The Truth About Books: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Hey guys! Hopefully you know the drill but if not here's a recap:

This is a post where Taherah and I talk about and fangirl over books unfiltered after we read them.

This means spoilers. If you haven't read the book yet do yourself a huge favor and leave.

Don't spoil this one for yourself. It's too good.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Release Date: September 29th, 2015

Publisher: Henry Holt and Company

Goodreads Summary:

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.


Taherah
Six of Crows man! I don't think I've actually read a fantasy book with a heist....but Six of Crows was just brilliant

Caitlyn
I've read one, huh. People should write more fantasy heist books. (Or maybe they do and we need to get with the program) But yes. Six of Crows was AMAZING! I kinda don't know what to talk about first.

Taherah
I just want to quickly comment on how I really loved that we didn't get into any court intrigue and strayed from the usual rebellion, prince/princess type of fantasy books and just had a story in a fantasy world such as Ketterdam without any of that. Does that make sense?

Caitlyn
Yes. I think with a lot of books (fantasy especially) we really like court intrigue so it's a fun way to go but Six of Crows didn't. It wasn't a book about the chosen one(s) who are super powerful and going to change the kingdom or nobles who are going to (or pretend nobles) and it made the book really cool and unique

Taherah
Yup essentially. SO characters...who do you want to talk about first?

Caitlyn
...I have the urge to go right for the obvious one in this instance *cough* Kaz *cough* but I'm thinking either Nina or Mathias (god is that how you spell his name?)

Taherah
Matthias I think. I really loved how we meet Nina and how we get introduced to all the characters really

Caitlyn
...and how was that exactly? SORRY I don't really remember the very very beginning

Taherah
Nina specifically?

Caitlyn
Yeah, I remember the rest for the most part. Was it that Kaz went to see her and then we kinda jumped to her POV before an explanation?

Taherah
Not sure it wasn't anything too big but we instantly get her personality as a fun person but also very very in love with Matthias

Caitlyn
Ok. Let's just talk about those two for a moment. Oh my sweet goodness. They're so crazy! First she won't leave the city because she loves and wants to rescue him, then they rescue him and she (like a boss) acts like she totally hates him and fights with him all the time and it's great

Taherah
Well she obviously fights with since he "hates" aka loves her and tries fighting his feelings by acting like he doesn't care (even though he totally does)

Caitlyn
Oh no, I know. I just think she handles it in an amazing way. Like instead of being mopey and gross about she kinda just says," You know what? fuck your bullshit. Now I'm pissed off too."

Taherah
Yessssssssssss! Plus seeing them fight was really entertaining especially since I see Matthias as this huge, blonde brute brooding XD It really is great

Caitlyn
He's so melodramatic and it's wonderful. Oh! And then they FINALLY work together and you know, get together like we all knew they would and MMMMM!! I just wanted to smush their faces together!

Taherah
Omg yes melodramatic is the perfect word to describe him! Hehehe I liked that we had one couple that already had history in that sense.

Caitlyn
They're backstory was really cool too. I mean, they actually hated each other and yet by the end you could tell that despite the fact that they hadn't really said it that wasn't true anymore. OH AND I FOGOT TO SAY EARLIER BUT I LOVE HOW HE CAN'T STAY AWAY FROM HER! LIKE NO MATTER WHAT HE DOES OR HOW HARD HE TRIES HES ALWAYS PULLED TO HER

Taherah
XD XD XD *all the giggles*

Caitlyn
And at the end? UGH when Nina took the drug and she went all crazy psycho and Matthias was just there for her and so quietly adorably worried. And just ugh </3

Taherah
Omg I felt so bad for both of them  :,(

Caitlyn
I KNOW! They had just gotten back together! But she's gonna live...you know...probably...Anyways! Enough sadness! LETS MOVE ON!

Taherah
We're saving the best for the last btw. So lets talk about Jesper and Wylan XD
Oh all the feels! I love Jesper's humor and how he picks on Wylan

Caitlyn
Ok. So. These two. I saw this relationship the first time they met. And just thought," No. I want it too much. I'm seeing things where there isn't anything to see. Stop it." and I kept going. And I just saw it more and more. And so once the like real clues started showing up I still couldn't accept that what I wanted was kind of a reality UNTIL THEY LITERALLY SPELLED IT OUT

Taherah
You were not seeing things XD I feel like she totally implied in on the harbor when Jesper joked about the kiss

Caitlyn
Yeah, I know that now but man...when I was reading I thought I was going a little crazy. AND OMG HOW MUCH DO YOU LOVE JESPER BECAUSE I THINK HES BRILLIANT! He just brings this really needed levity to the whole group and it makes it really great.

Taherah
Yesssss also I really liked at the end when Kaz totally went off on him because he kind of spilled the beans on their mission that Jesper didn't become the bad guy, just human with a big gambling problem and big mouth

Caitlyn
Yeeeeeeeesssssss he's differently flawed than all the rest of them but he's still flawed in a really crippling way like the rest of them and I really really love it. Also side note, have you realized that Nina and Matthias biggest flaw is kinda each other? Like because Kaz has the touching/crazy thing, and Inej has the whore house/kidnapping thing, and Wylan has the reading thing and the kinda useless thing, and Jesper is gambling.

