Six Reasons to Read Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

I recently finished Crooked Kingdom, the sequel and last book to Six of Crows and I LOVED IT SO MUCH. Hands down one of the best books I’ve read this year or ever to be honest. I read Six of Crows earlier this year and I’ll be honest, I liked it but I didn’t love it the way I loved Shadow and Bone. The plot dragged for me a little but I did for the characters (still a solid 4/5 stars mind you). Crooked Kingdom blew me away.

If you haven’t been convinced to pick up these books yet here’s six (heeeh see what I did there?) reasons why:

1. Perfectly flawed characters - who wants to read about perfect characters anyway? Is there even such a thing? What would be the point if they’re not interesting? Every single one of these characters has so many layers to them. They make the choices that the privileged don’t have to make. They make the hard choices that should make us hate them but we love them instead. Leigh Bardugo writes such depth to these characters (Kaz, Inej, Nina, Matthias, Jesper, Wylan), the more you read on the more you understand the things they do. 
2. Tackling tough issues - sex trafficking/forced prostitution, what refugees have to face, addictions (drugs/gambling), racism, phobias this series has it all. Leigh Bardugo takes issues that are present in our current day and tackles them head on. She takes it seriously, she treads carefully but persistently to put it into perspective. It’s still YA but it brings to light all these issues for the reader and makes us SEE. It was horrifying and at times uncomfortable but this is necessary. 
3. It’s a freaking heist - I mean how much more exciting can it get? All the planning and strategising and layers upon layers of scheming! And in the end will they pull through? ONLY YOU WILL KNOW IF YOU READ IT. Leigh Bardugo is an absolute fracking genius to come up with everything. There’s scheming then there’s one upping the schemers and then some. How to even? 
4. Inej Ghafa - my leading lady. She is amazing. After everything she’s been through she still holds so much hope and love inside her. How she can see the light after everything is beyond me. She’s a symbol to not give up. When things are at their worst she still stands strong. I admired her so much and my heart broke at her pain. 
5. Diversity - all the characters are different nationalities. I love fantasy books because authors make up different nations and races and they tackle racism in this way. But not just diversity of race and colour, but diversity of sexuality, diversity of religion. The characters have different values and there’s clashing, especially in the first book but it’s amazing to see them work through these or agree to disagree and just get along with their lives and not let them affect the mission at hand. Acceptance requires understanding and the books are a journey to this. 
6. The writing and world building are stunning - Leigh Bardugo has a way with words. If you’ve read the Grisha trilogy, Leigh Bardugo expands so much on her Grishaverse outside of Ravka. If you haven’t read the Grisha trilogy you should totally read that too! Anyway, we’re pulled in the Barrel - the slums of Ketterdam and its corrupt world. Leigh’s introduced whole languages to add to the world as well as Barrel slang to really make the reader feel like they’re part of the gangs. It’s a gritty and dark world enhanced by decadent language that flows. 

HAVE I CONVINCED YOU YET? Well here’s bonus reasons:

1. The books are visually stunning - I felt like showing them off while walking down the streets, with the gorgeous covers and black/red sprayed edges. And inside there’s MAPS. YES MAPS *squeals with glee* what’s a better fantasy than a book with maps??? Also gorgeous chapter headings 
2. There’s only 2 books - YAY AND NOOO because it’s over but you can read it all in 1 hit! And then suffer the intense withdrawal with the rest of us.

Blogoversary Day 9: Leigh Bardugo

It's the 2nd last day of my blogoversary celebrations - how quickly time has flown by - and today I have the amazing Leigh Bardugo on the blog. Leigh's 2012 debut, Shadow & Bone (published as The Gathering Dark in Australia when I first got it) was actually what got me back into the reading scene. I'd just started full-time uni again and had a 3 day timetable so was traipsing the bookstore for a good read. The cover of The Gathering Dark instantly drew me in, I read the first page and was hooked. Bought the book and finished it that night! The Darkling stands as one of my favourite guys in a YA book! Can't waitfor R&R this year :3

Leigh's on the blog today doing a 'This or That' :D

Leigh Bardugo - This or That

Ebooks or the printed word?
Ebooks for travel, print for everything else. If I love something, I like to own both versions.

Romantic winter night with lightly falling snowflakes or gorgeous summer day at the beach?
Winter night, of course. *belts "The cold never bothered me anywaaaaay..."*

Killer heels or ratty sneakers? 

Badass boots.

Night owl or early riser? 

Night owl. It's rare that I'm asleep before 2 a.m., but I'm trying to stop that. I don't think it's good for me.

White wine or red wine? 

Champagne!

