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Six of Crows

Written by: Leigh Bardugo
Narrated by: Jay Snyder,Brandon Rubin,Fred Berman,Lauren Fortgang,Roger Clark,Elizabeth Evans,Tristan Morris
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Publisher's 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.

©2015 Leigh Bardugo (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

Editorial Review

Six of Crows is a gripping story about a band of characters who must come together, despite their differences to pull off a nearly impossible heist, and save the world in the process.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo is an exciting heist story and New York Times bestseller full of adventure and danger. Main character Kaz Brekker and a rag-tag team of dubious others, including Matthias Helper and Nina Zenik, are forced together for one epic quest, which just might alter the course of the future. This audiobook is the first of the Six of Crows series, which in turn is part of Bardugo’s Grishaverse (sometimes known as The Grisha Trilogy where the trilogy refers to three individual series). Those series include the Six of Crows duology, the Shadow and Bone trilogy, and the King of Scars duology.

Six of Crows is narrated by a full cast of voices including Jay Snyder, Roger Clark and Elizabeth Evans. Together they deliver a true audio performance that will sweep you away to a whole new world of possibilities and dangers. It is the perfect YA or older children’s book for fans of fantasy and adventure.

This gripping story will have you on the edge of your seat, on a wild ride of imaginative and awesome places, complex characters, and twisting plotlines. If you love a good epic adventure, look no further than this futuristic tale. With plenty of action, a band of misfit outcasts, and even a veiled love story, there is something for everyone to love. It is a fantasy epic made all the more real by its imperfect characters and the detailed worldbuilding Bardugo describes so well. One of the most praised young adult fantasy novels of recent years, Six of Crows is already a fan favourite among fantasy and adventure lovers. If you, too, love the Six of Crows duology, you continue the adventure with the next book in the series, Crooked Kingdom or enjoy other Grisha companion books like The Language of Thorns.

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What listeners say about Six of Crows

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First Audiobook I Simply Couldn't Finish

I went into this book with very high hopes, and even made it to the 9 hour mark, but I just couldn't go any further, these are the reasons why:

1. Storytelling/narrators took me out of it
This is my biggest complaint. I saw the diverse cast of narrators in the description and was very excited, as I love when books include multiple people to play different characters. This was not that kind of book. Every single chapter switches perspectives, which can really make it drag on, but I didn't mind, it was the fact that each character in the book, is at some point narrated by 8 different people. This firstly really broke my immersion, I loved the voices the narrators used for their own character, but when you have them voice everyone for that chapter, it becomes confusing and it feels like no one character gets true development because they are slightly changed every time. Secondly, not to name names, but a few narrators in particular, seemed to have a INCREDIBLY hard to doing some voices, sounded like amateur hour sometimes, and it was really disheartening, because they're voices for their own character were fantastic. I would have been totally okay with the constant perspective swapping, IF, the characters always spoke through the narrator that portrays them. But alas, they don't.

2. I think I got a paper cut in my ears this book is so edgy
The constant dark, edgy atmosphere all the characters carry with them really brings morale down, I found myself getting sick of the characters because there simply was no other mode for any of them, the only one that really showed emotion was Nina, who ended up being one of my favorites before I stopped.

3. Sorry, this one is just unacceptable.
THE CHARACTERS ARE ALL 16-17 years old?!?!?! Who's decisions was this??? Because it sure didn't feel like the writers. Each character is introduced with this rich backstory, which I loved. Except they are described as if having at least 10 years of adult experience under their belt. You expect the reader to be okay with the gritty, grizzled, gang leader Kaz who can break into anywhere, just getting out of high school?!? (I know there's no high school in the book). Or what about the ninja, assassin, who is so stealthy she's considered a ghost, who does regular work for a gang, who hasn't even turned 18 yet.
Just saying, those few lines determining their ages simply turned me completely off of this story, I couldn't get into it when all the characters are portrayed as if they're in their late 20's to 30's. (frankly if nothing was said I think it would be easy to assume Mathias is as old as in his late 30's.

