One heist. Six Outcasts. One common goal. Six of Crows is an enthralling, action packed and high fantasy story filled with dark humour and subtle sweetness. It tells the story of the notorious underworld of trading country Kerch, and a heist that proves impossible to complete.
This is a origin story for a group of misfits, criminals with dark and mystical talents, as they embark on a heist that will leave them changed people. It’s a fantastical yet relatable journey of a group of young adults learning to trust each other, whilst they struggle with the trauma of their pasts, ultimately bringing them closer together.
Six of Crows begins in the gambling den belonging to Kerch’s notorious young criminal, Kaz Brekker otherwise known as ‘Dirty hands’. He unofficially runs the crow gang, which includes his top spy and ‘Wraith’ Ineji and gun slinger Jesper.
When Kaz is kidnapped and given an offer, over thirty million in financial reward, to break someone out of the impenetrable ice fortress, he decides he needs a team. Heartrender Nina, a Grisha to alter and harm someone’s body and mind, a disgraced soldier Matthias and innocent merchant son Wylan with a gift for explosives are soon recruited for the heist.
They have one chance to get this right, with their plan and lives coming apart at the seams, will they be successful and will they be the same people leaving the ice fortress as the ones who broke in.
An dark, original, and enthralling fantasy tale from Leigh Bardugo, it has all the elements of a insightful portrayal of young adults forced to grow up all too quickly, with their traumatic lasts, conflicting presents and uncertain wistful futures. In addition to a stark engaging commentary on how you never really know someone if you judge them at face value before finding out their story, especially when it comes to Kaz Brekker.
This heist has far greater rewards and even greater risks in store for the team that Brekker has assembled. Unspoken desires, hidden secrets and blood pumping actions lay the ground mark for the page turning plot twists at every turn. The gang gradually start to learn to trust and even become content to co exist in the same room with fight.
In particular, Matthias learns that Nina had good intentions all along and becomes gradually willing to admit he was wrong, so does Nina. Kaz, in little drips and drabs subtly shows a few vulnerabilities to his wraith, who contends to deal with what her faith means to her, and willing to harm to save her friends. While Jesper and Wylan start to come around to confronting secrets they’ve lived with all their lives.
If you’re looking for morally grey characters that you’ll fall in love with and all the chaos and thrills of oceans eleven; Six of Crows is the heist of a lifetime that you do not want to miss. You’ll gasp in shock, you’ll laugh and you’ll cry, the first of a two book series, is unlike anything else seen in the fantasy genre.
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