Publisher: Henry Holt
Page Count: 462
Six of Crows was my first buddy read with the ever amazing Fadwa! I don’t know why we waited for so long, because I this was so much fun in my opinion *fingers crossed she feels the same way* and if time and schedules permit it, I would be up for another one any day. Don’t forget to check out her review on her blog right HERE!
We actually finished this book last week and I usually tend to do my reviews right afterwards, but every now and then a book comes along and it needs more time. This book came with a lot of expectations! It has been recommended to me countless times and fanart as well as quotes from the characters have spammed my timeline more than once. I even had some book swag from subscription boxes at home, without ever having read a single word from the books. Don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining at all! Love for a story like this is beautiful, but it also puts some pressure on the book itself as well as me while reading. You cannot imagine how relieved I was when Six of Crows fully delivered!
There’s already an existing world from the Grisha books that I was not unaware of, but I still haven’t read those previous books. So, right in the beginning it took a little time to understand what’s what and where’s where, but gorgeous maps and little lists in the front where a big help in that department. Aside from that little confusion there is nearly nothing bad to say, which makes this the tough part of the review. I LOVED all the characters. It barely took me 5 chapters and I was already head over heels for most of them. Of course I could give you a precise ranking of my lovelies (From most love to least love, but still love all around: Inej, Kaz, Jesper, Weylan, Nina, Matthias), but the point is that they were all amazing.
I am lacking words today, but all six of them were multi-layered, beautifully unique, flawed, selfish, passionate, caring and generally hilarious characters. There were laugh-out-loud-moments, just as much as there were really scary action sequences. Even when I knew how a situation would end, my heart was still threatening to jump out of my rib cage. The dialogue was fast and witty, there were some predictable moments and others that completely surprised me. My shipping heart aches with all the possibilities. YOU SEE ME FLAILING HERE, RIGHT? I am not even into multiple-POV-books usually, but this one captured me in all its entirety. So, I am going to leave you with one last snippet, just in case you still need convincing (you really shouldn’t at this point) that the banter will be glorious!
Kaz leaned back. “What’s the easiest way to steal a man’s wallet?”
“Knife to the throat?” asked Inej.
“Gun to the back?” said Jesper.
“Poison in his cup?” suggested Nina.
“You’re all horrible,” said Matthias.
Fazit: 5/5 stars! Crooked Kingdom is already eagerly waiting on my shelf! (I recommend you have it ready too, because THAT ENDING!?)
How do you feel about the gang? Who’s your favourite? Do you want to read SoC?
Life and Other Disasters 
This book has been on my tbr forever- so glad you liked it!!
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It was wonderful! And Fadwa and I were totally on the same wavelength, which made it even better.
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Ahh that is awesome! I really need to try buddy reading at some point- how does it work exactly? Do you read a chapter or two and then discuss?
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Well, it’s different with each person. Sometimes you just read and tell the other person that you read something interesting. Then you compare where you are and talk about it. Or you do it by chapter or percentage. I know some people who talk at every 25% mark. Fadwa and I really read side by side. So, I would sit with my laptop open and we would say that we would read now and then live chat as we were reading. It honestly depends on your partner.
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Ahh that’s fun!! Sounds good 🙂
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I can’t wait to read these books!!!!
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I loved them! Did you read the Grisha books?
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No not yet, I hadn’t been sure which to read first. Im still not sure which I’m going to read first 😞
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It was slightly confusing to start with SoC without any of the background info. It does get explained a little, but I feel like we were just thrown into the mythology a bit. I have no idea if the Grisha books would have helped.
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Maybe they would have…well i think I’m gunna start with the grisha trilogy first. I’m easily confused so I think this is the best course of action lol 😊
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Oh its such a good book isn’t it? Glad to loved it and what a great review!
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YES absolutely! And thanks so much 😀
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Wait, is this book a sequel or a spin-off of a series or something?
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So, there’s the Grisha series, which consists of three books (but which I haven’t read). Then Six of Crows plays in the same universe, but not with any previous characters I think. It’s a duology.
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Darn. I thought it sounded cool, but I’m not sure if I want to read the first series n order to check out the second series.
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We didn’t read the other series beforehand, it’s not strictly necessary. There might be a little confusion about the geography and the different kind of Grishas in the beginning, but that’s nothing a look at the map and list in the front of the book won’t fix.
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Maybe I’ll consider it.
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I have been seeing this book around but its not a genre that I read.However, your review makes me want to give it a try. I like the banter at the bottom and the chracters all sound great. Great review!
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It’s a wonderful book! I sometimes wondered if maybe it would have been easier had I read the Grisha series beforehand, but we found our way through it nonetheless.
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Yay! I’m so glad to see that you enjoyed this one. I absolutely adored Six of Crows and I’m itching to pick up Crooked Kingdom. I FEEL YA with the shipping that’s going on in this book. I positively need a lot of action in the sequel or I think I shall combust from frustration. It’s all just so beautiful and witty! Thank god for Leigh Bardugo, eh?
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YES! YES! YES! *nods head vigorously!*
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Awesome review! I loved SoC and am currently buddy reading Crooked Kingdom. I love it too, even more than SoC! I’m so happy to hear that you did your first buddy read. I wish you many more buddy reads in the future! They’re so fun!
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It was only my first buddy read with Fadwa, otherwise I had quite a lot, but we were surprised because it took us so long to get together. It was so much fun though!