Sorry, wouldn't recommend. All the reviews for this book gave it rave reviews, and I got this book because of them. VERY disappointing.

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19 people found this helpful

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Saints, this was an absolute pleasure.

Bardugo richly fleshes out the barrel of Ketterdam making it a place I want to return to again and again. All of the players are interesting and well rounded so as the story shifts perspective I never feel in a rush to move to someone else or disappointed to land on a particular character.

The writing is VERY good and although it is YA, it does not pander.

I highly recommended getting lost in this world.

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10 people found this helpful

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Highly recommended.

Loved it! I’ve read Shadow and Bone and thought it was alright; this was considerably better. Loved the characters and the premise made a much more cohesive story, I thought. The actual performances were great! All of the narrators did a fantastic job and there’s something for everyone. Romance, a cool heist, the unspooling of characters backstories with flashbacks. No heroic characters or paragons of good or evil. Very enjoyable.

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9 people found this helpful

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this book was an amazingly fun time to read.

I loved the changing POVs and the cast of narrators. The characters are so complex, and I loved how there wasn't a set villain. Instead the characters themselves were a mix of complex heroes and villains.

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A constant re-listen

Every actor is amazing. The voice performances are so spectacular and they make the story feel so much more real. Leigh did a great job with this story and even though I have the physical copy of the book, I prefer to listen to the audiobook over and over again. An absolute fave!

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6 stars

This was an incredible adventure! I normally don’t care for so many points of view. But it was done so well

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I liked it, but I wanted to love it.

A great ensemble cast, a cast of magnificent actors, and a fun twist on the growing fantasy-heist genre, and I can't help but wonder "what if it was just a little better?" What if the characters weren't all inexplicable teenage prodigies? What if the love stories made a little more sense? What if the story faced the fact that there are multiple teenage (and younger) characters sold into slavery, including sexual slavery, head-on?

All of that would have made this a 5-star. As it is, I still recommend it, but also recommend being prepared for its flaws.

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3 people found this helpful

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Amazing!

I normally don't like reading a lot of young adult novels, however I am glad I decided to take a
chance on this one.

I read it in less than 24 hours and I'm already halfway through the second book.

It has changed my mind on young adult novels, and I'm greatfull.

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What an Enticing Grip!

I was enthralled the entire time.
The story? Indescribable.
The performance? Outstanding.
The only time I found it slow and not overly interesting was the first half of the very first chapter but then BAM! I couldn't stop listening to it, couldn't help but find ways to keep listening even when I had something else to be doing. Excited for the Crooked Kingdoms!

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i loved the different voices. 10/10

the voices matched exactly what i thought a lot of the characters sounded like. bloody marvelous

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  • KM
  • 2016-03-18

7 Narrators, But That's Not a Good Thing

This isn't a dramatization of the novel -- it's a good novel narrated by different characters whose names lead the chapter (think of George R. R. Martin's books). Each narrator reads the whole chapter, and therein lies the issue: there are multiple different versions of every character's speaking voice. Multiply each by the number of different narrators who interpret that character and it gets a bit muddy. It's certainly distracting, and the story arc is developed in a way that there is very little backstory to explain what's going on until you're about 1/3 of the way into the book.

That being said, after spending a few hours immersed in it, you get used to it, even if it grates. The individual performances are fine... but collectively, it's a bit much.

Still, I enjoyed the depth of the characters once I got there, and by the end of the book, I was deeply invested in the storyline and cared about the core group. I'm going to get the second book in the series for this reason. However, I think the book would have been improved in its audio version by choosing a single talented narrator and sticking with him/her. Any one of the 7 actors who worked on this book could have delivered the story with clarity and consistency and I think it would have benefited from it.

