My writing tends to take all kinds of forms, it's never one set topic. I could talk about college life, self-care, traveling, and so much more. However, I think I'm going to switch it up a bit and have a few articles about books in the mix. I mean, it is something that I'm passionate about, so why not?
I read anything. However, I tend to focus on young adult fiction a lot. There's nothing wrong with reading this genre either. With whatever you read, you're diving into a new world full of different characters and you get to see how an author's mind works, plus how well their world-building is. Now, I'm not the greatest of book reviewers because I tend to use a ton of exclamation marks, especially if I get excited about what I've just read, but we're going to try this thing out.
Let’s talk about the beauty that is "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo.
If you know what I mean, there are few books which tend to keep me antsy day and night because I didn’t have it in my hands. Yup, this was one of those. I read this book last year (Summer of 2017), mind you. Yet, I can't stop thinking about it.
This book has been in my possession since June of 2016. Yes, I tend to keep a hoard of books along my wall in the room, but what passionate bibliophile doesn’t? After a friend and many of the people I follow on Goodreads raved about this book, I felt that since in the summer I wasn’t set out on doing a lot, that this would be the first book to read.
Why did I wait so long to read this?
"Six of Crows" focuses on the lives of six characters, which the reader delves into the mindset of each in their respective chapter. The characters grew up through horrors of the past and the present, as well as the unknown future set out for them as they complete an unimaginable heist.
Each chapter captures the reader’s mind as they travel through the different places Bardugo has allowed us to be a part of. The journey allows us to feel a slew of emotions, from rage to tears to passion. As far as I knew, I was going into this book blind. Sure, I’d seen the summary and looked at a few reviews (all without spoiling myself), but I wasn’t scrounging for details to know what I should expect. And what did I expect?
Certainly not what I had read. I’m a girl who loves romance, but there always has to be action. No matter what though, I do love a rollercoaster and this book put me on a crazy one at that. Reading fantasy is never really at the forefront of my mind, but a book that captures my attention with each flip of a page is something I’m willing to devour.
So for those fantasy lovers, I feel as though this book is for you. Let's not forget the inclusivity and diversity in this book. A story which deals with characters who have a disability, people of color, LGBT characters, body positivity, and so much more, what's not to appreciate about this book?
The dialogue between the characters and the chapters never ceased to fail me. Like all things in life, we want to get straight to the finale, but I knew I had to absorb all that I could with this book because it’s definitely a lot. Between the names of places and terms used to describe various objects or people, sometimes I’d have to go back through the pages or the handy map at the beginning of the book.
However, there were times when an event would be so intricate I’d have to slow my mind down to process what was happening and imagine myself in that situation. That tends to happen to me a lot though because I’m one to slowly digest each word, sentence, or page so that I can keep up with the pace of the story. If you’re a reader that doesn’t have much of the issue above, then you should be good to go!
In the end, though I loved this book and to be quite honest after I finished the first book I headed straight towards "Crooked Kingdom", the sequel and last installment of this journey. I know, Bardugo why would you do this to our poor souls?!? That book was equally satisfying, and heartbreaking might I had, but we won't get into that. If anything, even after more than several months of reading it, I may just write a review of that book.
Yet if a book has a satisfying ending, or something close to that, then the main idea of the story should end there rather than continuing on for a few more books just for the heck of it. So despite the love for this book and these characters who the author felt that their journey was complete, then there is definitely nothing wrong with that. The author chooses what they feel is complete or incomplete, and the readers are there along for the ride.
Lastly, for those who are looking for an edge or need a somewhat similar Kaz Brekker in their life, I recommend the Netflix series "Peaky Blinders." I could go on and on about that show, but I’ll leave you to it. Enjoy!
As if this review didn't show how much I loved this book, overall rating 5 out of 5 lovely, heartbreaking and beautiful stars.
