The origin behind Netflix's Shadow and Bone: Six of Crows

I had finally made my trip to the book store after many weeks without a new read, but I was a woman on a mission because this time I knew exactly what I wanted. Much to my dismay, the particular book was, unfortunately out of stock and after glancing at the all the many options on the shelf, I spotted the 'Six of Crows' by Leigh Bardugo' I was reading the blurb, walking up and down the isle when a fellow reader muttered "you're in for a wild ride" after this small interaction I knew there was no way I could put this book back down because turns out she was right.

At the beginning of the book we are given a little bit of a scene setter- It starts off with the point of view from Joost, a guard in the stadwatch- basically the police for the government officials of Ketterdam (one of the cities in which most of this book takes place.) He is in love with a girl by the name of Anya- except she isn't human at all she's a Grisha Healer. In the book Grisha are described as people who have extreme abilities such as healing, Heart renders (the ability to basically kill you- they are usually utilized as soldiers), Fabrikators (who control materials like metal glass, textiles etc.), Tidemakers (control the seas and water). There are many more Grisha in the series but, these are the important ones for now.

Just as he was about to make his way to see Anya, he is called to stand guard at another location, one he has never been to before and what he sees is quite strange, Joost sees his beloved Anya inside a glass cubicle with a young boy (at this point I thought either she was going to die or they were going to kill him.) Anya is instructed by Councilman Hoede to perform acts for his experiment to see if a serum called Jurda Parem actually enhances the powerful abilities of the Grisha people. Much like many of us would expect, something goes terribly wrong and the healer... Anya they injected with Jurda Parem goes on a killing spree.

Soon after the discovery we are introduced to the man, the ledged Kaz Brekker!!!... okay that was a little bit dramatic but, I've got to fan girl just a little- Kaz is the leader of a gang by the name of the "Dregs" a group of outcast criminals living in Ketterdam. When push came to shove Kaz was recruited by a Government Official by the name of Van Eck who asks Kaz to break into the highly impenetrable town of Fjerda to kidnap the man behind the discovery of deadly substance called Jurda Parem. Obviously, Kaz wouldn’t be able to do all of this himself and despite being the lieutenant for a ruthless gang- he needed individuals who aren’t afraid to wander to a place they might never come back from.

He soon makes up a group to journey with him on this extraordinary but life threatening adventure. Inej, a Suli girl with an astonishing skill of being stealth and silent, Nina a Heartrender- using her Grisha power for good, Jesper, Kaz’s right hand man who has a knack with a sharpshooter, Matthias- a fugitive on the run and Wylan- the Govener’s beloved son and a demolition expert- along the way there is so much going on, so much so that I made it half way through the book and I needed to start over because somewhere along the line I lost the plot (no pun intended) and needed to re-evaluate my thought process- so this is just a friendly tip that if you’re thinking of picking up this book- pay attention to the little details.

The themes of heartbreak, poverty, inequality, power, deception (there are more but, these were main ones I identified)- kind of model’s what we go through today in society… by capturing the aspects of each of the six characters we see that each of them come from different walks of life which is reminiscent of daily struggles people face. One quote that really stuck out to me was “Men mock the Gods until they need them”- it is so easy to discard things we do not understand but, it is until we find ourselves pressed against the wall whether it is any of the themes mentioned above- people call out to God or a higher power to save them. Despite it being short… it carries such power- and in some way mirrors the moments of desperation each of the characters face throughout their journey to the impenetrable court of Fjerda.

The one thing I really enjoyed about the book is that it’s not one dimensional in the sense of- while the book involves multiple main characters, it’s not portrayed solely by Kaz’s point of view even though he is said to be the main protagonist. Through this story we were able to get a glimpse of each of the character’s story and their role in the impossible heist of capturing Bo Yul-Bayur. It felt like readers had a window inside each characters’ life which was quite refreshing especially with these kinds of plots and genres. I do however, felt like a large focus was put on Nina and Matthias’s storyline when I would have preferred to see the chemistry between Kaz and Inej a little more. Leigh Bardugo- really gave us something when she put out this book so if you’re a fan of the heists, action and mystery... this book is definitely one you should pick up soon.

I look forward to getting my hands on the next book!!!

Happy reading