Six of Crows(2015)

 

Six of Crows(2015)

Author:Leigh Bardugo

Pages:496

Published on 2015 September 29th by Henry Hot and Co.

Rating:5/5

Start date: 2022.02.10

Finish date: 2022.02.10

Summary:

Bo Yul-Bayur is a scientist who developed jurda parem, a drug which strengthens Grisha powers but weakens them drastically if they stop taking it. Every nation is hungry for Grisha power, so Bo Yul-Bayur is captured and put into the Ice Court, a heavily secured court and prison in Fjerda. 

 Jan Van Eck, a merchant from Ketterdam, seeks help from Kaz, a criminal prodigy, to sneak Bo Yul-Bayur out, by order of the Kerch council. He proposes a enormously large cash prize for this impossible mission, so Kaz sets off to find his crew. Nina, a powerful Hearttender, Inej the Wraith who hears every secret, Matthias, a convict who is familiar with the Ice court, Jesper, a boy skilled with guns, and Wylan, Van Eck's son. They set off and go through many challenges while figuring things out between each other and themselves. They unravel secrets of their past while working together for the cash prize they have mutual ambition to win. When they reach the Ice Court, they find out the scientist has been long dead and only his son, Kuweii remains. They take Kuweii back to Ketterdam in exchange for the money, only to realize it was all a scam. The book ends with Inej getting kidnapped, but they hide the valuable boy Van Eck wants-Kuweii, the only way of remaking more of the drug and finding an antidote. 

My review:

This has honestly become one of my favorite books so far. I loved how the characters were anything but good.They actually came together because of the giant cash prize, but grew to love each other, though nobody really showed it. I have always loved found family tropes especially when they are a bunch of teenagers around my age, because it feels like having a group of friends to sail through the book with you. I started reading this book because of its recommendations on Tiktok, so I didn’t know it was a duology and there was a trilogy which took place in the same setting as Six of Crows. Because of that the first three chapters were a bit hard to digest because I couldn’t understand the terms they were using, but I got adapted to it quickly and the book was so enjoyable after that. 

Although the book was written in third person, each chapter is from a different person’s perspective. My favorite character is Nina. She is fierce and strong, with a kind heart and also a great sense of humor. She was never scared of Kaz and their dialogues always made me laugh. Her and Matthias’s relationship was also one of my favorite parts of the book. They were enemies by nature, yet they helped each other survive when they were caught in a shipwreck, however, when they finally got to safety, Nina betrayed Matthias by saying he was a slaver.She had her reasons, but she never got the chance to explain. They were brought together again for the mission to the Ice Court. Matthias wanted to hate her but he knew deep down he had fallen too hard. The angst and tension between them was so good to read. Matthias is the only foreigner in the group, as the rest were all part of the Dregs- whether by choice or by force. Matthias was unfamiliar with their ways and it was really funny to read how he deceived it. Apart from that, it was so endearing to see him simp over everything Nina did. It was so obvious that he still loved her, and the rest of the crew could tell too. Any words they exchanged, and emotions felt between them was so beautiful.

I had predicted something would spark between Kaz and Inej at some point, however, they never actually got together. Jesper and Wylan were often bickering which was amusing to read. The relationships between the crows went perfectly with the action and main plot. Leigh Bardugo did a great job of world building, and I was fascinated by all the different regions and their cultures. The crows come from different backgrounds and stories, but they gathered up to complete thus quest because of something they all need-money. Although no one ever admitted so, you can see how they grow to love and fight for each other. 

The mission was so suspenseful and exciting to read. I remember I was having a hard time getting past the first few chapters so I decided to read a bit more at 11pm, thinking I would be able to progress one more chapter and then go to bed. But when Kaz started recruiting his crew, the book got to interesting and I couldn't put it down-literally. I read until 5am, when I finished the book. It was kind of infuriating that they all went through so much pain and trouble for the mission to be a complete scam, but then I realized the mission's giant cash prize seemed too good to be true, and the book didn't seem like things would come to a sweet and happy ending so easily. The part which truly appalled me was how Wylan was treated by his father. Unpleased at his son as he was, I never imagined he would say such foul things to his son. I wouldn't say the ending was a particularly enticing cliffhanger, but the book was so good overall you would definitely want to dive into the next book immediately. 

Below is my favourite scene in the book, after Nina took parem and was weak. Matthias calls Nina 'little red bird' because of the colour of her Grisha kefta.

"Stay," she panted. Tears leaked from her eyes. "Stay till the end."

"And after," Matthias said. "And always."

"I want to feel safe again. I want to go home to Ravka."

"Then I'll take you there. We'll set fire to raisins or whatever you heathens do for fun."

"Zealot," she said weakly.

"Witch."

"Barbarian."

"Nina," he whispered, "little red bird. Don't go."