Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo - Book Review

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Publication date: September 29, 2015

My rating: 4 stars

I finally did it. I finally read Six of Crows. 

*Whew* 

I got to admit, my logic and my emotions were in disagreement on how I was going to rate it. 
Logic wanted me to rate it 3 stars, and emotions wanted me to rate it 4 stars. 
I guess emotions won. 

Because on one hand, I'm aversed to books with descriptive/dense writing, and on the other hand despite all of that I just could not... stop... reading. It was so addictive I sat for hours reading none-stop. 

I do think you need to be in the right kind of mood to read Leigh Bardugo's books though, especially if you're, like me, a lover of books that are easy to read and don't demand your brain to constantly stay in total focus mode or else you're going to miss something in the writing. 

So under normal circumstances, I would be too impatient to finish this book, but in the right mood I would be addicted to it. And I really was in the right mood, as I was becoming burned out on my usual type of books and I needed something different, something fresh. 

I would also mention that the first few chapters - more specifically, the first two chapters - are hard to get through. They'll make you Quint in confusion and maybe even be so bored you want to drop the book. I do suggest you push through though, read at least a few chapters before you decide. 

Kaz & Inej

One minute he made her blush, and the next he made her want to commit murder. 

I ship these two. I SHIP THEM *screaming this into the void*. 

Interestingly enough, I actually started this book really liking Inej and kind of disliking on Kaz, and ended this book loving Kaz and having conflicted feelings for Inej. 

I felt like Kaz is having a great character development here, while Inej... well, despite finding a purpose, I can't say I'm seeing much character development yet, so maybe in the next book. But compared to Kaz, Inej pretty much stayed the same. 

My annoyance with her was that she didn't seem to take into account Kaz's PTSD at all. I mean of course she deserves someone who can give her what she needs, but I felt like she was being unfair to demand so much out of Kaz so soon when he's only now starting to open up more. I'm not saying she should settle for scraps, I'm just saying she shouldn't try to make him feel bad about what he can't offer her yet, and that's just what she did. 

And Kaz... gosh, going from wanting to slap him to wanting to hug him - okay, maybe not hug him, that would be dangerous - just shows what a great character development it was. I love Kaz. 

I thought it was adorable how he kept thinking of Inej, how even his memories of her helped him deal with his anxiety, how he would do anything to save her, how angry he is at anyone who dares to hurt her. 

Jasper & Wylan 

Jasper: "If Pekka Rollins kills us all, I'm going to get Wylan's ghost to teach my ghost how to play the flute just so that I can annoy the hell out of your ghost." 
Kaz: "I'll just hire Matthias' ghost to kick your ghost's ass." 
Matthias: "My ghost won't associate with your ghost." 

Those two had the least page time out of all the six crows, with Jasper having the least POV time and Wylan not having a POV at all - though he's going to have one in Crooked Kingdom so I'm excited to see that. 

Okay, so Wylan IS CUTE. Right from the start I knew this kid had to be protected. Sorry, Wylan, I know you're not a kid, you're just precious though. 

As for Jasper, I felt sorry for his gambling addiction problem. Poor guy. Addiction is no joke. 

And yep I totally ship them. We only saw very little hints of the romance between them here, and only at the very end from Jasper's side of things, which is why I'm so excited for their romance in the next book! 

Nina & Matthias 

"If we make it out of here alive, I'm going to kiss you unconscious." 

Speaking of character development, MATTHIAS'S CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT WAS SO GOOD. 

Like seriously, what character development wouldn't be out of this world amazing when said character starts out as a brainwashed with hunter who follows the rules and arrests criminals, who ends up part of a group full of criminals and in a relationship with a witch - Grisha? 

Similarly to Kaz, I started out being conflicted about Matthias and ended up really liking him. 

*Spoilers from now on* 

Kaz & Inej

"I'm going to get my money, Kaz vowed. "And I'm going to get my girl." 

I loved how Kaz brought up military plans with Inej after she was recovering from her injury just to have an excuse to talk to her because he didn't know how else to approach. 

And at the end? When Inej was kidnapped? And Kaz is going to go after his girl? I SCREAMED. 

Jasper & Wylan 

"Nina might not be able to put you back, you know. Now without another dose of parem. You could be stuck like this. "
"Why does it matter?" 
"I don't know!" Jasper said angrily. "Maybe I liked your stupid face."  

Jasper being a Grisha was definitely a random plot twist. I was sort of "Eh... okay?" about it, it kind of seemed out of nowhere, even though I know it' probably going to be addressed further in Crooked Kingdom. 

The ending with Wylan's father was... I bet we all wanted to join Jasper's anger when we realized what those letters really meant. 

Nina & Matthias 

"I have been made to protect you. Only in death will I be kept from this oath." 

I saw spoilers for some stuff that goes down in Crooked Kingdom so the spoiler bellow is going to discuss something that is going to happen in Crooked Kingdom and relates to my experience knowing this spoiler as I was reading Six of Crows, so do not keep reading unless you like spoilers or unless you've read Crooked Kingdom. 

Me reading the Nina & Matthias chapters and chanting "I'm not going to cry I'm not going to cry" because I already knew what was going to happen in Crooked Kingdom. I just... and then when they finally got together in the end I just... they were just so beautiful together, all the character development Matthias went through, all that enemies to lovers and love to hate they went through together, to find love together, and just... just for him to die in the next book? 

Reading their chapters was hurting MY SOUL. 
I wanted them to be happy, I WANTED THEM TO BE HAPPY, and knowing it was all doomed from the start, all the while reading about their love story, hurt. 

And when Matthias vowed "I have been made to protect you. Only in death will I be kept from this oath." Yeah... yep... haha... HAHA... *sobbing*. 

Only one King - Tommee Profitt (ft. Jung Youth)
(Kaz at the end of Six of Crows)

He needed to tell her... what? That she was lovely and brave and better than anything he deserved. That he was twisted, crooked, wrong, but not so broken that he couldn't pull himself together into some semblance of a man for her. That without meaning to, he'd begun to lean on her, to look for her, to need her near. He needed to thank her for his new hat.