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  • Julyana
  • 2016-08-16

I'm obsessed

So while reading reviews, I saw a lot of people being upset over there being 7 narrators. Personally I loved that every character had a voice to it. Sure everyone's rendition of Kaz was mildly different but I loved every single narrator. A round of applause for their ability to bring the story to life. And now a round of applause for Leigh Bardugo, who crafted this masterpiece. Sure you have to get through a mildly confusing first chapter, but it didn't take me long at all to be completely invested in this story and these characters. I loved every single one of them. The dynamic between Nina and Matthias was pretty hot (seriously, I wanted more!). There are so many little twists to this book, so many character complexities, so much cool world-building. Inej is a freaking ninja! Kaz is a criminal mastermind! I'm suffering a severe book hangover until the second one comes out in FREAKING SEPTEMBER UGH. Seriously, read this book, you'll love it, I promise.

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  • PowerTools
  • 2016-01-16

Just can't get into it

I can't follow the story. Tried listening on two separate occasions and just can't pay attention. I'm not sure why.

The narration is so strange and over done. Makes it feel like it's a children's book. Maybe it is and I missed that on the description.

After two chapters, I don't even know what this book is about. I have no idea what time frame it supposedly takes place. Overall, I simply do not look forward to listening to this story each morning.

Abandoned the book. Perhaps it gets better as it goes, but I'm not willing to stick it out to find out.

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  • G
  • 2017-12-18

Potential Overshadowed by Poor Performance

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

The storyline, world, and characters in Six of Crows were intriguing and had definite potential to grow into an enjoyable science fiction/fantasy series. However, I spent the entire novel wondering why the author hadn't simply written the book in third person omniscient. Especially because stylistically, the writing in the different chapters all sounded the same. Why would you have multiple narrators who speak about themselves in third person? The alternating perspectives added a layer of confusion to the book that was completely unnecessary.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

There were far too many narrators for a story without a great deal of depth. I've listened to quite a few audio books with a cast of narrators who added to the story, but they helped mainly to add clarity to a complex novel. The narrators in Six of Crows made the story more confusing because they attempted vastly different voices for the same characters. Also, the story is about a group of teenagers and the narrators all sound like old men with a bad smoking habit.

Any additional comments?

The reviews of this book seem to be completely skewed by readers who are more concerned with the presence of a fictional romance than they are about story development or writing style. I would suggest maybe reading the physical book, as the voices of the audio book narrators do not meet the expectations set by the fact that this is a young adult novel, nor match the character descriptions.

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  • Literati Librarian
  • 2016-07-21

This book is everything!

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this book. The narrators did a fantastic job bringing the story and their characters to life. I easily fell into the world and not just the first time, but every time I had to pause and then pick it is back up later. The story is enthralling and absolutely enjoyable for anyone. It has a lot of action and a little magic. The concept reminds me of Ocean's 11 but with magic and violence. Leigh Bardugo does a fantastic job of bringing these characters together to pull of a heist and the development of the story and characters was well done. I also really enjoyed how she tied in their backstories and how everything just clicked together. I recommend this to anyone, especially those looking for a good kick butt book featuring a seemingly impossible heist and some of the best characters around.

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  • Michelle E
  • 2015-10-10

New characters, new adventure, same world...

Not YA age but listen to a lot of YA. First I absolutely loved the Grisha trilogy and it would be hard to beat so if you are considering Six of Crows, I highly recommend reading the Grisha trilogy first. However, I think you can still enjoy Six of Crows on it's own. Going to Leigh Bardugo's website can help fill in information on the Grisha orders and the layout of the world the story takes place in.

Formula for Six of Crows will feel familiar, unlikely group pulled together for a crazy, impossible goal. Leigh does a great job of developing each character as the story goes on. By the end of the story you are attached and invested in all of them and aren't ready for it to end. Which is good because this is the first book in a series.

Different than the Grisha trilogy, Six of Crows is written in multiple character viewpoint style which can be a challenge for audio production. For me this was no exception, I found 7 narrators a bit distracting. I think it could have easily been done with one really good female and male narrator. Maybe that can change for the next book...

Overall all wonderfully written, fun action packed story. Can't wait for the next in the series.