Windows or Mac OS? 

Been a Mac girl since college. There's no going back now.

Chocolate chip cookies or ice cream? 

Cookies. I love ice cream, but I rarely crave it. Gelato is another story.

Greyscale or sepia? 

Sepia for the old timey win.

Milk or dark chocolate? 

Whichever has almonds in it. But if I must choose, milk chocolate.

The city or suburbs? (I hope you have suburbs in the US... Neighbourhoods?) 

I've lived in cities all my life, but I don't think of myself as a city person. I can't stand crowds and I make sure that wherever I live there's quiet and plenty of green.

Bonus: Sturmhond or Darkling? 

(; Very tricky. But I MADE them, so I don't have to choose!

---

How fun were Leigh's answers? "Once you go Mac you can't go back" is the saying - it's true you know guys? I'm a night owl too... can't stand mornings! Thanks so much for that Leigh <3

And tomorrow, for the very last day of my blogoversary celebrations, I have CJ Duggan on the blog! That's it for today.

2012 End of Year Book Survey

I don't regularly book blog but I thought I'd give this a go since I've read so many great books this year and experience so many feels ;_____; I'm still a newcomer to the book blogging community (not really part of it - yet) but maybe I'll be more active in 2013.

This was something started by Jamie aka The Perpetual Page Turner aka @brokeandbookish 3 years ago and bloggers have taken to using her survey :D I'm hopping on the band wagon! Questions are by Jamie, responses by me c: 

Commence reflection of my 2012 reads!

1. Best Book You Read In 2012? (You can break it down by genre if you want)

Deity by Jennifer L. Armentrout and The Gathering Dark by Leigh Bardugo

Contemporary YA: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, Easy by Tammara Webber, My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick, Slammed and Point of Retreat by Colleen Hoover, If I Stay and Where She Went by Gayle Forman (old I know but I only found out about them this year!)
Dystopian YA: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi, Insurgent by Veronica Roth, Under The Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
Paranormal: Onyx and Opal by Jennifer L. Armentrout, Endless by Jessica Shirvington, Losing Lila by Sarah Alderson, My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century by Rachel Harris
Fantasy: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead - don't get me wrong I loved this but it wasn't as great as all the built up hype made it out to be

Rapture by Lauren Kate - this was the best book in the series and the final one but honestly the series was a real let down and I kept expecting it to get better. It did get better by the final book but it just didn't hit that note I wanted to hear.

Breathe by Abbi Glines - I'd heard such good things about Breathe and so many people recommended it to me. But the writing was pretty bad (so many useless, short sentences that were telling rather than showing) and the two main characters were cheesy and lacked depth :c

3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2012?

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi - I always have doubts about dystopians and friends had been bugging me to read this for ages

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman - it sounded a tad weird but it was hella awesome!

My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century - I was worried this was like some Mary-Kate and Ashley book but the reviews were good so I hesitantly bought it and it's been one of my favourite reads this year.

4. Book you recommended to people most in 2012?

Definitely The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.

Also The Iron Fey by Julie Kagawa, Slammed and Point of Retreat by Colleen Hoover, Divergent/Insurgent by Veronica Roth

5. Best series you discovered in 2012?

It's a tie between The Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo and Covenant by Jennifer L. Armentrout.

Also:

Lux by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

Lila by Sarah Alderson

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

6. Favorite new authors you discovered in 2012?

Eep so many:

Leigh Bardugo (The Grisha Trilogy - stunning fantasy world, extremely unique and omg those characters)

Jennifer L. Armentrout (Lux, Covenant, Cursed - how did I only find out about this legend this year?! Everything she writes is AMAZING)

Sarah Alderson (Lila - only just found out about the Lila series this year and it's amazing)

Veronica Roth (Divergent - the world she creates is amazing; I usually don't get sucked into dystopians but I fell right into this one)

Colleen Hoover (Slammed - her debut novel was like she's been writing award winning poetry and prose her whole life)

Veronica Rossi (Under the Never Sky - awesome dystopian world)

Rachel Harris (My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century - I'm a sucker for European history and Rachel painted it in a beautiful and accurate way)

Tammara Webber (Easy) - woah just WOAH. I want me some more Lucas!

7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?

My friends and I all know I don't like dystopians/sci-fi - the amount I've picked up and tried to read but put down is quite large: Delirium, Across the Universe, Uglies, Inside Out, The Immortal Rules (I'll hopefully get back into this because I do love Julie's writing).

So when I was recommended Divergent I was EXTREMELY hesitant to read it. I actually put it off for a good 2 months. Then I bought a cheap $5 copy at Basement Books. Then I finished it in 1 sitting in a matter of hours and had to get Insurgent the next day. Divergent definitely made me like dystopians again.

