Audiobook Review: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Series: Book 1 of Six of Crows
Publisher: Audible Studios (9/29/15)
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Mogsy’s Rating (Overall): 4 of 5 stars
Narrator: Jay Snyder, David Ledoux, Lauren Fortgang, Roger Clark, Elizabeth Evans, Tristan Morris, Brandon Rubin | Length: 15 hrs and 20 mins
Okay, I’m intrigued. Very intrigued. Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows may have fallen slightly short of my expectations, but it’s still great. And honestly, it was going up against a super high bar, considering the ridiculous number of good books I’ve read this year so far and the fact that I can be very finicky about my heist stories.
First though, let’s get something out of the way, since I’ve gotten asked this question a bunch of times: You don’t need to read or even be familiar with the Grisha trilogy before starting this book. It is set in the same world, but other than a few references to events and people from the other series, Six of Crows features an all new story and an all new cast of characters. Personally, that made me very happy. As much as I enjoyed the Grisha trilogy, it didn’t end as strongly as it started, and I was definitely ready for something fresh.
So here we find ourselves in the new setting of Ketterdam, a bustling trade city and home to a gang of thieves calling themselves the Dregs. Kaz “Dirty Hands” Brekker is their fearless leader and mastermind, willing to take on any job for the right price. When tasked by a powerful crime lord to rescue a scientist with a secret formula from the impenetrable walls of the Ice Court, Kaz goes forth and gathers his crew in preparation for the heist of a lifetime.
For better or worse, the heist itself actually takes a backseat to the amount of attention given to the members of the Dregs. This also means the plot is decidedly uncomplicated once you pare it all down, because the complexity is all in the characters. Probably a good thing too, when you have as many as six crew members to follow.
Kaz is the clever one, the one who makes the plans and takes care of the boys and girls in his crew. A child of the streets, Kaz’s background is one huge sob story, which lends sympathy to his thirst for revenge against the man he blames for his brother’s death. Reserved and coolheaded, Kaz also wears fancy-pants clothes and walks around with an ostentatiously well-fashioned cane due to a “childhood” injury to his leg (in quotes because right now he’s still all of what, 17?) Kaz is interesting, though whenever I think of him I picture a kid trying to play at being an adult, and unfortunately that whole persona tends to drive me crazy.
Then there’s Inej, also known as the Wraith. Her talents lie in being able to melt into the shadows. She has a pretty sad story too (okay, I’m just going to say right now, ALL of them have pretty sad stories. Seems like that’s Bardugo’s go-to approach for every single one of her characters) but out of everyone, Inej was my favorite.
Jesper is the sharpshooter, and he’s also the joker of the group. I don’t think he got near enough the attention he deserved, which is a shame because I really liked him. There was also this great dynamic between him and Wylan, the Dreg’s “outsider” who nonetheless found his way to a special place in my heart. Seriously, the two most interesting members of the crew with the best banter got shafted here, because the story decided instead to shine all the attention on…
Nina and Matthias. The Grisha and the Witch Hunter. Nina brings the magic and Matthias brings the insider knowledge of the Ice Court and its security systems. Together they bring enough YA clichés to fill an ocean. Normally, I am all for forbidden love and a romance between characters who start off hating each other’s guts, but these two were downright insufferable. Just shut up and make with the kissy-face already. Plus, Matthias was distractingly perfect. And Nina was distractingly awkward whenever she attempted her sexy act. Every time they interacted, I had to fight the urge to cringe because it all just felt so damn scripted.
Personally, I would have been happier with less drama, more action (more heist!) The story was also a little slow to take off, with a long and drawn out intro. Most heist stories typically use this time to focus on the planning and preparation, but Bardugo has opted for a different strategy, giving us background information on the characters in the form of flashbacks and memories instead. I really enjoyed some of these flashbacks (Inej and Kaz had great backstories) while others felt more like a distraction (Nina and Matthias), which makes me think your mileage may vary depending on how you feel about the various members of the Dregs. This is very much a character-focused story, which is great, but when you have such a big cast, I will invariably connect with some more than others.