Taherah
I have, each had their own backstory that has created who they are now and I loved how we see how their backstory influenced them. We didn't get overloaded with information and there was enough suspense

Caitlyn
Yeah, that's what I really liked about the multiple POV's in this one. Usually with more than one POV I get really, REALLY annoyed with at least one of the characters and end up kinda hating them but that did NOT happen here. I loved them all with each and every POV shift that came with them

Taherah
YES also I really really loved how Kaz introduced Wylan as the insurance. I don't know if it was just me but I was just like "YES. YES."

Caitlyn
Back to Jesper and Wylan for a moment. I loved when Wylan started flirting back. It was an amazing time for me. Also when Jesper thought something along the lines of, "I like irritating Wylan but flirting with him is just so much more fun" and my heart just died for a second

Taherah
Ugh yes <3 <3 <3 he was also pretty sly and it made it all the more fun

Caitlyn
I just really want to talk specifically about my favorite moments in this book but I realize that that's like...most of the book so it would take way waaaaaaaayyyy too long.

Taherah
So can I transition to Inej and Kaz :D

Caitlyn
*looks at you* Let's do it.

Taherah
OMGOMGOMG I LOVE INEJ AND KAZ. THEY ARE LIKE GOALS. INEJ IS SO QUIET AND SHE IS MY SPY ROLE MODEL. AND THEN KAZ IS JUST BRILLIANT WITH ALL HIS PLANS AND I KINDA REALLY LOVE HOW HE DOESN'T TRUST ANYBODY WITH WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN so everyone is basically in the dark (for the beginning at least). And then I SHIPSHIPSHIP INEJ AND KAZ SO MUCH. HE LEGIT SAID SHE WAS HIS ROCK AND SHE NOTICIES EVERYTHING ABOUT HIM. JUST <3 <3 <3

Caitlyn
OMG OMG OMG I KNOW I KNOW I KNOW TAHERAAAAHHHHHH HE WOULD ONLY TAKE HIS GLOVES OFF IN FRONT OF HER BECAUSE REALLY HE ONLY TRUSTS HER AND SHES A SPY AND JUST BADASS BEYOND BELIEF AND ONCE SHE FIGURED OUT WHAT SHE WANTED SHE TOTALLY GAVE KAZ THAT ULTIMATUM EVEN THOUGH IT KINDA BROKE HER HEART AND THEN LIKE THE TIME SHE GOT HURT AND HE CARRIED HER OVER EVEN THOUGH IT HURT HIM AND HE WENT A LITTLE CRAZY AND THE NEXT TIME IT WAS HIS POV HE WAS JUST LIKE "I WAS JUST LOOKING FOR A REASON TO TALK TO YOU" AND I JUST DIED AND HOW HIS HEART SKIPS A LITTLE AND HIS BREATH CATCHES WHEN HE LOOKS AT HER AND HE CAN'T HELP IT AND OMFG TAHERAH THEY'RE JUST SO IN LOVE WITH EACH OTHER IN THIS REALLY QUIET WAY AND GAAAAAAAAH

Taherah
OMG YES THAT SCENE. HE JUST WANTED TO TALK TO HER FOR GODS SAKE. I JUST CAN'T EVEN. AND NINA IS LIKE I KNOW YOU LIKE HIM AND HE LIKES YOU BECAUSE I CAN HEAR HIS HEART CLENCH (this is after she takes them medicine so everything is more for her). Also I really liked how we see Inej fight with herself over whether she should stay or go back to Ravka. And then we see her determination to free the girls in the brothels/girls who were in her position

Caitlyn
Dude. Inej is like my idol. She is strong and smart and fast and cunning and she doesn't take anyone's shit. And she's really strong and independent and it’s AWESOME! Also that's really another reason why I love the multiple POVs in this book, because its really NOT OBVIOUS exactly how everyone feels about one another. At least until you can look into their heads. And there's more to why I really enjoyed this multiple POV but I cant *makes grabby hand motions* figure out how to say it

Taherah
It's just too wonderful that there are no words

Caitlyn
Noooowwww. The heist. Taherah. Taherah. The heist.

Taherah
The heist was so planned out and omg why can't I be smart enough to either plan one or actually partake in it

Caitlyn
I don't even know how to describe how I feel about it. It was just amazing. They planned all these crazy round about ways to do things and then throughout the whole heist were able to be amazingly flexible. It was spectacular. Also THEY STOLE A TANK. THEY STOLE A HONEST TO GOODNESS MOTHER FUCKING TANK! WHAT! THAT’S SO FUCKING BAD ASS I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO SAY! And like, was that part of the original plan? Did they make that up on the spot? I don't even know.

Taherah
Probably improvised. APPLAUDS TO LEIGH BARDUGO FOR CREATING SUCH BEAUTIFUL CHARACTERS AND BRILLIANT PLOT

Caitlyn
5 STARS (or more...maybe 5 for each main character...plus whatever they stole from other books/characters) FROM ME

Taherah

SAME SAME XD

Hope you enjoyed our craziness XD

What are your thoughts on SoC (assuming everyone reading this has read it already and didn't get spoiled from our conversation, hopefully)?

Who are your favorite characters? Anything you're excited to see in the next book? How about that ending we didn't really touch upon?