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crosswarrior7's review against another edition
4.0
This is it! After slugging through the Grishverse trilogy, dealing with the utter headache that is Alina’s narrative, we have reached the all-raved-about Six of Crows!
And I’ve just gotta say…
It was mostly worth it.
Now before I get into gushing, I’ll go over why I say mostly. SoC is written in third person limited. And the distance of the limited seems very… inconsistent. Sometimes it was a close third person, other times it was distant. Which I get sometimes this is okay, but the difference between how close it could get and how distant it could get was quite jarring. And when the whole reason for the distance is to keep things hidden from the audience, it’s very off putting. The distance felt like it was there because Leigh didn’t know how else to keep us from knowing all the intricacies of Kaz’s schemes, and she needed to be able to pull crazy twists out of everything. It just felt really annoying and cheap to me. Were the reveals entertaining? Sure. Did the way they were done feel very cop out and remind me of that dreaded ending of S&S? Also yes. It is likely this that pulls the book down from a five star to a four star for me.
Other than that, I really loved this story. I’m glad that I read the trilogy first, because although it isn’t required to understand SoC, understanding it and already having a connection with this world made it so much more enjoyable. The object desired in this story made sense because of all the knowledge I’d gained in S&B from the teachings Alina had earned, like a natural next step of what could go wrong for the Grisha. And seeing so many cultures that I’d only heard of in S&B got to be filled in and developed, some of which included a background influenced by a civil war I’d been able to see first hand.
SoC had a wonderful cast of snarky, hardened, *different* characters, and I think the different part is very important for a book featuring multiple characters and PoVs. All of them felt like they had a motivation and reason to do what they did. Some a little less than others, but their determinations and motivation became stronger as the story went.
I think Kaz would be my favorite if he wasn’t the worst culprit of the inconsistent distance I mentioned above, but because of that distance, I think it’s a tie between Inej and Nina, with Kaz like, less than a centimeter behind them. Inej is just a strong, interesting character overall, having to go through horrible things and struggling to adapt to who she is and who she was. Nina I have all kinds of biases toward because of her Ravka connections, but she’s also just a very amazing example of what many try to do with a strong female character.
Matthias and his soldier ways and all the teachings vs his own views thing is so fun, and the difficulties that Jesper faces closer to the end has me very excited to see where things will go to him in Crooked Kingdom. Wyland… Feels like he could have had more for him in SoC, but I trust he’ll get more love in CK.
I also like how there is obviously some struggles with some neurodiversities, all without actually naming the neurodiversities.
The heist itself is fun and action-packed, while still being very character driven, so it proves an amazing combination of the two.
All in all, so many of the aspects were just hit so right, and if the writing just felt like it wasn’t trying so hard to keep things hidden from us for the sake of shock, I could definitely have seen this being a 5 star book.
Either way, I adored this story, I adored the characters, and although underwhelmed by the writing, I can understand why this book is so beloved (especially because of them characters). I’m excited to see where this goes, and where S&B left me disappointed in the grandness of the Grisha world, this book delivers so well on just what the Girshaverse can be. Enough so to ignite the excitement that Alina worked three books trying to douse.
Seriously. How did she create Nikolai, the Darkling, and the SoC stuff, yet also had Alina and Mal poopiness...
And I’ve just gotta say…
It was mostly worth it.
Now before I get into gushing, I’ll go over why I say mostly. SoC is written in third person limited. And the distance of the limited seems very… inconsistent. Sometimes it was a close third person, other times it was distant. Which I get sometimes this is okay, but the difference between how close it could get and how distant it could get was quite jarring. And when the whole reason for the distance is to keep things hidden from the audience, it’s very off putting. The distance felt like it was there because Leigh didn’t know how else to keep us from knowing all the intricacies of Kaz’s schemes, and she needed to be able to pull crazy twists out of everything. It just felt really annoying and cheap to me. Were the reveals entertaining? Sure. Did the way they were done feel very cop out and remind me of that dreaded ending of S&S? Also yes. It is likely this that pulls the book down from a five star to a four star for me.
Other than that, I really loved this story. I’m glad that I read the trilogy first, because although it isn’t required to understand SoC, understanding it and already having a connection with this world made it so much more enjoyable. The object desired in this story made sense because of all the knowledge I’d gained in S&B from the teachings Alina had earned, like a natural next step of what could go wrong for the Grisha. And seeing so many cultures that I’d only heard of in S&B got to be filled in and developed, some of which included a background influenced by a civil war I’d been able to see first hand.
SoC had a wonderful cast of snarky, hardened, *different* characters, and I think the different part is very important for a book featuring multiple characters and PoVs. All of them felt like they had a motivation and reason to do what they did. Some a little less than others, but their determinations and motivation became stronger as the story went.
