Mini Reviews: The Dregs Edition
That’s right friends!
This is a Six Of Crows and Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo review! *all around the world people stand to applaud as finally, Anisha, has conquered the beast and read…Six Of Crows*
Okay, slightly melodramatic but very true. I have had SO many people on my case to read this duology for the longest time and whenever I would whisper oh so quietly that I had not read Six Of Crows yet, I would be met with SUCH ASTONISHMENT!
So this is to Jananee, who I think has been on my case the longest about reading this duology – because girl, it finally happened!
Also, you can read this entire review without fearing spoilers. including my review for Crooked Kingdom as this is completely spoiler free! Enjoy!
SIX OF CROWS
I think the reason I put this off for the
longest was because I was scared. I had such high expectations after hearing
SUCH positive things and while I do feel it didn’t meet my expectations I also didn’t
really expect it to. Let me just begin by saying this book was super enjoyable and fast paced and action packed and for me, the characters were the best part! They were so realistic and loveable and they all had their own stories and fears and dreams and they felt like real people to me. undoubtedly though Inej is my favourite but I have a lot of appreciation for Kaz, Nina and Wylan!
The slight problem with this was, because Six Of Crows is such a hyped book, I knew almost everything there was to know about the characters and plot before I began. I knew it was a book about a daring heist with anti-hero main characters. I knew all the character names, roughly a little about their backstory and all the ships.
This meant there was no surprise element left for me. I wasn’t able to discover the characters myself and uncover parts about them. I accidently got mildly spoilt for some bits and knew the general gist of the story. I found that I was a little let down by that and the plot.
I’m not one for hugely complicated plots because I always find myself in over my head and just WAYY too confused, like I was in this book. I find that this would have been the perfect character driven book with minimal plot and while some may argue it has both, I would have liked it to be more about the characters and their journey than a complicated heist story. But at the same time, I also do like the dangerous heist plot because damn that’s exciting.
But, anyway back to the characters, I don’t want to turn this review into a huge gush where I cannot stop talking about my love for these 6 anti-heroes but I can’t help myself. For me, there is nothing better than an anti-hero because they are the most realistic type of character.
There was something just so profoundly beautiful about these characters having experienced the worst yet still making something of themselves and taking back what is theirs. It was an ode to survivors and I freaking loved it.
Can I also just have a little segment in here about how much I adored the diversity? Bardugo puts in characters into her novels that are diverse – but wait for it – she doesn’t make the entire novel about their diverse aspects. *moment of silence to allow this to settle in*
Just kidding. (No not really. Authors, please take note.)
From chronic pain and to people of colour (especially women of colour) to positive and uplifting female friendships and showcasing different body types, Bardugo does it all. However I don’t want to get too much into this because it is mildly spoilery and I don’t want to spoil you all like I was!
OVERALL RATING:
★★★★½
I found that this one was way too plot and action heavy and I didn’t really understand what was going on. I literally still do not know what happened and I only got through it because of the characters. It was also pretty chunky to read *sweats nervously*.
The cast was amazing as per usual in this! I actually feel there was more character development happening in this one than the previous and that made me so immensely happy because THEY ARE MY BABIES OKAY? Fight me.
And that ending. I knew it was coming and I hadn’t really
expected anything else so I wasn’t disappointed but at the same time, I felt
the book ended quite abruptly. Like there was all this action, especially
towards the end…and then suddenly nothing.
But other than that, WHAT AN AMAZING DUOLOGY.
READ THIS READ THIS READ THIS READ THIS.
You will fall in love with the characters. And when you
think you can’t fall anymore…you’ll fall again. And again. And again. Until you’re
a broken mess on the ground.
Yay.
Thank you to Hachette Australia for providing me a review copy of Crooked Kingdom. However, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
OVERALL RATING:
★★★★
Have you read either
Six Of Crows or Crooked Kingdom? What did you think? Or are you planning to? And
who is one of your favourite anti-heroes? Let me know because I always look for
book recommendations with a good anti-hero!
22 happy thoughts
Leigh is my all-time favorite author, so I'm so thrilled that you loved these books too! Have you read the Grisha Trilogy? I actually prefer it slightly to Six of Crows, but I love both all the same :) Fabulous reviews!
ReplyDeleteBrittany @ Brittany's Book Rambles
Yes I have read Grisha, I read it before reading this series so I could understand it better haha! I personally prefer Grisha too but I love the characters from SoC wayyy more!