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  • Benjamin
  • 2016-03-26

Threes Across the Board

It took me a while to get through this book. It had a slow beginning. The middle and end are pretty lively. I think this is generally a good heist book. It has some twists and turns to keep you engaged. The perspective characters are solid. The world-building is similarly solid. Bardugo manages to insert enough character backstory into the narrative to really flesh out the individuals' motivations. Just the right amount actually. All in all, a well-executed caper.

I get that this book is aimed at the teen demographic so it makes sense that the characters be around that age. The characters in this book think they are in their mid 30s to mid 40s the only one who disagrees is the author. She thinks they are all late teens. They all make perfect sense in manor, personal backstory, and speech, except when their ages are brought up. One character being wise and hardened beyond his or her years, I get. Maybe two. But every single one of them, by the exact same amount? Come on.

It was also quite ambitious for the author to take on so many perspective characters. I feel that this was a mixed blessing. It does add texture, but it also gets overused to keep you ignorant of what is going on so that the author can bring out surprises.

The many readers was also a mixed blessing. Some were good. The female readers were generally very good. The male ones were much more uneven. The man reading the main character, Kaz, sounded like he was telling a vampire story to 4 yr. olds around a campfire. He wouldn't just read the words as much as sing some of them. Too much over-emoting. The one reading Jesper's tone was solid, but had different pronunciations for many of the in-book concepts. You'd figure the editor would just tell them that they pronounce "X" a certain way.

It looks like this series will continue though as of this writing, book 2 has not been published. I might check it out. Maybe. It is not going into my list of ones to watch out for. I could take it or leave it.

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  • Kindle Customer
  • 2015-10-08

Good story, if a little raunchy

Great character development and a good plot will suck you into this great story. Just be prepared for a little language and and a bit of raunchiness, but can you expect from a book about a criminals and outcasts.

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  • Hannah
  • 2018-01-27

too many cooks spoil the soup

I think this audiobook definitely suffered from having so many narrators. While they were all good on their own (for the most part; none of them were *bad*, but Kaz’s narrator could get a little over the top and cartoony sometimes), each one had their own take on everything from pronunciation of the world’s words/proper names to the character’s demeanors (which could lead to a single character being portrayed very differently depending on who was narrating at the time). It just didn't feel like it completely added up to a cohesive whole. It wasn't not really the fault of the individual narrators, and obviously any book with multiple narrators is going to have this issue to some extent, but the differences were far more prominent here than in other books that I’ve listened to. The production team definitely would have benefited from sitting down and hashing out everything from “How do we want to pronounce ‘Zemeni’?” to “Should Kaz sound silky and sinister? Haughty and arrogant? Energetic and punchy?”

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  • Christina
  • 2016-03-06

Dannng!

So I'm not going to lie...... I had never read anything from Leigh Bardigo before, so understanding the Grisha stuff was difficult at the beginning for me. The names of places, gangs, descriptions, and people threw me off, and for the first few chapters, I questioned listening further.

But!!!!! When the plot started to pick up, it shot straight up, and I was enthralled.
I ended up really liking this book, and frustrated when it ended. The sequel cannot come soon enough!!!

Nina and Inej were my favorites (though, I'm a lady, so that isn't very surprising), but I still liked how each character had an intricate web of a background. At first, the many characters was confusing and frustrating, but again, that quickly changed :)

Bravo! I loved it.

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  • Anonymous User
  • 2018-08-03

great book

its a great book if u like fantasy books like got
and the acting is great

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  • Alexsandr C.
  • 2023-02-02

So glad I finally gave it a try

I'd already read this book twice before finally getting to the audiobook, and quite frankly, I'm so glad I did! My friends told me it was great, and that having different voices for each narrator was a delight, and now I definitely agree 100%. It really adds something to the experience!

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  • Anonymous User
  • 2021-09-07

Une histoire riche en rebondissement

Pas très habituée à lire ce type de littérature j’ai tout de même passer un bon moment !

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