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AMAGAAASH !! I can’t get over this book! And I need you to be done with Crooked Kingdom soon so that we can flail about that too! But I’ll be patient and not bug you about it until you’re done on your own accord haha!
Amazing Review ❤
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❤ I wish I could read it more, but time is a rare commodity. I am barely home … then there's the Gilmore Girls revival and work … ugh, I could do without the last one hahaha
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Oh yes I know 😕 Plus, it’s not a book that you can easily carry around.
Hahaha! I guess gilmore girls is priority now, right?!
What is even work? Pfft
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I am done with Gilmore Girls and I am emotionally drained. It did not end the way I hoped for … ugh, I am just keeping my fingers crossed they will do ONE more movie or season.
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Ugh!! I hope they do that for your sake!
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Thank you! I need some more answers.
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[…] the action… Just EVERYTHING. This was my first -of many, I hope- buddy-read with Kat @ Life and Other Disasters (Side note: I don’t know why it took us this long to buddy-read?!) and let me tell you, we […]
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I need to get to this book!! Excellent review, I have this from the library and it’s going to have to be returned soon but I think I’ll make a point of reading it ASAP based on your review:)
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I hope you will enjoy it! I very much had fun reading it.
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Hahahaha omg that excerpt, I LOVE IT ALREADY. I really need to get to this book as soon as I can, I am so glad you and Fadwa enjoyed it so much! As you know, I’m not much into SO many different POV, but hearing how much you loved it…well, it just makes me want to buy it right now haha 🙂
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We had a lot of fun! Did you read the Grisha books? We didn’t and there were parts of it that confused us in the beginning, but nothing that couldn’t be overcome. Just as a little heads up!
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I haven’t, and that’s a bit what’s preventing me from getting Six of Crows right away as well. I thought about reading the Grisha books before, but then… well, there are many books to read before Six of Crows then haha.
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I get it! It really isn’t strictly necessary, some people even said that Leigh’s writnig style improved a lot from the Grisha books to SoC, so they prefer the latter ones anyway. I don’t know what’s the right way to do it. I just saw the books in the shop and bought them and that’s why I don’t think I will necessarily pick up the Grisha books anymore.
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Oh okay well that’s good to know. There are so many books, maybe I’ll skip directly to SoC as well 😂
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YAAAY!! I am so happy that you loved this book. I can safely say that these character are a favourite of mine. I love their complexity and the different dynamics within the gang. My shippers heart was going into overdrive. Kaz and Inej have my heart and I never thought I’d look at an act of brutality as such an act of love when she was injured haha.
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I completely understand why you consider them your favourites. They are wonderful and multi-layered. It’s rare that you get a bunch of such good ones, usually there are only 1 or 2 that stand out.
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I am so happy that it lived up to the hype expectations! I just hope that you are able to enjoy the Grisha trilogy (if you do decide to read it) with as much appreciation as I can see from SOC/CK. But I should mention, for full transparency, that I did find Six of Crows et al. to be a lot more well-written than Grisha. For me, I could tell that her writing style had improved immensely so I think that’s the caveat I will say to you going forward.
I hope you enjoy Crooked Kingdom as much as you did Six of Crows though!
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That’s definitely good to know! I am not sure if I want to read the Grisha trilogy … I always imagined myself picking it up before ever jumping into Six of Crows and then with so many new books coming out all the time, I just sort of forget about older ones. So, maybe one day, but it’s not really a priority.
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SOC/CK is the duology to read — so if you aren’t feeling it, you aren’t feeling it! No real loss there as you’ve at least experienced, if a minimum, what the world has to offer!
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Great review! I totally adored this book myself. I haven’t read the sequel yet (I don’t want the adventures of Kaz and friends to end after ONLY TWO BOOKS). I hope you enjoy Crooked Kingdom just as much (OR MORE) than Six of Crows! 🙂
– Lashaan
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I get that! I will be sad too when it ends after Crooked Kingdom. It’s one of the few cases where I would even be up for novellas and short stories that let us stay with the characters for just a little bit longer.
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So glad to see you love this book! I’m basically obsessed with this duology because it’s just SO GOOD! 😀 My favorite characters would be Kaz and Nina but just like you said, they are all incredible and have very distict personalities! And YES this book is full of sass and humour and of course, brutality, and I really enjoyed all of it! Can’t wait to see what you think of Crooked Kingdom! ❤
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YES! This duology is everything and I am saying this still not having gotten very far with Crooked Kingdom hahaha I want to read it so bad, but it’s too big and heavy to take to work …
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I must be the last one who hasn’t read it!!! I’m glad you loved it. I admit the hype and all the rave heightened my expectations so much that I’m afraid to be disappointed!
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I get it. I was really scared it would disappoint as well, but not knowing anything about the story helped.
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I read this for the first time this month and loved it, glad you enjoyed it too! I was a bit worried because I’d read the Grisha Trilogy and didn’t feel like it lived up to hype and I didn’t want to have the same experience because I’d heard so much about Six of Crows. My favourite character was definitely Nina!
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I have to say that I didn’t actually read the Grisha trilogy, but from what I heard Leigh Bardugo really evolved when she wrote SoC! I am glad you agree with me 🙂
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Great review! I’m sooo glad to see that you enjoyed Six of Crows, it’s one of my all time favourite books after all. I love the whole gang and choosing one favourite is simply impossible to me! I love them all for different reasons. Though if I had to chose one I would have to say that Kaz is my favourite. 🙂
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Kaz is a good choice! I don’t like having to choose either, so I do all love them equally more than the others 😉
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