Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone...
A convict with a thirst for revenge.
A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager.
A runaway with a privileged past.
A spy known as the Wraith.
A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.
A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.
Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz's crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don't kill each other first.

Nick: Now that I’ve read 4 of Leigh Bardugo’s books, I think it’s safe to say that she is the queen of my book heart. Every book that she writes continues to blow me away. I thought The Grisha Trilogy was breathtaking, but holy mother of book gods! Six of Crows was epic in many ways. I’ll admit, when I found out that there would be 5 POVs, I was seriously worried, because multiple POVs and I don’t have the best history, but my mistake! I shouldn’t have doubted the author because she’s obviously mastered the art of the written word.

Nereyda:  I binged on Bardugo’s Grisha series last year and was so looking forward to Six of Crows, especially when I found out it would be a story about a band of misfit thieves.  As excited as I was for this, the length of the book (long books scare me) and all the POV’s (too many POV’s annoy me) had me worried that I wouldn’t like this book, and I kept putting it off.  After hearing how much Nick and Megan loved this, I finally caved and read this.  Not very many authors can pull off a story like this, but Leigh Bardugo makes it all look so seamlessly.

Kaz & Inej

Nick: Kaz was the complelling ring-leader of this gang of outcasts. He isn’t someone that I would normally root for in real life ever because he straddled the line between good and evil, more often than not falling on the evil side, with his actions. Leigh Bardugo dug deep into his character, which helps you understand him and his past. She doesn’t justify his actions in any way, but you still care for this character in a way that’s rather impossible to describe – he’s one of those personalities that you actually have to meet yourself to experience the confidence and wiliness he exudes. And then you’ve got Inej, the spy of the group. While it did take me a little bit of time to warm up to her character, by the time the author shed light to her backstory, I was in love with her. She was smart, brave, and extremely driven. Compared to Kaz, she had a quietness to her personality that I thought balanced him out perfectly. Their romance was only just budding in Six of Crows, but I’m completely on board of this ship because my goodness, these two certainly have some simmering chemistry and from what I could glean, they were a couple that perfectly complemented each other.

Nereyda:  Kaz was such an interesting character for me, as the leader of the gang, I felt like I never truly knew what he was up to or what his agenda was.  He was the biggest mystery of the book for me, and in many ways his character reminded me of Jack Sparrow, moral-wise.  I just never knew who he really trusted, who’s side he was really on, and what his angle was in all this.  I think his character took the longest for me to understand and get to know, even though I’m sure I’m not 100% there yet.  I will say that I loved his charm and his unapologetic attitude and I especially loved how much of a sucker he was for Inej, even if he tried his best not to show it.  As the expert spy of the group and one of the very few people Kaz could trust, I immediately wanted to know more about this woman who had Kaz under her spell.  I loved that even though they did their best to hide their feelings from each other, pretty much everyone else in their crew could tell what was going on.  Even though this relationship is more on the slow side and in the beginning stages, I think it has the potential to be really great.  

Matthias & Nina

Nick: MY FAVORITE COUPLE OF THE BOOK! And the two characters who combusted every time they appeared in a scene together. They were a couple with a ton of history and the antagonism that existed between them, because Nina was a Grisha Heartrender and Matthias a  Grisha hunter, was written in a realistic and addicting way. Nina was a bold and feisty character. So far, she is undoubtedly my favorite female character in Six of Crows. I love how she was the sort of person to speak out her mind and knew exactly how to use her assets to her benefit. All in all, she was badass. Matthias, on the other hand, was so quiet, probably the quietest character in the book, but he had this intensity to him that makes you want to find out every secret that he is hiding. Seriously guys, Matthias and Nina made me feel all the feels when it came to their romance. Whether they were down each others’ throats or just staring intently at each other, they were immersed in all this sexual tension. Their coupling was the most romantic, in my opinion, and they definitely had more swoony scenes than the rest of them. I just really want more of them ASAP!

Nereyda:  Matthias and Nina were without a doubt my favorite characters of the book, both individually and as a couple.  I’m such a sucker for a really good love-to-hate romance and this one nailed it!  I think one of my favorite things about them was that they already had a pre-existing relationship, which only added to their development as a couple.  Even though they should have been enemies, a past encounter brought them close together…until Nina betrayed Matthias.  Now, as a reluctant member of the heist gang, Matthias some hatred-filled and complicated feelings towards Nina.  He’s fascinated by her, almost as much as he wants to hate her.  The chemistry between these two, even when they were fighting was sizzling and I could have honestly read about them all day.  Their relationship was the most intense and romantic, and I’m especially eager to read about them in the sequel.

All images courtesy of Pinterest.

