Six of Crows - BookWyrm

English language

Published Sept. 25, 2016 by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR).

ISBN:: 978-1-250-12356-5

(1 review)

Six of Crows is a fantasy novel written by the Israeli-American author Leigh Bardugo and published by Henry Holt and Co. in 2015. The story follows a thieving crew and is primarily set in the city of Ketterdam, which is loosely inspired by Dutch Republic–era Amsterdam. The plot is told from third-person viewpoints of six different characters. The novel is followed by Crooked Kingdom (2016) and is part of the Grishaverse. Nina's storyline continues in the King of Scars duology: King of Scars (2019) and Rule of Wolves (2021), and the other Crows make cameo appearances in the latter novel.

3 editions

TiffyBelle@bookwyrm.social reviewed Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (Six of Crows, #1)

Review of 'Six of Crows' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Six of Crows is an epic tale following the journey of 6 bandits looking to pull off the heist of their lives, with plenty of twists, turns, and some unexpected romance along the way!

This was my first foray into the universe created by this author which began with earlier novels. As such, I was a little trepidatious about not being able to fully enjoy Six of Crows due to not being aware of the lore and backstories that came before it. Thankfully, however, I didn't find that to be a barrier at all. This novel more than stands on its own in that regard with no previous knowledge of the universe being required, although I'm sure a more full knowledge of the universe may have made reading Six of Crows even more enjoyable for those who have.

Six of Crows takes us on a gritty adventure to the seedy …

Six of Crows is an epic tale following the journey of 6 bandits looking to pull off the heist of their lives, with plenty of twists, turns, and some unexpected romance along the way!

This was my first foray into the universe created by this author which began with earlier novels. As such, I was a little trepidatious about not being able to fully enjoy Six of Crows due to not being aware of the lore and backstories that came before it. Thankfully, however, I didn't find that to be a barrier at all. This novel more than stands on its own in that regard with no previous knowledge of the universe being required, although I'm sure a more full knowledge of the universe may have made reading Six of Crows even more enjoyable for those who have.

Six of Crows takes us on a gritty adventure to the seedy underbelly of Ketterdam, where we meet a motley, rag-tag bunch of criminals who all find themselves aligned despite coming from very different backgrounds. One of the major strengths of Six of Crows is the depth of these characters, whose backstories are slowly revealed to the reader at appropriate intervals during the story. The interweaving of each characters' personal journeys and history is seamless alongside the main plot; the author strikes a masterful balance of introducing backstory for each character at very timely moments that help the reader understand precisely where characters are coming from and their motivations.

The plot twists and twists-on-top-of-twists are deliciously executed that will have you as a reader guessing and second guessing where the story is going. One thing is for sure though: The cunning of Kaz Brekker is never to be underestimated!

This book will have you feeling all the things and ultimately take you on an excitingly deep journey into this world filled with a lot of moral ambiguity, characters wrestling with their own emotions, struggles with past trauma, and feelings. There'll be joy, triumph, setbacks, and tears with some epic magic along the way too! There's also some awesome female badasses who were very easy for me to root for as well.

This was a top drawer fantasy novel for me, and I'll immediately be reading the second book in this series: Crooked Kingdom.

"No mourners. No funerals."