4 star, YA

Review: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Fives @ Down The Rabbit Hole

Six of Crows #1

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

Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don’t kill each other first.

Okay, I know I know, I’m suuuper late to this party, but I’m glad I arrived – better late than never! But honestly I’m so glad Andge made me dive into this one, as I always love a good heist and boy was this a wild journey. Andge felt that this was more of a 3.5 Drink Me Potions for her, based on the hype around this series at her time of reading. I’m rating it a little higher at 4, since this particular story resonates more with my style. While I can’t speak for both of us, here is my review!

Six of Crows follows a motley crew of criminals, or at least sketchy individuals, as they embark on a seemingly impossible heist for a tantalizing amount of money. Each character brings their own unique set of skills to help in the heist, as well as a plethora of secrets that emerge around every bend. The story takes place over multiple POVs, and each chapter features a different character’s perspective. The author takes us on the whole journey, from forming the unlikely alliance all the way to the results of the heist, also giving intriguing and mysterious backstory along the way. Overall such a suspenseful and exciting adventure!

Easily my favourite element of this novel was the suspense of the heist. Yes, I expect the heist to be somewhat successful, or at least what story is there to write about? But the whole journey there, the twists, the turns, the betrayals, the betrayal betrayals, who knew what was going to happen? I thought I had a fairly good prediction of what I would see, yet I was still surprised at some elements, which is always a nice perk for me when reading any novel.

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top ten tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Loved and Wanted More Of

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

Hello friends! It’s been one hectic week for me, and I’m not sure the new job will slow down any time soon. While this may mean I’ll be more sporadic on the blog here, I always look forward to Tuesdays for TTT.

This week I am highlighting books/series I loved so much that I wished there were more books to this world to continue living the stories of these beloved characters. Whether it be to walk alongside people I’ve grown to love like they are real (let’s be honest, these characters sometimes feel more real to us than real people in our lives, don’t they?) or to sightsee a wondrous, fantastical land that is so vivid to us by the author’s descriptions, I enjoyed all these 5 star reads so much that I would love to relive it all over again for the first time if I could.

Let me know if any of these books/series would land in your list too!

1. The Gilded Wolves series by Roshani Chokshi

I would love to hunt artifacts with this gang, plus there’s just something about the historical time setting that always makes my heart wish to see what it would’ve been like to experience it firsthand (for just a moment though, because I do like my sanitation and cell phone).

Continue reading “Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Loved and Wanted More Of” →
discussion

Let’s Talk Bookish – Why Do People Lie About Reading Books?

Fives @ Down The Rabbit Hole

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme, hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books & Dani @ Literary Lion, where they discuss certain topics, share their opinions, and spread the love by visiting each others’ posts.

JUNE 4: WHY DO PEOPLE LIE ABOUT READING BOOKS? (SUGGESTED BY JILLIAN @ JILLIAN THE BOOKISH BUTTERFLY)

Prompts: Some people will say they have read books when they really haven’t; why do you think that is? Have you ever personally lied about reading a book? How do you feel about people who lie about reading books? Do you think there’s a certain type of book people are more likely to lie about reading?

Welcome to June’s LTB, everyone! This first topic is certainly an interesting one, though admittedly not one that I think about often. I didn’t even know this was really a thing, since I don’t usually question the truth behind someone claiming to have read a book.

I have never personally lied about reading a book, and I’m not sure just how often this really happens. However, I definitely remember times where I claim to have heard of a book, when I really haven’t. I don’t really do it on purpose, but some titles/author names are familiar and I forget if I have really heard of them or not. Either way, I find this affirmative response to be more encouraging to move conversation forward, which is why I usually choose to say that I have heard of the name before. This, I totally understand in conversation, as it doesn’t really matter whether the listener really has heard of it or not, it’s just a tool to move forward with the conversation.

All this being said, I don’t (or try not to?) lie about having read nor having heard of books/authors when it comes to something like an online blog post (outside of a conversation), as I find this to serve little purpose. When would it be necessary for me to do so, anyway? I think it’s okay not to have heard about something, and to admit that – nobody’s perfect!

I don’t think it’s the greatest sin to pretend you’ve read something when you haven’t, or honestly, when you thought you’ve read something that you really haven’t. That’s happened to me before! When you hear about a book so often (sometimes part of its plot), until you think wait, didn’t I read that already? Yes, I totally get it. I don’t think there’s too much harm in this kind of white lie usually, depending what the intentions are. Besides, if one is always lying about books they (haven’t) read, I think it becomes pretty obvious after a while.

I think people will most often lie about having read “classic” literature, likely to feel or seem more well-read. Pride and Prejudice, The Great Gatsby, Little Women, Shakespeare, etc., these are often books that many well-read people will have already read. Just to “fit in”, or to seem more educated, I believe people would be willing to fib a little and say they’ve read those before. Honestly sometimes I can’t even remember which of Shakespeare’s plays I read in school, so I wouldn’t be surprised if I thought I had read Romeo and Juliet (gasp, I haven’t).

What do you all think? It doesn’t seem like too big a deal – I struggle to think where such a lie could really harm or cause damage in any real way. It could be a slippery slope to other lies and deception, but in and of itself seems relatively harmless. In fact, it seems like more harm to oneself than anyone else, no?