felt like I was part of the brawls and the cannons blasting and the bombs going off and the alarms sounding. I felt as though I was in Ketterdam and inside The Ice Court. It was one of the most immersive reads I’ve ever experienced. Thanks Leigh Bardugo for this wonderful book, I’ll have to pick up The Grisha Trilogy sometime soon.