I think Kaz would be my favorite if he wasn’t the worst culprit of the inconsistent distance I mentioned above, but because of that distance, I think it’s a tie between Inej and Nina, with Kaz like, less than a centimeter behind them. Inej is just a strong, interesting character overall, having to go through horrible things and struggling to adapt to who she is and who she was. Nina I have all kinds of biases toward because of her Ravka connections, but she’s also just a very amazing example of what many try to do with a strong female character.
Matthias and his soldier ways and all the teachings vs his own views thing is so fun, and the difficulties that Jesper faces closer to the end has me very excited to see where things will go to him in Crooked Kingdom. Wyland… Feels like he could have had more for him in SoC, but I trust he’ll get more love in CK.
I also like how there is obviously some struggles with some neurodiversities, all without actually naming the neurodiversities.
The heist itself is fun and action-packed, while still being very character driven, so it proves an amazing combination of the two.
All in all, so many of the aspects were just hit so right, and if the writing just felt like it wasn’t trying so hard to keep things hidden from us for the sake of shock, I could definitely have seen this being a 5 star book.
Either way, I adored this story, I adored the characters, and although underwhelmed by the writing, I can understand why this book is so beloved (especially because of them characters). I’m excited to see where this goes, and where S&B left me disappointed in the grandness of the Grisha world, this book delivers so well on just what the Girshaverse can be. Enough so to ignite the excitement that Alina worked three books trying to douse.
Seriously. How did she create Nikolai, the Darkling, and the SoC stuff, yet also had Alina and Mal poopiness...
shaunasbookshelf's review against another edition
5.0
Obsessed with this book, the characters are so well written even with so many of them being in the main crew you still get to know and love each one my personal faves being inej and nina. The magic and thrill of the book never gets old. I'm not one for re reading but this book I could read ten times over.
babycheeses's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
syrairai's review against another edition
5.0
I'm not sure how Leigh Bardugo wrote a book that made me love all the main characters from the moment I met them but - I love them all.
The book did start a little bit confusing for me with trying to figure out who Joost was but I did understand soon after. The pacing of everything was I was hooked from the get go and so interested in wondering how it would all play out. I was not disappointed and it made me want to pick up the next book right away.
I really felt for everyone and their back stories and loved having all their POVs (even in third person). Nina and Matthias had major enemies to lovers vibes and I was living for it!! Can't wait to see what happens in the next book. Can't help but love Kaz and Inez <3 and Jesper is the fun, comedic relief that would be so missed if he wasn't there. I also enjoyed Wylan within this book and the way he added a sort of innocence to everything cos I really did find myself forgetting that this team were a bunch of teenagers lol
LOVED the lil shadow and bone trilogy nods to Zoya and Alina - i'm also glad that I just finished that trilogy so everything about the grishaverse was fresh in my mind.
Absolutely brilliant!
The book did start a little bit confusing for me with trying to figure out who Joost was but I did understand soon after. The pacing of everything was I was hooked from the get go and so interested in wondering how it would all play out. I was not disappointed and it made me want to pick up the next book right away.
I really felt for everyone and their back stories and loved having all their POVs (even in third person). Nina and Matthias had major enemies to lovers vibes and I was living for it!! Can't wait to see what happens in the next book. Can't help but love Kaz and Inez <3 and Jesper is the fun, comedic relief that would be so missed if he wasn't there. I also enjoyed Wylan within this book and the way he added a sort of innocence to everything cos I really did find myself forgetting that this team were a bunch of teenagers lol
LOVED the lil shadow and bone trilogy nods to Zoya and Alina - i'm also glad that I just finished that trilogy so everything about the grishaverse was fresh in my mind.
Absolutely brilliant!
tessaaaa's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
leosreading's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
tdem122's review against another edition
4.0
[1st read from 10/4/2021 to 16/4/2021] — 4.5⭐️
— i know so many people talk about being able to read this book without reading the original trilogy first but i probably couldn’t have, there’s so much world building in the first 150 pages that i would’ve just dropped it.
while i am in love with all of the characters, their backstories and all character dynamics in this book i have to admit i wanted to fall asleep during the actual heist part, it was honestly kind of boring but seeing it was not long i wasn’t that much bothered by it.
that being said, i am not holding myself responsible for the person i’ll become when i first hear the crows say “no mourners no funerals” in the show
— i know so many people talk about being able to read this book without reading the original trilogy first but i probably couldn’t have, there’s so much world building in the first 150 pages that i would’ve just dropped it.
while i am in love with all of the characters, their backstories and all character dynamics in this book i have to admit i wanted to fall asleep during the actual heist part, it was honestly kind of boring but seeing it was not long i wasn’t that much bothered by it.
that being said, i am not holding myself responsible for the person i’ll become when i first hear the crows say “no mourners no funerals” in the show
kraynor00's review against another edition
For some reason, even 3/4 the way through, I could not really get into the storyline.
tammiest's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75