And speaking of a big cast, the audiobook is also a fantastic format to enjoy Six of Crows. I simply adore huge productions that involve multiple narrators because each perspective character gets to have their own unique “voice”. Six of Crows features a whopping seven narrators, many of whom are big names in the world of YA audiobooks. Several of them I’ve had the pleasure of listening to their work in the past, like Elizabeth Evans (she’s great on the Throne of Glass series), Lauren Fortgang (from the Grisha trilogy audiobooks), David LeDoux (who narrated Sam’s chapters in Maggie Stiefvater’s Shiver) and Jay Snyder (from Peter Clines’ Ex-Heroes). Everyone delivered fantastic performances, including the narrators who were new to me.
Bottom line, this is a great start to a series with some serious potential. It wasn’t exactly the type of heist story I expected, though it just as well Leigh Bardugo made it all about her characters because characters are what makes a good book. Even though I despised the corny romance, there are some wonderfully unique and memorable personalities here, and I’d like to see more of some of them in the next installment.
The BiblioSanctum 
My copy just showed up in the mail today. I’m glad I bought the hardcover, it’s gorgeous! Looking forward to reading it, although I could do without the corny romance as well:-D
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I hope you enjoy it! And heh, corny romances in YA are like the bane of my existence 🙂
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I’m so glad you enjoyed it despite some reservations with regards to characterisation. I think I was OK with Kaz’s posturing, as the book was well aware he was also a scared little boy. I agree that Inej is my favourite!! I am so sad that this series is only 2 books long!!
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Oh I didn’t know it was only going to be a duology! This book was pretty long though, so if the next one will be the same, I can see that 🙂
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I confess to being curious 😉
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You should check it out, or the Grisha trilogy if you haven’t yet!
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I can’t wait to read this one! I’m so jealous of your ability to listen to audio books back to back. I have some, but I don’t often have time to focus and listen to them. I think the last one I listened to was Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Anyhoo, glad you liked this one!
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Haha, I can’t live without audiobooks. I’ve always got one lined up and ready for me.
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AH yes I heard a lot about this one but I haven’t tried it I confess. I’m glad to see you had a good time! I need to try!
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I hope you’ll get a chance to!
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Haha – Just shut up and make with the kissy-face already. Too funny.
I did love this book and I’m curious how you felt it compared to the Grisha series. I read a couple of reviews that thought it was somewhat darker but I haven’t read the others so can’t comment on that aspect.
I guess it was a corny romance but I admit it won me over. I did like all the characters and agree that Jesper and Wylan were the only ones that were faintly sketched. I loved Inej – just everything about her. Kaz – I know he’s only 17 but in my mind that’s not how I pictured him I have to confess. He comes across much older and maturer doesn’t he.
On the whole though I loved this and will be really keen for the next one.
Lynn 😀
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I don’t know, I didn’t feel this was that much darker, but then again I guess I kinda have a high threshold of what I consider dark 😛
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Hmm… this does sounds pretty interesting. Always up for a heist story, but it’s the complex characters that are attracting me.
“Ditry Hands” just sounds like a thief or conman nickname.
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It’s a pretty good nickname for Kaz then! And I love heist stories too, but I’m very picky about them.
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I’m curious about this one… I started reading the Grisha trilogy so I could get to this, really.
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That’s great! Because even though you don’t need to read the Grisha trilogy to enjoy this, your experience will definitely be much richer if you do 🙂
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Yay! I’m glad you enjoyed this one, Mogsy. 🙂 The only real critique I had for Six of Crows was that only Wylan didn’t have any POV chapters. I would have liked to have seen some scenes from his perspective. Maybe we’ll get that in the next book?
Inej seems to be an overall favorite for most readers. She was one of mine, and I know one or two other readers who said they connected most with her, too.
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I know!!! Wylan got totally ripped off, imo. I understand why she made that decision though, there needed to be some mystery in his character and it wouldn’t have worked if we saw things from his POV. If I had it my way though, I think I’d even rather have Wylan chapters over Jesper. Even just one would have been great! Honestly, I love Inej but Wylan probably comes in at a close second. If he had a slightly bigger role in the book, I probably would have chosen him instead.
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One of the amazing novel i have ever read. The novel is full of suspense and thrill. Must read the complete novel. I have review the audiobook at: https://audiobookslab.com/six-of-crows-audiobook/
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