DeleteI haven't read this duology yet either (nor have I read the Grisha trilogy), but I have the books and I think they're so pretty! They sound like such delightful books, with a wonderful world to get lost in when reading the story. I thought I was the only one who hadn't read these yet, so I feel less alone now! Great reviews for both books!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Kelly! I hope you get around to reading them as they are pretty enjoyable!
DeleteI HAVE read Six of Crows, but it was during my week of schoolies and I don't think I had many active brain cells at the time. So I'd really like to reread it! Jananee is always on everyone's case haha ;)
ReplyDeleteHAHAHA! And OMG SHE IS! Thanks for reading and commenting Emily!
DeleteAs much as I loved this duology, they are indeed looong. haha. Also, I agree that anti-heroes and morally gray characters are THE BEST. They just feel truer to real life, as most people are a wide array of grays rather than a clear black or white, if that makes sense? Anyway, great mini reviews! :D
ReplyDeleteOMG I AM SO GLAD TO FIND ANOTHER PERSON WHO ALSO LOVES ANTIHEROES OMG! high five girl! They are my absolute favourite!
DeleteEEEP THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVOURITE SERIES EVER AHH!! *flails wildly* I do understand it would be frustrating to start reading them while having been spoiled though. Agh. I really loved all the characters (KAZ THO) and yesss to the diversity rep. It's really important to have such diverse fantasy, I think, and I love how it incorporated disabilities too because they so often don't get rep in fantasy. <3 BASICALLY AN AMAZING SERIES AND I'M IN LOVE WITH IT. hehe.🎉😂
ReplyDeleteKAZ IS SUCH AN AMAZING CHARACTER BECAUSE HE REALLY IS RUTHLESS AND DOESN'T TRY TO HIDE IT! AND I KNOW OMG I AM SO GLAD TO FIND ANOTHER PERSON THAT SHARES THE SAME SENTIMENT!
DeleteI'm one of the few bloggers left to read this as well, so understand how the hype is hard to ignore lol! I'm thrilled you enjoyed all the characters and writing. And, thanks for the gorgeous, spoiler free review too!! :)
ReplyDeleteHaha it's okay until last month I was in the same boat as you! I hope you do get around to reading it as it is super enjoyable!
DeleteLol this is like True Confessions. I have also not read these. I stood in line forever at BEA to get an ARC of SoC and then life happened and I didn't get to it and I had a ton of other review books to read.
ReplyDeleteI DO plan on getting to these this summer. And then I will report back!
Jen @ YA Romantics
YAY EXCITED TO SEE WHAT YOU THINK JEN! <3
DeleteI still haven't read Six of Crows, so I totally understand what you mean about the astonishment that meets that statement! I've finally bought it, and I'm excited to hear that it largely lived up to the hype. :D Thanks for the great review!
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading and commenting Cilla!
DeleteI'm glad to hear you just only read these books, I haven't read them at all yet hahaha. I am so late I'm ashamed. I'm happy to hear that it mostly lived up to the hype and everything, I hope that I'll feel the same way whenever I finally get around to reading it. Lovely review :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for this Marie! <3
DeleteFantastic review for both books! You captured a lot of my feelings as well. I only read the books a couple months ago because I wanted the hype to die down and I get nervous about chunky fantasy books too- so many unfamiliar terms to learn! but I'm SO GLAD I read them because I fell in love. I didn't know much aside from the ships so I think I still had a bunch of surprises. And while I love complicated plots this one was Complicated- I think I understood most of it but it's definitely the sort of story that would improve on a reread I think. Loved all the characters, their interactions, their diversity, the friendships, the romances. It really is such a great duology. Again, stellar review :)
ReplyDeleteTHEY ARE SO AMAZING! And yeah I think a re-read would be great for just immersing yourself in that world again and learning more about these characters! Thanks so much for your kind words Morgan!
DeleteYAYYYYYY! I'm so glad you loved these books! Crooked Kingdom didn't meet my expectations and it was a little slower than SoC but THIS SERIES IS ONE OF THE BEST OUT THERE!
ReplyDeleteSuch lovely reviews Anisha!
Aditi @ http://athousandwordsamillionbooks.blogspot.in/
Yeah CK unfortunately let me down a little too but this was such an amazing series and I always now recommend it to others! Thank you so much Aditi for your kind words <3
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