Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

13 reviews

sskalon's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

If Six of Crows had been written for an adult audience, it could have rivalled Game of Thrones. 
Instead, I found myself reading a potentially fantastic story held back by underdeveloped characters, whose backstories were often limited by both their age and the intended audience. A friend recommended the book to me, and I must admit, I was hooked. But all throughout, I could not ignore the potential. 

Six criminals come together, driven by individual reasons, to do an impossible heist. The story itself is filled with plot twists, detailed planning and various perspectives. Spoilers below - I will talk about its shortcomings. 

At the forefront of the book is Kaz Brekker, a deeply traumatised criminal mastermind. I found him fascinating, both at the start and as his story unfolded. I thought he was well-written, an interesting balance of flawed and brilliant. 

However, by the end, Kaz makes uncharacteristic mistakes supposedly driven by the development of romantic feelings. To me, this felt out of place, as well as uncharacteristic for him. The real romance of this book is between Nina and Matthias, whose complex dynamic hinted at a depth that was not fully developed. Jesper was done dirty by the end of the book, and I kept expecting the last POV to be Wylan’s, possibly after something went very wrong or to tie everything together. But the story, filled with unprepared teenagers undergoing a deeply flawed plan with endless possibilities for it to fail, went perfectly - not a single one of them was lost. Unpopular opinion: Nina should have died

There’s an almost heroic attempt at making Kaz a morally grey character, but despite his efforts to build a bad reputation—and the author’s attempts to portray him as such—he doesn’t truly operate in that grey area. I understand his mysteriousness keeps people at a distance, but given their backgrounds, Inej must be blind at times when describing him. 

I loved the multiple perspectives, which allowed me to understand each of their minds and accompany them through their parts in the plan. But none of them should have been teenagers. And this book should not have been YA targeted.

I get it, Inej’s past is traumatic - but the alluding to the Menagerie, which is such a big part of her, should have been explored further.  Kaz gauging the eye of someone out with his bare hand and stuffing a handkerchief - good. Mentions of a brothel - bad.

 

To me it seemed clear the author wanted to get deeper into it, having to settle instead for subtleties. Another spoiler:  I don’t even want to further talk about the fact that almost all of the characters are minors. The choice did nothing but constrain the story on all aspects. And made it difficult to read in those moments.

Overall, as a simple reader, due to my attachment to the characters, as well as appreciation of the writing style and the interesting plot, I will rate it 4/5. YA great quality books are few and far in between, and this is one of them. But it should have been a 3. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Colonisation

Moderate: Slavery

Minor: Sexual violence and Torture

fightmeimsmall's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Slavery, Torture, Xenophobia, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, War, and Classism

wise_old_fishie's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

my favourite book and my comfort book I LOVE ALL THE CHARACTERS SO MUCH you just wait IT GETS EVEN BETTER IN CROOKED KINGDOM.
Bardugo's writing is great and she builds a wonderful world that mixes magic and truths about the world we live in. She also creates an amazing cast of characters who are all so different and yet have something to fight for together as the bond, fight and help each other discover who they truly are.

I was personally instantly hooked within the first few chapters, where there were already captivating plot-twists and interesting world building that had me hungry for more, and the whole book pulls you in and makes you fall in love with the characters, and the world they live in! I think it has a good balance of plot and character, with interesting backstories that change how you view their positions, and make you see their actions and thought-processes differently. The characters are very lovable, and there is no 1 protagonist, as we see the story unfold from 5 very different points of view, through the lenses of different culture and backgrounds and also different traumatic experiences.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Trafficking, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Colonisation, Classism, Deportation, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Drug use and Sexual content

cnjg88's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Trafficking, and Murder

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Classism

3crowsinatophat's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

It's brilliant how Leigh Bardugo made the main character such an ass and yet he is still sympathetic and even lovable

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

alexiconic's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The Dutch (inspired) names and history were something to get used to - they deterred me because really, it felt a bit cringey. But I am glad I pushed on! Because Leigh Bardugo created a whirlwind of a story, in a wonderful world with characters that relate well to each other and all have their own twists, thoughts, and story. Great use of flashbacks and different POVs which kept the plot moving at great speed - although it was sometimes a bit too rushed and it is a bit uncertain how old the cast are supposed to be. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, and Classism

kalelove's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

I'M SORRY I PUT THIS BOOK DOWN A FEW YEARS AGO. I'LL NEVER DO IT AGAIN

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Torture, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Racism, Slavery, Cultural appropriation, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Cursing, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

viacrow's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism

babsi_222's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Oh my god I finally read this book and I love that so much I gave it 4.75 stars because of the very confusing world building. After a while, I started figuring out how everything works or at least that it doesn’t matter that much and I don’t have to remember every single name, but in the beginning was quite something. 
I am in love with every main character, especially Inej and well every crow and I love the little romance going on. If you know you know, I never like Matthias, though, I never did. Nina can do so much better!!
I love the ice court heist!! It was so interesting and funny, but I have no idea how to imagine that and that’s why started watching the show Shadow and bone. But I’m honestly so disappointed because first of all I didn’t like the shadow and bone triology, and the show is mainly about that, and I only love the the crows. Also, the show was not like any of the books and that make me really mad. I just wanna watch the heist not some other random mission. Anyways I need to read a different genre now, but I’ll come back for Crooked kingdom!

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

lyrapollock's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Colonisation, and Deportation