Tahereh Mafi's Shatter Me was also really good too!

8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2012?

Hunting Lila by Sarah Alderson (and the sequel Losing Lila) - holy crap this was so action packed it was like Heroes without the fillers. Loved every moment of it!

Also Deity by Jennifer L. Armentrout. The things this book did to me. I laughed, cried, screamed and nearly chucked things through my laptop.

9. Book You Read In 2012 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year:

Deity by Jennifer L. Armentrout and The Gathering Dark by Leigh Bardugo.

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2012?




Pure by Jennifer L. Armentrout! My favourite colour is blue (I'm biased I know) and the rose just fit so perfectly with the story. It was also so simple yet so elegant - none of those girls-in-dresses or girls-and-half-naked-guys-with-wings-in-the-air covers.

That being said, my favourite Girls in Dresses cover would have to be none other than Kiera Cass's The Selection.




11. Most memorable character in 2012? 

Hands down the Darkling in Leigh Bardugo's The Gathering Dark (The Grisha Trilogy).

She's created a dark, seductive, troubled, damaged, sexy, hot, handsome, eloquent, I-know-there's-more-to-you-deep-inside-than-the-scheming-evil-villain-you're-made-out-to-be secondary love interest for the love triangle <3

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2012?

It's a tie (again) between:

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins - my favourite line “French name, English accent, American school. Anna confused.” The voice Stephanie created for Anna is beautiful, realistic, relatable, paranoid and so like me it was stunning. The way this was written was UGH love.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green - need I explain myself? Anybody who's read this book (any of John Green's books really but ESPECIALLY TFiOS) will vouch for this. Your argument is invalid.

Where She Went by Gayle Forman - Adam's voice and the lyrics used are amazing. The raw emotion conveyed is heartbreaking and bone chilling - utterly captivating.

Slammed by Colleen Hoover - the use of poetry to tell people's back stories and explain their feelings is an amazing technique Colleen used in this book and I just kgd;fkjsdhfsdfsd -squirms excitedly in chair- LOVE

My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century by Rachel Harris - Rachel's descriptions are so beautiful, her imagery so detailed ; the words she chose were so vibrant and rich I was catapulted back into the 16th Century with Cat.

My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick - witty, funny and just plain adorbs I loved the writing style of MLND.

13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2012?

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green - having had an immediate family member battle cancer, this book basically hit close to home. Poignant, heart-wrenching, raw, this book had the honour of breaking my heart.

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2012 to finally read?

Divergent by Veronica Roth. Fk me dead lol I'm always inwardly bashing myself whenever I think of how much I missed by not reading this earlier.

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2012?

"That's the funny thing about trying to escape. You never really can. Maybe temporarily, but not completely." - Jennifer L. Armentrout, Onyx

"You don't get to choose if you get hurt in this world... but you do have some say in who hurts you. I like my choices." - John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

"The problem with wanting is that it makes us weak." - Leigh Bardugo, The Gathering Dark

"Love is not the absence of logic

but logic examined and recalculated

heated and curved to fit

inside the contours of the heart" - Tammara Webber, Easy

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2012?

Longest — Hallowed by Cynthia Hand or Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff I think? Endless by Jessica Shirvington looks long (it's the same size as Hallowed and Stormdancer) but I don't think it is...

Shortest — I'm assuming e-novellas and POVs don't count *cackles* so... Everything Left Unsaid by Jessica Davidson and Breathe by Abbi Glines - I'm not sure which is shorer

17. Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It? (a WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. etc.) Be careful of spoilers!

The ending of Endless OMFG THAT ENDING. I NEED BOOK 5 DAMMIT.

When Clara finds out about her father in Hallowed I choked.

18. Favorite Relationship From A Book You Read In 2012 (be it romantic, friendship, etc).

THIS IS SO HARD ERMAGHERD.

Alex/Aiden in Deity are so amazing but but Tris/Four in Divergent AND AND Lila/Alex in Hunting/Losing Lila...

My favourite friendship would be Grace and Tim's from My Life Next Door!

19. Favorite Book You Read in 2012 From An Author You Read Previously

Everything I read this year was either a debut author or an author I'd just discovered *sighs*

So I'm going to cheat and say Endless by Jessica Shirvington coz that's book 4 in The Violet Eden Chapters LOL.

20. Best Book You Read That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else:

THIS IS LIKE 1/2 OF MY 5 STAR RATED BOOKS ON GOODREADS O_O

Divergent by Veronica Roth :3