No Mourners, No Funerals

 

    My least favourite things about this series is that there isn't a third Crows book. My favourite thing about it is literally everything else. 

    It is absolutely safe to say that this duology is one of my favourite series of all time. When I first decided to read Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom, I wasn't sure I'd like it because I don't always love fantasy, and I couldn't get past the first episode of Shadow and Bone on Netflix. However, my best friend was also reading this series, and they were 50% off....so it happened. Best. Purchase. I completely fell in love with all six of the Crows. They are all amazingly well written characters, and the way they all interact with each other and with their surroundings is perfect. Each character has their own special skills and their own painful backstory, and I want to hug all of them.

Kaz Brekker (Dirtyhands, the Bastard of the Barrel, demjin, etc.) is the leader of the Crows, and takes his crew of outcasts on insane and dangerous heists and adventures. His main motivation is money, kruge, if you will, but he'd do just about anything to keep his Crows safe. The chapters that tell Kaz's past are tragic and painful and make me want to stand at a safe distance and give him a massive air hug. 

Inej Ghafa (spider, Wraith) is the most badass female character I've read in a hot minute. She is powerful and stealthy, handles knives with deadly precision, and is also an absolute sweetheart. She is basically Kaz's right hand woman, and the Crows would probably be lost without her. 

Nina Zenik (heartrender, grisha), Jesper Fahey (Jes, sharpshooter), Wylan Van Eck (Wylan Van Sunshine, demolition expert), and Matthias Helvar (Druskëlle) are the rest of the Crows, and I literally love them all to pieces. 

    While reading Six of Crows, I think I said "holy shit" and "oh my god" like at least thirty times out loud. This book is chaos. It is the most well written, in depth, exciting heist story I've ever read in my life. Everything that could possibly go wrong, does, but they always find a loophole or some crazy way to get themselves out of every bad situation. Six of Crows has everything. Even when I saw no way out for these characters, Leigh Bardugo had the "Plan B" (and Plans C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N...etc.) ready to go. The excitement in this book is unmatched. I literally couldn't put it down. 

    Almost everyone I talked to while I was reading Six of Crows said "just wait til you get to Crooked Kingdom, it's even better." And guess what, Crooked Kingdom was also amazing. I personally liked Six of Crows better because the heist was more intense and everything just felt more dangerous and chaotic, and I am a big fan of fictional chaos; however, Crooked Kingdom was a brilliant sequel. The Crows all understand each other a bit better than in the first book and understand each other's strengths and weaknesses more, and I think they execute plans a lot more efficiently in Crooked Kingdom because of it. Crooked Kingdom absolutely still had a ton of "what the hell just happened?" and "holy shit" moments in it, and I will forever be in awe of how Leigh Bardugo came up with this elaborate story and these insanely complex characters. Crooked Kingdom is a brilliant follow up to Six of Crows, and it was really rewarding to see the character growth that happened in this novel. 

    After reading this series, I tried watching Shadow and Bone again to give it another chance. Turns out, that was a good plan. I definitely binge-watched all eight episodes in an afternoon. The Crows actors are flawless, it is like they literally came right out of the books; absolutely immaculate casting (for season two as well--Jack Wolfe as Wylan??? Crying). The combination of story lines from Shadow and Bone and the Six of Crows duology was really interesting, and even though I cared more about the Crows plot line than the Sun Summoner plot line, it was absolutely worth giving another chance and now I'm PSYCHED for season two. Every single bit of me wishes that there was a third Crows book, but I can't wait to see what happens with them in season two of Shadow and Bone now that all the Crows are cast. 

I loved everything about these books, a new favourite for sure. 

No Mourners. No Funerals. xx