Review: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

I went into Six of Crows with a mixed history of Leigh Bardugo’s work. A number of years ago, I read the Shadow and Bone series. At the time, I  was reading almost exclusively YA (particularly YA fantasy and science fiction), and I think I was burnt out on this category of books. Hindsight is always 20/20, of course, and now I realize that only reading one genre or category of books is generally a bad idea for me. 

All of this to say that I strongly disliked the Shadow and Bone series. I felt like Bardugo’s first series hit all the tropes I’d been reading about over and over without really bringing anything new to the table. 

But we’re not here to talk about Shadow and Bone. It’s been so long since I read it that I probably couldn’t give you a more detailed explanation about what I disliked about it (beyond the above) anyway. 

I’ve heard so many good things about Six of Crows that I decided to give it a try. Besides, it’s been a long enough time since I suffered through Shadow and Bone. 

So I got Six of Crows from the library; I figured that if I hated it, I wouldn’t feel like I wasted money on it. 

I’ve hemmed and hawed enough; let’s talk about Six of Crows. 

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Summary

In the city of Ketterdam, people flock to make their fortune…or buy anything you could possibly dream of.

Meet Kaz Brekker and his crew. All six are outcasts with skills and histories. 

When Kaz is offered a life changing amount of money to accomplish an impossible heist, of course he says yes. 

Can these six outcasts pull it off?

Thoughts

The age thing

First, I want to talk about my biggest gripe with Six of Crows. And that’s that the main group of six are all supposed to be teenagers, like 16-18 years old. This really bugged me because it felt like they all should’ve been at least 10 years older. I’m not sure if Bardugo felt like she had to do this because she thought that she needed to write another YA book or what. In any case, none of the main characters were believable as teenagers. 

That said, I was really surprised by how much I liked Six of Crows.

Structure

I liked that there were a lot of twists and turns that kept you guessing. 

A large part of the reason for this is how Bardugo structured the book. Each chapter was told from the perspective of a different character. This served multiple functions. First, it provided an opportunity to get a glimpse into each character’s backstories and get a better idea of why they were the way they were.

Additionally, there are tons of times when a character doesn’t have all the information about what’s going on; this creates a situation in which the reader is learning information along with the characters. It should also be noted that Kaz isn’t always the most forthcoming with information, but there are plenty of reasons as to why this is. 

Mental health

One of the reasons I decided to review Six of Crows in May is because May is Mental Health Awareness Month and there is some mental health content in Bardugo’s novel. 

Many of the characters have experienced some form of trauma. Kaz and Inej in particular show signs of PTSD. It’s never spelled out as such, but I think that’s the takeaway. 

I think some readers will dislike Kaz due to his behavior. Which is fine – everyone is entitled to their opinion. I would like to say in his “defense” that everyone responds to trauma differently, and I think Kaz is one example of how someone might respond to traumatic experiences. 

There’s also the found family component of Bardugo’s novel, which I think ties in nicely with what I was trying to do in April (and I confess I didn’t end up the way I’d hoped). 

Other disabilities are represented in Six of Crows as well. Kaz walks with a cane due to a previous injury, and I think we’re supposed to read Wylan as dyslexic. Upon further Googling, it looks like Jesper probably has ADHD. I confess that I didn’t pick up on that, but in retrospect, I can see how I should have. 

In conclusion, I’m not sure that I loved Six of Crows as much as some others. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked Bardugo’s book. I’ll definitely be picking up the sequel.

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This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Please read full disclosure for more information.

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Updated: May 17, 2025 @ 4:26 am