Wylan & Jesper

Nick: I personally didn’t love Wylan and Jesper as much as I did the other four characters, not because they weren’t well-fleshed out or anything – Leigh Bardugo took her time to develop each and everyone of her characters – but mostly because I didn’t feel like we got to spend enough time with them as a reader to be able to form a tight bond. That being said, I’m very intrigued by both of them, and I’m curious to see how (if?) the romance between them will happen. They definitely had a vibe to them with Jesper, the sharpshooter and gambler of the group, constantly teasing Wylan, the baby and the runaway of the group. I really hope we see some development between them in the sequel. Individually, they were interesting enough characters, with Jesper bringing the humor to the story and Wylan, bringing the shyness and awkwardness, but like I said, to me, they weren’t as compelling as the rest of the cast. I have no doubt that that will change in the sequel, however.

Nereyda:  If it weren’t for the fact that Nick told me there may be a possible romance between these two, I would have probably missed it or would have caught on way later.  We don’t see as much as these two characters as the rest of the gang, much less see enough scenes of them together to determine a possible relationship.  They had an interesting relationship, although most of it was them giving each other a hard time.  If it weren’t for a few ‘what if’ glimpses between them, I would have thought that they simply had a good bromance.  If these two end up in a relationship, I am definitely interested to see how that plays out and if it will affect their mission.  If not, then at least we’ll have a great friendship.

Plot & World Building

Nick: The world building in YA fantasy can be very challenging for readers at times, because it’s so complex. A good author, however, will resolve that issue by presenting the world in such a way that’s not too overwhelming, but instead, in a slow progression, allowing the reader to assimilate all that complexity. As you may have already guessed, Leigh Bardugo is exactly that kind of author. I never felt like I struggled with the world building in this one and it was definitely the author’s smooth writing that was behind that. I already knew before I even started that the plot would be epic because the summary promised that exciting-sounding heist and Six of Crows delivered. The spying, the heist and the adventure were pure fun. Not to mention, the twists and turns that came out of nowhere and surprised the heck out of me. And the ending! OMG! Just thinking of it makes me want book 2 right away!

Nereyda:  I always seem to struggle with stories that switch from the past to the present and even though Six of Crows had quite a bit of that, it didn’t annoy me like it usually does.  Because this book is more than just their heist, but how each person came to be a part of their misfit gang and this crazy mission, the past scenes were vital to the story.  Having the history of these characters and learning it as the story goes on, really added to the quality of the present story.  Learning about these characters only made you want to root for them more and made the stakes even higher because it helps to feel more connected to them.  As for the actual heist, this was my favorite part of the book.  It’s sometimes hard to NOT be able to guess things or see certain things happen a mile away, but Bardugo did such a great job at delivering the twists and turns at just the right moment!  The last few chapters were especially full of crazy and now I’m kind of wishing I would have waited to read this book until the sequel was out because that ending sucked!  (In a good, cliffhanger, what just happened? kind of way)

Concluding Thoughts

Nick: I obviously had immense expectations when I went into Six of Crows because of my love for The Grisha Trilogy and I’m so happy that Leigh Bardugo delivered so much more than I predicted. Without any doubt, she is one of my favorite authors and I can’t wait to see how she will wrap up the story in the final book of the duology. I’m sure you’ve heard of a ton of well-deserved praise for this book, but if you haven’t read it yet, drop whatever you’re reading and pick up this badass book right away!

Audiobook Comments (Nereyda): I’ll admit that this one took me a bit to be able to get into the story.  I’m used to the majority of my audiobooks having 1-2, maybe 3 narrators at most and this one had a whopping 7 narrators!  I’m actually not even sure where those extra two narrators came from or which parts they did since there are only 5 pov’s.  I do know that one of my favorites, Lauren Fortgang, narrated the part of Inej which was my favorite narration.  As for the other narrators, I can’t even begin to tell you who played which part, which was a little annoying honestly.  Other than Elizabeth Evans, who narrated Nina’s parts, I sometimes had a hard time figuring out who was talking at first.  I’m used to each character having their own ‘voice’ recognizing it right away, but because there were so many, I found myself having to really pay attention to the beginning of the chapters just to see who’s POV it was.  I wasn’t too crazy with the narrator’s for Kaz and Matthias, one sounded just okay while the other one sounded a bit old.  Jasper’s narrator did a great job.  Overall, even though it was a little tricky following this on audio with so many narrators, I really enjoyed the audiobook.  It was enjoyable and as addicting as the story and definitely kept me wanting to listen.

Nereyda’s Cover Inspired Outfit

• “No mourners. No funerals. Among them, it passed for ‘good luck.”
• “I will have you without armor, Kaz Brekker. Or I will not have you at all.”
• “She’d laughed, and if he could have bottled the sound and gotten drunk on it every night, he would have. It terrified him.”
• “Greed is your god, Kaz.”
  He almost laughed at that. “No, Inej. Greed bows to me. It is my servant and my lever.”
• “I can hear the change in Kaz’s breathing when he looks at you.”
  “You… you can?”
  “It catches every time, like he’s never seen you before.”
• “And what did you do, Matthias? What did you do to me in you dreams?”
  “Everything,” he said, as he turned to go, “Everything.”

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