Six of Crows [Six of Crows, #1] by Leigh Bardugo

Six of Crows [Six of Crows, #1]
by Leigh Bardugo

Genre: YA high fantasy 

My Rating: ★★★★★

Description:

♪ How do I summarize without spoillleeerrrsss ♪

Alright, here goes:
A group of six outcasts band together to pull off the heist of the century. Riches and glory await -- if they can make it out alive.



Overall Thoughts

Have I put off reading this book for too long? Yes. But with the new Shadow and Bone Netflix TV show coming out this year (!!!), I think it's about time I jump on the bandwagon with all the other Grishaverse fans. I've really only heard good things about Six of Crows, and while it didn't exceed my expectations (and granted, I had high expectations), it definitely met them and left me wanting more.

The Characters

The characters were definitely the best part of the novel. They're all very iconic, with distinct voices and personalities that made for some very interesting interactions and dynamics. I love books involving teams of unlikely allies (The Illuminae Files was one series that also had this "trope", and I enjoyed that series as well.)
Most of the characters fall into the anti-hero archetype, and it's done exceptionally well. I find that anti-heroes can be difficult to pull off well: the author not only has to make the character sympathetic, but they also have to make the character do some pretty horrible things as well. Sometimes an anti-hero character can slip from sympathetic into a character everyone hates, but that's not the case in this book. The characters' bad and good traits are well balanced.

The backstories for the characters were revealed as the story progressed, with the narrative flowing from past to present to past again smoothly and sometimes without paragraph breaks. This sometimes wouldn't work very well, but in this case, Bardugo managed it splendidly.

Plot/Pacing

The plot was well put together. It definitely wasn't the best part of the novel, since Six of Crows is definitely more character-focused, but it holds together and is well paced with excellent conflict and tension. There were a few places during the narrative where I wasn't quite sure what was going on or my suspension of disbelief was stretched, but I think much of that resulted from the fact that I was reading too fast to understand exactly what had gotten the characters to this point.

Worldbuilding

The setting was well-drawn. I love the idea of Victorian inspired fantasy, and the setting of Six of Crows definitely lived up to my expectations about that. The magic system is also unique, which makes me interested to read Shadow and Bone to find out more about it.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book.

Content

Recommended for ages 15 and up.

TRIGGER WARNING: One character is a former prostitute and victim of physical and sexual abuse. Some of her flashbacks could be triggering to certain readers.

Swearing is not gratuitous, but there is enough of it to be noticeable. Some minor cursing is mingled with some stronger, more offensive language, including the use of the f-bomb once or twice.

In terms of sexual content, apart from the trigger warning listed above, there are numerous mentions of "pleasure-houses" and prostitution. Two characters sleep naked together (not for sexual reasons). Several instances of innuendo and crude jokes. Several descriptions of women wearing revealing clothing. Several instances of nudity. Two characters are implied to be gay.

Violence is definitely heavy, with descriptions of blood and wounds fairly common. Several shootouts and hand to hand combat scenes, semi-detailed. Many major characters kill other people with little to no regret shown. A character rips out another character's eye. Descriptions of severed heads. Disturbing description of several people who have been burned alive, and one person that survived the initial burning. Explosions. Some aspects of the magic system could be disturbing. Two unnamed characters drain the blood out of several people using their abilities.

The plot revolves around a highly addictive drug, which is used several times throughout the course of the story. It's shown to be wrong. Characters drink alcohol and gamble.