Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo: Book Review

Happy 2017! I figured to start the new year with a massive current fave.

Want a terrifying fact? It's been more than a year since my (our) last book review post, which was for Dorothy Must Die back in October 2015. Now to fix that!

Six of Crows and its partner in crime (the second half of its duology), Crooked Kingdom, are masterpieces. To break it down to whatever might make you pick up a book: the plot, the worldbuilding (*swoon*), the quotability, the characters (*double swoon*), and the amazing fandom, all of them are amazing and cinammon roll-y.

The plot: A thrumming heist story full of twist after twist, reveal after reveal, triumph over triumph. It's almost impossible to put down; it starts with a bang and ends heart-wrenchingly but hopefully.

The worldbuilding: Taking place in a gritty low fantasy city resembling Amsterdam in the nineteenth century. Realism, well-built infrastructure both in and out of the narrative, and the intriguing system of the Grisha Small Science (what others might think of as magic).

The quotability: Here are just a few favorite bits:

• “It's not natural for women to fight."
  "It's not natural for someone to be as stupid as he is tall, and yet there you stand.” 
• Kaz leaned back. "What's the easiest way to steal a man's wallet?"
  "Knife to the throat?" asked Inej.
  "Gun to the back?" said Jesper.
  "Poison in his cup?" suggested Nina.
  "You're all horrible," said Matthias.
• "Why does it matter?”
  “I don’t know!” Jesper said angrily. “Maybe I liked your stupid face."

There's just so much quality banter and everyone loves/hates each other and they're just all amazing.

The characters: Personally, they're my favorite part. I present the following:

• A former acrobat, stolen as a slave, sold as an "indentured servant," now the best spy in the city and ready to fight for her life and her friends
• A young man who's immensely secretive about his past, who's risen to his title of "Dirtyhands" among the grittiest gangs of Ketterdam by ruthless crime and grudging respect
• A girl who can turn people's bodies against them, a trained soldier in Ravka's army, far from her home
• A still-loyal soldier of Fjerda, Ravkans' enemy, imprisoned miles from his nation and battling allegiances
• A sharpshooter with a gambling problem and a longing for trust
• An innocent demolitions expert who is ACTUALLY A CINNAMON ROLL (Calm down, Citali)

The fandom: As fandoms go, the SoC/CK fandom is still pretty small and amazing. Also we have... like... amazing fanartists? Like the actual angel who drew this Inej and Wylan sketch:

 

Source: http://jell-illustrations.tumblr.com/post/151790166629/more-six-of-crows-stuff

The genre: It seems to bridge genres: young adult fantasy, with a tinge of LGBT+ fiction, as well as a heist narrative, combined with an action plot full of twist after twist. Each of the main character simultaneously makes the reader adore them and hate them. Each plot twist elevates the plot and keeps the reader completely engaged--the book is virtually “unputdownable.” It’s also followed by an, if possible, even better sequel (Crooked Kingdom) and preceded by a trilogy, letting readers who are hooked dive even further into the author’s worldbuilding.

This series is just So! Good! Agh!

Happy reading!
~Citali

Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige: Villains Week

Dorothy Must Die is an amazing book by Danielle Paige and is my first post for Villains Week!

This book is one of the weirder classics remixes that I've read: the concept is that Dorothy, instead of going happily home to Kansas, returned to Oz, hungry for power. Becoming princess, she's changed Oz for the worse... the Good are now wicked, and the Wicked are good. Or are they?

Amy Gumm is the Other Girl from Kansas, arriving in Oz also via tornado. As she moves towards the Emerald City, she learns terrifying things about Dorothy's new regime and is recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked on a mission: kill Dorothy. But who's really Good? Who's really Wicked? Where should Amy stand?

Definitely a teen book with some unpleasantly graphic descriptions of the violence, magical and otherwise, of the evils of Dorothy and her sidekicks, plus some unnecessarily inappropriate references.

However, I do kind of like the plot twists and worldbuilding here. I've read The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and while I can't say I think L. Frank Baum would agree with this book, he might chuckle at it or at least be interested. With the total reversal of Good and Wicked, you never know who the villains are. The characters, too, are interesting, definitely dynamic. Indigo with her tattoos, Jellia, Maude and Ollie, and the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked too, they all are people I want to know better, to find out what happens to them.

I'd say three stars for the excellence with characters and plot, although the theme is definitely not my style. It's certainly memorable in that I will never see Dorothy or Oz the same way again!

Three stars

Happy reading!

~Citali

Paper Towns by John Green

A book I'm sure you've heard of: Paper Towns by John Green. As I'm a proud nerdfighter (Vlogbrothers forever!), this review will be unabashedly mixed with references. As a nerd and a reader and an enthusiast for knowledge, nerdiness, weird references, and decreasing worldsuck, I strongly recommend this Youtube channel. Just saying.

Note: I am aware there is a movie. In fact, I am aware there is a movie because I watch John's Youtube channel. I also read this book, An Abundance of Katharines, and The Fault in Our Stars because of the Youtube channel. However, I have seen none of these movies.

Okay! On to the actual review!

Q (Quentin) has always half-had-a-crush-on, half loved Margo Roth Spiegelman, his neighbor and childhood friend/family friend/acquaintance. At school, where both of them are seniors, Margo is the queen and Q is a lowly peasant: they haven't talked in a long time, ever since they found a dead body together (long story). One night, though, Margo opens his window and drafts him as her getaway driver in a prank-filled, heartbeat-increasing-to-dangerous-levels night of revenge involving eleven extremely carefully planned catfish-related pranks. After one night of amazing fun together, though, Q shows up back at school to realize that Margo has become a mystery. As he and his best friends wonder where she's gone, Q has to come to terms with the way he's always seen Margo, and the way she really is.

Although pleasantly mature in terms of truths meditated, Paper Towns definitely is teen, with high school senior characters and references to language and other not-so-child-appropriate ideas... Personally I feel that the nature of the story gets better at the end and is worth wincing at the teen-y-ness, but if you are uncomfortable with that... yeah.

Paper Towns is, however, an absolutely amazing book. I really love the way John Green writes: his characters are teenagers, but they uncover truths of life in their thoughts. A summary can't do this book justice because it's less about the still-amazing plot and more about learning about each other. Whitman, Margo, and Q all have different ways of looking at looking at people that I all think are extremely powerful.

Five stars!

I'd recommend John Green's other books, An Abundance of Katherines and The Fault in Our Stars, as well as his tumblr, his youtube channel(s), and his ideas.

Happy reading!

~Citali

P. S. One more week until Theme Week: here's a hint! "Greatness inspires envy, envy engenders spite, spite spawns lies. You must know this, Dumbledore." (Guess the speaker!)