Book Review — Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom
I wanted to rave about two Young Adult books I recently read.
I loved Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. It was the best book I’ve read in a long while.
The six protagonists are hero-thieves. They have mixed motives, dubious actions, and hearts of gold. Each one seems like they could have been all-hero or heroine with a different life. But life cut them no deals. Their struggles and suffering made them tough … and dangerous.
This ambiguity makes the six protagonists interesting and more real than lots of other ‘all-hero’ or ‘all-villain’ characters out there. Besides this, it gives the reader something to route for. We want the characters to succeed and survive. But we also want them to find and grow that goodness and love that dwells in each heart, not quite turned to coal by their circumstances.
The setting of the plot is Ketterdam, a commercial city with both wealth and slums. Merchants rule and thieves gang up in this dismal city by the sea. It offered the perfect world for heist, and felt like a topical setting in today’s consumerist world.
Though Ketterdam is a rough city and each protagonist had very dark circumstances (the book is definitely Young Adult, no younger), the plot was cut with lightness, humour, golden moments and love. They were all the brighter for the dark.
The only thing I would have changed about Six of Crows was the end. I would have liked to see more resolution there. Instead, it goes pear-shaped in a way that allows Book 2 (Crooked Kingdom) to evolve.
And why crows? This question is beautifully answered in Book 2 (Crooked Kingdom). So if you’re curious … read to the ends.
Six of Crows will stay with me. I’m sure to read it again. Unique and creative. Realistic and bitter like a cup of black coffee, with the gritty strength the warming drink always brings me.
