Format: Hardcover, 465 pages
Release Date: September 29, 2015
Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
Source: Library
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
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 sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager.
A runaway with a privileged past.
A spy known as the Wraith.
A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.
A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.
Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz's crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don't kill each other first.
Author Leigh Bardugo returns to the land of the Grisha with a new series called Six of Crows. The story is set in Ketterdam (Kerch), a place where anything goes, and anything can be had for the right price. A place filled with convicts, thieves, runaways, and Grisha hiding from those who want to hunt them down and kill them.
Six of Crows is essentially a story about a group of six misfits who are thrown together in order to break into a heavily-guarded prison and smuggle out a person of high interest. In order to do so, they will need to get in and out of the one place that is nearly impossible to escape from: the Ice Court of Fjerda. But, in order to survive, all six members must put away their own ideas, agendas, and personal issues in order to walk away with more money than they can even imagine.
Six of Crows switches narratives between Kaz Brekker (the leader of the Dregs who is on a mission of revenge and isn't afraid of any job no matter what the risk is); Inej Ghafa (the one known as the wraith who can get into and out of any place without anyone knowing she was there); Nina Zanik (formerly of the Second Grisha Army and a Heartrender), Matthias Helvar (a trained witch/Grisha hunter), Jesper Fahey (the sharpshooter who can never walk away from a bet), and Wylan Van Eck (the son of a wealthy merchant who approaches Kaz about an impossible mission).
I dare say that Kaz is probably the most entertaining, and the most interesting character in the book. What I love about this book is that Bardugo does flashbacks to the important parts of the characters lives. For Kaz, this flashback is what drives him. It is what makes sense to him that drives him to getting his revenge. It is what makes him so dangerous that he can get in and out of trouble without being caught.
Inej is my second favorite. Inez is probably the most pivotal character in this book. She's got a whole lot of skills and attitude. Without her ability of getting in and out of impossible places, the mission wouldn't even get off the ground. I loved her attitude, her desire to break free from her past, her desire to find and reunite with her parents that she was taken from, and I nearly died after a certain scene that has left me itching for a copy of the next book.
We could talk about the romance. Okay, but let's say that it isn't all that important to the overall enjoyment of the story. There are definitely issues, and feelings for two couples; Kaz and Inej also Kaz is emotionally shallow. Mathias and Nina. I would love to grab hold of the later couple and knock some sense into them. They may be from different cultures, but the heart loves who the heart loves. Let's not drag this out, shall we? There is also a thing called forgiveness.
Six of Crows is such an insane story, with so much action, suspense, diversity of characters, darkness of the setting, magic, and adventure, that I felt as though I had just gone 10 rounds with an MMA fighter by the time I was finished reading the book. I have read other reviewers mention that Six of Crows is similar to Ocean's Eleven. I'm okay with that actually. Makes sense when you think about it.
Nice! Have been hearing lots of amazing things about this one but have yet to get it into my reading queue! Hopefully soonish!! Great review!
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