What’s it all about?:
Criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker has been offered wealth beyond his wildest dreams. But to claim it, he’ll have to pull off a seemingly impossible heist:
Break into the notorious Ice Court
(a military stronghold that has never been breached)
Retrieve a hostage
(who could unleash magical havoc on the world)
Survive long enough to collect his reward
(and spend it)
Kaz needs a crew desperate enough to take on this suicide mission and dangerous enough to get the job done – and he knows exactly who: six of the deadliest outcasts the city has to offer. Together, they just might be unstoppable – if they don’t kill each other first.
What did I think?:
I’ve read some reviews of Leigh Bardugo’s work and generally, people seem to have quite strong opinions of her Grisha trilogy (Shadow And Bone, Siege And Storm, Ruin and Rising) compared to the Six of Crows duology in that they prefer one over the other. I was one of those people that loved the Grisha trilogy and when I heard all the hype about this novel I was beyond excited. To be perfectly honest, I thought it was just as brilliant although I did find it quite different stylistically speaking, and you can clearly see a stronger development of writing in the creation of some fantastic, unforgettable characters and an intricate, thrilling and very nail-biting plot.
Told from a number of different perspectives, Six Of Crows focuses on a motley crew of six main characters (hence the name!) that are all flawed, wanted criminals, tricky and sneaky in their endeavours or lost and just seeking a family to call their home, never mind how unconventional it might be. All our characters: Kaz, Inej, Nina, Matthias, Jesper and Wylan have their individual little secrets or tragedies in their pasts and all have their own motives for attempting to pull off the most unbelievable heist. They are offered a vast sum of money and in return must recover a notorious scientist imprisoned in the impenetrable Ice Court. Impenetrable, as its boundaries have never, ever been breached. However, with confident Kaz Brekker in the lead, this dysfunctional group of friends start to believe that they might just be able to pull it off.
There’s been many comparisons of this novel to a young adult version of Oceans Eleven and I would definitely agree with that although it does have some quite violent scenes, which adults might want to be aware of for younger readers. However, the absolute power in this beauty of a novel comes with the characterisation. I don’t think I’ve ever rooted for a gang of characters as dubious as these for such a long time – I really wanted them to succeed in their mission and I really loved the complexity of their personalities, their difficult pasts and their relationships with each other, which were just gorgeous and quite heart-breaking at times. Like most reviewers, I fell head over heels for the romance between Kaz and Inej (which was portrayed just delicately enough for this cynical romance reader right here!) but I also loved the difficult relationship between Nina and Matthias and Jesper’s wonderful humor brought some much needed light relief to the narrative during the multiple nerve-wracking moments. Just writing this review has brought back memories of how invested I was in the characters when I read it and I’m determined to read Crooked Kingdom as a priority early next year. I can’t wait to see how the story ends!
Would I recommend it?:
But of course!
Star rating (out of 5):
