Book Review - Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
Published by: Henry Holt and Co.
Publication Date: September 29th, 2015
Format: Hardcover, 480 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
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What if Grisha could be more powerful? Not to just have their powers amplified but to have them changed. Magnified to a degree that the world itself morphs before their eyes and anything is possible. Of course, such a discovery would be desired by the wealthy and the powerful, and especially the military. Bo Yul-Bayur is a chemist who accidentally created Jurda Parem from the common stimulant Jurda. While fatal to Non-Grisha, to Grisha it can make them fly, literally, but it makes the user an addict after one dose. Afraid of what he has created Bo Yul-Bayur attempts to seek asylum in Kerch but is captured by the Drüskelle and taken to the Fjerdan capital of Djerholm and imprisoned in the impenetrable Ice Court. Who knows what the Fjerdan's will do with this technology, seeing as they have been carrying out pogroms on the Grisha "Witches" for as long as anyone can remember. This is where Kaz Brekker comes in. Kaz is the lieutenant of The Dregs and is known as the man who gets things done. So when mercher Jan Van Eck needs someone to break Bo Yul-Bayur out of the Ice Court he turns to Kaz with the offer of a lifetime. The score from this impossible heist could set Kaz and his crew up for the rest of their lives. Kaz recruits Inej, the "wraith", Jesper, a born sharpshooter, Wylan, for his demolition skills and the fact that if need be he is Van Eck's son and could be used as a hostage, and Nina, because she's a Grisha who is a Ravkan Heartrender. But more importantly, Nina has a connection to someone who intimately knows Kerch and the Ice Court, former Drüskelle Matthias Helvar. Matthias is in prison because of something Nina said and she's been trying to make it up to him ever since, and breaking him out of prison for a big payday should make them even. The improbability and complexity of their plan could go wrong at a million different places, yet they are all good at thinking on their feet, they wouldn't have survived in Ketterdam with all the rival gangs and dangerous alleys if they weren't. But is the payout really worth the risks? And when all is said and done can they trust Van Eck?
When I first read Ocean's Eleven: Ketterdam, or is that Ocean's Six, or even Kaz's Six, hmm, I really have to think this through more...but anyway, when I first read Six of Crows I didn't love it. I felt that in the end the biggest letdown is that Six of Crows just shows us the futility of striving for a better life. From the very beginning Kaz's crew are given this impossible task, one at which they could fail at any second, but deep down you know they are going to succeed. But in succeeding they fail. And somehow I knew this. I just knew that they'd make it to the end and yet they'd fail. I don't know if it's all the heist movies I've watched over the years, but somehow I knew it would be like that bus dangling over the precipice at the end of The Italian Job, all that work wouldn't really be worth it in the end. We were left hanging, waiting for the second book. And that's why they had to fail, because this is a duology. The plot couldn't be wrapped up nice and neat with them walking out of the Barrel millionaires after one book. And for some reason I couldn't accept that at the time. I was annoyed by this ending that opened up the story wider versus locking it down. So what changed between me reading this book back in 2015 and me reading it now? Well, that's twofold. One reason is I've already read the sequel so I know where this is going and therefore could appreciate this book for what it was versus bitching about what it wasn't. The other reason is that I am currently so immersed in the Grishaverse I can take my time to appreciate the characters. I do love these characters so much. In fact I didn't realize how much until I took the book down off the shelf and devoured almost a hundred pages in my first sitting. I was waiting each and every day, biding my time until I could read again. And this is a book where I know what happens and still it kept me on the edge of my seat and staying up way too late. But most importantly, I really can't wait to see who shows up in Nikolai's duology! Yes, those are the books I haven't read yet but I felt the need to reread everything that came before before allowing myself that luxury. I really can't wait!
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