Pragathi Ram’s Reviews > Six of Crows > Status Update

Some of the most romantic lines I’ve ever read and it’s from a freaking YA fantasy novel:

“She’d laughed, and if he could have bottled the sound and gotten drunk on it every night, he would have.”

“I have been made to protect you. Only in death will I be kept from this oath.”

The way these men YEARN 🫢

I LOVEEEE how during this section the Black Protocol bells chime exactly when each character has fallen into the worst possible circumstances like damn that’s good writing
BUT ANYWAY WE GOT THE GAY TALK BETWEEN JESPER AND WYLAN FINALLY:
Wylan: “Just girls?”
Jesper: “No. Not just girls.”
“His eyes met Wylan’s. They were out of time.” NOOO STOP NO DON’T TOUCH THEM 😭😭

Kaz, I hate to break it to you, but lying to everyone who’s risking their lives to go on this insane mission for you is just not the strat
I LOVE Inej’s character growth here tho, she finally decides to do smth for herself and not because she’s a pawn to someone else
Although that means…
“Scheming face… She was going to miss that look.” 😭
“The heart is an arrow. It demands aim to land true.”

“Stop being dense. You’re cuter when you’re smart.” Jesper just discovered how much better it feels to make Wylan blush and he’s just going with it now, I freaking love it
Also he’s a GRISHA WHAT??
GUYS KAZ’S BACKSTORY IS ACTUALLY HELL BECAUSE WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE CLUNG TO HIS DEAD BROTHER’S BODY AS HE SWAM MILES BACK TO THE HARBOR BEFORE HE DIED AMONG A SEA OF CORPSES?! WHO CAME UP WITH THISSS

Whoa I did not expect Nina and Matthias’s story to circle back to the present like that cause he’s right, they both do have a motive to kill the scientist and now I’m really wondering if Nina would truly betray the Dregs or if she’s leading Matthias on again…
And even if they tried to, how would they outsmart Kaz? Surely he’s at least a little suspicious of them due to their past with each other

It actually breaks my heart to watch little Kaz and Jordie be so naive when I have seen what type of person Kaz has become today. But it’s also really eye opening to why he became this way.
“Kaz would always remember that moment, when he’d seen greed take hold of his brother, an invisible hand guiding him onward, the lever at work.” Meanwhile now greed is his servant.

“We pull off this job and divvy up the haul, we’ll be the legends of the Barrel. We’ll be the crew that beat Pekka Rollins.” Loving the group dynamic so far
THE BACKSTORIES
Nina and Inej’s backstories had me near TEARS what do you mean these two were treated so HORRIBLY, and both times they were persecuted for separate identities. Both Grisha from Ravka and foreigners are enslaved, no one is 100% safe

If I had all the time in the world I would be able to read this book in one sitting.
WE FINALLY GOT THE INVESTMENT SCENE:
“You came back for me.”
“I protect my investments.”
Also Kaz’s pure RAGE directed at the enforcer who stabbed Inej was actually making me giggle so hard this dynamic they’ve is so complex but it’s understood by everyone that she is HIS Wraith, so consequences will come from him

The crew has been assembled: Kaz (aka Dirtyhands) the mastermind, Inej (aka Wraith) the chief of secrets, Jesper the temperamental sharpshooter, Nina the Heartrender, Matthias the ex-Grish hunter, and Wylan the insurance

I am so pumped to keep reading, I want to note how I love that unlike the trilogy, all these characters’ perspectives are so different and interesting based on their respective backgrounds

Love the fact that even though Kaz is seventeen, even his enemies refer to him as ‘Mister Brekker’
There are also so many mysterious details about Kaz from his habits to his thoughts to his gloves that need to be solved, so even though he’s the protagonist I find it fascinating that we still manage to know nothing at all about him.
I LOVE that the only time Kaz shows emotion, it’s in relation to Inej 🫶