Six of Crows (Six of Crows #1) by Leigh Bardugo

Synopsis:

4.5 out of 5 stars

*My thoughts as expressed by Will Turner

The very first book I've read by Leigh Bardugo and I have to say that I'm very impressed. Not that I was expecting anything less from #1 New York Times Bestseller. It took me a good long while to get through this book, but it was no fault of the story or the writing, I assure you. In fact, I think the reason I took all the time I did in finishing this story was that I wanted to savor it. Surely you've done that before? Or is it just me? Probably just me. Everything about this book was great. The storyline, the writing, the characters, the sequence of events, the unpredictability, the predictability of the unpredictability (which I'll explain in just a minute) were all great!

I don't just give out 5 stars for books unless I'd absolutely loved them, and I absolutely, positively loved this one. We follow the third-person perspectives of multiple characters, but the chief character is Kaz Brekker aka Dirtyhands aka the Bastard of the Barrel. He's the lieutenant of the Dregs- one of the many gangs that walk Ketterdam- and a talented thief almost everyone doesn't want to mess with. He can also never turn down a challenge, so when a Kerch merchant council member offers him one he couldn't refuse, he rounds up a crew of his best men and women and set sail for the unbreachable Ice Court.

The characters in the story are all criminals. One way or another, they've all committed crime. And though a few might have done so with something close to good intention, they don't consider themselves good people or even heroes. They all started out as innocents who'd been done wrong. Kaz was betrayed by someone he thought would help him but instead conned him and his brother Jordie. Inej was taken from her home and sold to the Menagerie- a brothel owned by a ruthless mistress named Heleen. Jesper came to Kerch for the sole purpose of getting an education at the university but was alternatively sucked in by gambling and eventually took on a debt he could just barely pay off in this lifetime.

There were two love stories (???) in this book. They weren't even love stories, rather they were accounts of people who care for each other and wouldn't exactly want to admit it. It's not even unrequited love, both parties of both pairs feel the same way, but circumstance would not have them be together. At least not yet. The pairs I speak of are Kaz and Inej, and Mattias and Nina. Kaz and Inej's relationship is a complicated one. They rely on each other and have come to more than care for each other, but they don't act on their feelings. Mathias and Nina's relationship is even more complicated because it involves betrayal, getting each other arrested, then set free, then arising feelings of hatred...*sigh* told you it's complicated.

The predictable unpredictability I talked about earlier is an easy concept to understand and one almost all devoted fiction work readers know. It simply means that when something unpredictable is going to happen, something that will rattle your bones, you know it. You just don't know how bad the casualties will be. This is something I felt when I was reading this book, multiple times. Kaz has a way of knowing when something will go a different way than he originally planned(notice how I didn't say when something goes wrong. Everything plays to Kaz's advantage, even when he doesn't plan it to. It's all very convenient for him.) 

Great read, I simply cannot wait for the next one!