Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (2015)

Kaz Brekker is out for vengeance. No one knows for who or what for, but he does and he’s going to get it. On his path, he’s created the Dregs, once considered an amateur gang in Ketterdam that has been turned into a cunning and violent pack. His reputation is known, which is why he’s enlisted to break into the most notorious prison in the world, the Ice Court, and retrieve Bo Yul-Bayer, who just might know how to make a mixture that could bring their world crashing down. However, even he can’t do this mission by himself. Accompanying him is Inej, his right hand girl, and a group of misfits: Nina, Wylan, Mathias and Jesper. They have two weeks from the time they set sail to complete the job, but only if they don’t kill each other first.

Six of Crows is another story in the ongoing Grisha universe crafted by Leigh Bardugo. The first stories in the world are part of the Grisha trilogy, making this book a companion novel. There are completely different characters in this book than the others. Although the storylines can connect, Six of Crows can be read without reading the other ones. I did read most of the Grisha trilogy but I read it such a long time ago that I don’t remember much of it, which worked out fine.

There are quite of cast of characters throughout this novel and I enjoyed most of them. Although told in third person, each chapter is designated to a specific person out of the main six: Kaz, Inej, Nina, Mathias, Wylan and Jesper. I don’t know which one is my favorite but I really enjoyed reading about Mathias. Mathias offered an interesting point of view and story because he was an ex-prison guard to the very prison they were trying to break into. There was constantly this wavering thought of whether or not he would actually go through with the gang’s plan or betray them. The only thing that was really difficult concerning the characters is that the very first chapter of the book is from the point of view of an outside character named Joost. Since it was the first chapter, I got invested in Joost’s story only to never hear from him again.

For the first half of Six of Crows, the reader is pretty much in the dark about the characters’ backgrounds. All they know is that somehow they all ended up in the Dregs. During the second half things get intense. We learn a lot about what led them to such a violent and brutal time which was heartbreaking. I also like that overtime, small romances started to develop. It was subtle enough that the romances didn’t take over the plot and in some cases could only be seen if the reader paid close attention.

As with the characters, the first half of the plot was lacking a little bit and was quite slow. On the other hand, the second half was super fast paced and packed with action. Almost too much action. I found myself getting confused with all the different plots, especially when it concerned machinery, a big theme throughout Six of Crows. The action also went on and on and on. This is a fantasy novel so some things are obviously unbelievable, but there were so many turns and tragedies that seemed too much for the story.

Still, I can’t help but praise how carefully Leigh Bardugo crafted the Grisha world. The atmosphere is truly out-of-this-world and has so many political and social aspects. There weren’t any holes in the layers of the world and everything made sense.

I can’t believe it took me so long to get to reading this book and I will definitely be reading the sequel, Crooked Kingdom!

4 Stars