Six of Crows (Six of Crows, #1) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Apr 05, 2017 Lauren⁷ 💜 rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy-science-fiction, favorites, library-has-a-copy, young-adult-teen-new-adult, best-books-read-in-2017

One might think that after the rather withering review I gave to Ruin and Rising that I would be done with Leigh Bardugo's writing altogether. My problem with that book mostly lay in the anti climatic ending. It did not lay in any way with Leigh's worldbuilding, which I hailed as being one of her strengths in a previous review. I absolutely adored the extremely unique world she created and it was one of my very favorite things about the Grisha trilogy. So, with that in mind, I was kind of excite One might think that after the rather withering review I gave to Ruin and Rising that I would be done with Leigh Bardugo's writing altogether. My problem with that book mostly lay in the anti climatic ending. It did not lay in any way with Leigh's worldbuilding, which I hailed as being one of her strengths in a previous review. I absolutely adored the extremely unique world she created and it was one of my very favorite things about the Grisha trilogy. So, with that in mind, I was kind of excited to read this. And I ended up being absolutely blown away! I think we're all familiar with the saying, "it's just crazy enough to work." Well, that's a perfect summation of Kaz's plan to break into the Ice Court. Leigh only gives us a rough outline of the plan and slowly unspools it as the book goes along with many twists and turns and just when you think it's about to go belly up, nope, it's part of Kaz's utterly outrageous and audacious plan. I found his plan to be insane and I couldn't believe it ended up working as well as it did. I really, really liked the characters. I think Kaz was my favorite. He had a very Slytherin air to him and darned if that kind of characterization doesn't really get to me. He was intriguing and so multilayered. Inej, Matthias, Jesper, Wylan and Nina were all equally as awesome. And each had a very distinct voice. I love me some well done anti heroes and that was these characters in droves. There's no question that Kaz is something of a crime kingpin and that Inej is his spymaster and Jesper is the wisecracking sharpshooter and Nina is a deadly Grisha Heartrender. Wylan is the mostly innocent one and Matthias is the good guy who gets roped along for the ride. And they end up being a fantastic bunch who I just loved. And the worldbuilding? Oh, mama, the worldbuilding. It is, in a word, spectacular. This time around, we're in the city of Ketterdam. Which reminded me of a mix of Venice and the Netherlands and the Free Cities from Game Of Thrones fame (Leigh is a GoT fan) set sometime in the later part of the 19th century. And then, we're off to Fjerda which reminded me of a mix of Iceland and Norway. Both were amazing and very fully realized! I just loved them! Leigh absolutely made them come alive to the point where you almost felt like you could step out of the real world and right into the bustling metropolis that is Ketterdam or the aptly named Ice Court. I have to hand it to Leigh, writing a heist novel this intricately plotted and writing six characters with very distinctive voices could not have been easy and she pulled it off with utter aplomb. If you were like me and weren't wowed by the Grisha trilogy, give this a shot. It's almost nothing like the Grisha trilogy and is so much better. ...more

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Jul 02, 2014 Logan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, own-bought-ebook, young-adult, meet-greet-read, 2015-books-read

EDIT: Reread April 2021. I can see the complaints I had the first time I read this but I’m bumping up my review from 4 to 5 stars. I didn’t find the back stories to be a problem this time and thoroughly enjoyed getting to know these characters and their struggles. I also found the world and the plot tons of fun and a nice change from the original trilogy. Now to see what happens next!

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This is a tough one to rate. On the one hand, I was immersed in the world (and I am so happy to be back i ...more

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Jan 10, 2016 Samantha rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, happy-i-read, ya, 2016

I still haven't finished the last book in the Grisha series, so I was a bit hesitant to start this one, but I found this story actually suited me much better. It's certainly dark in some places, but I appreciated the fact that we weren't shielded from some difficult truths. I love stories where the risks seem impossible and watching the characters get out of tough situations (not always unscathed) was truly a wild adventure. I'm looking forward to the next in the series for sure. ...more

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Jan 09, 2024 shalini rated it liked it

An exciting tale but I found the telling really wanting. It was too much of a YA read for me and I missed some grown up thinking in the plot. None of the characters endeared themselves to me and I am having a hard time remembering anything special about any of them 😕

I don't think I am enamored enough to pick the next one ...more

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