Six of Crows (Bardugo)

Six of Crows 
Leigh Bardugo, 2015
Henry Holt & Co.
480 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781627792127


Summary
Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker.

Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone...

A convict with a thirst for revenge.
A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager.
A runaway with a privileged past.
A spy known as the Wraith.
A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.
A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.

Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz's crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don't kill each other first. (From the publisher.)

Author Bio
• Birth—1975
• Where—Jerusalem, Israel
• Education—B.A., Yale University
• Currently—lives in Hollywood, California, USA


Leigh Bardugo is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Shadow and Bone (2012) and Siege and Storm (2013). Ruin and Rising (2014) is the third installment in her Grisha Trilogy.

Six of Crows came out in 2015, which, although not yet announced, appears to be the first volume of a new series.

Leigh was born in Jerusalem, grew up in Los Angeles, and graduated from Yale University. She has worked in advertising, journalism, and most recently, makeup and special effects. These days, she’s lives and writes in Hollywood where she can occasionally be heard singing with her band. (Adapted from the author's website .)

Book Reviews
(Starred review.) Bardugo reveals intriguing new depths and surprises. This has all the right elements to keep readers enthralled: a cunning leader..., nigh-impossible odds, ...skilled misfits, a twisty plot, and a nerve-wracking cliffhanger (Ages 12 & up).
Publishers Weekly


(Starred review.) [W]ildly imaginative....[with] fully fleshed out, dynamic protagonists who will engage and enchant readers. What a thrill it is to return to the world [Bardugo] created with her popular Grisha Trilogy.... [U]unsettling, captivating, magical (Gr 7 & up). —Jane Henriksen Baird, Anchorage Public Library, AK
Library Journal


(Starred review.) This book can be fully enjoyed without having read any previous title. Great characters with complex backstories, dynamic relationships that show growth, and plenty of action to keep the pace lively. The criminal elements that pervade the story give a pleasantly gritty edge to it all. (Ages 15-18). —Stacey Hayman
VOYA


(Starred review.) Adolescent criminals seek the haul of a lifetime in a fantasyland at the beginning of its industrial age.... Cracking page-turner with a multiethnic band of misfits with differing sexual orientations who satisfyingly, believably jell into a family (Ages 14 & up).
Kirkus Reviews

Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:

• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)

Also, consider these LitLovers talking points to help start a discussion for Six of Crows:

1.. How do the characters—Kaz and his crew of five—differ from one another? Start, perhaps, with each one's defining characteristics; then consider...
  ♦ their individual motivations
  ♦ their skills (what talent each brings to the heist)
  ♦ their past histories
  ♦ how each views the society they live in, the job at hand, and one another.

2. To what extent do any of the characters grow or change by the end of the book? Do any (or all) reach a new level of maturity, gain insights, or find peace and redemption from their pasts?

3. Do you have any favorites within the Dregs? Is there one you relate to or sympathize with more than any of the others?

4. Six of Crows is set in the same world as Bardugo's Grisha Trilogy. If you've read any of the books in that trilogy, how does this one compare? If you haven't, was it hard to find your footing at first?

5. Did you enjoy the book's structure—a story told through five different characters? Do the differing voices progress seamlessly through the book, or does the storyline feel disjointed? Why might Bardugo have chosen to tell her story using different points of view?

6. Talk about the various loyalties and friendships that exist among and between crew members—there's Nina and Inej, as well as Jesper, Wylan, and Matthias.

7. What is going on between Nina and Matthias—do they love or hate one another? Or are their conflicted feelings flip sides of the same coin?

8. Follow-up to Question 7: What about the romance between Kaz and Inej? What does Inej mean when she says to Kaz, "I will have you without armor, Kaz Brekker. Or I will not have you at all"? What are his feelings toward her?

9. Fantasy/dystopian literature is frequently a veiled allusion to the ills of contemporary, society, perhaps serving as a warning. What aspects of Ketterdam, though exaggerated, might be a reflection of our own 21st-century society?

10. Were you surprised by the twists and turns of the plot? Or did you "see it coming."

11. If Six of Crows is the first installment of a series, as most believe, will you be read the next volume?

(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)

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