Six of Crows

Hi, my name is Lalie. My name is Malia, and welcome to our first episode of Deranged Bookworms, where we delve into both popular and underrated books and show you why you should read them.

This week, we’re diving into Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. Now, for those unfamiliar, this book is actually part of a spin-off series set in the world of the original fantasy trilogy called Shadow and Bone.

Our story is set in the bustling city known as Ketterdam. We are introduced to a group of six outcasts, each with their own unique skills and backgrounds: a gambler, a convict, a wayward son, a lost Grisha, a suli girl who had become a killer, and a boy from the Barrel who had become something worse.

They embark on a daring heist that could set them up for life and make all their problems disappear. But the stakes are high, and breaking into a military-grade ice fortress lands them in the crosshairs of dangerous enemies. Complex characters, intrigue, action, high stakes — this book brings you an unforgettable tale. As our characters would say, no mourners, no funerals. Among them, it passed for good luck.

So, to establish our world building — there is a magic system called the Grishaverse. The magic system consists of three orders of Grisha: the Corporalki, the Etherealki, and the Materialki. The Corporalki are the order of the living and the dead, who can manipulate the human body. The Etherealki are summoners who can manipulate natural elements. And the Materialki, also called Fabrikators, can manipulate materials like steel, glass, and chemicals.

Additionally, in Leigh Bardugo’s world, there are many magical terms and geographical locations inspired by actual languages. For example, Grisha is inspired by Russian, and Kerch is inspired by Dutch.

Ketterdam is where our story takes place. It is the trade capital of Kerch, full of debauchery, gambling halls, and corruption. Our characters are from what is called the Barrel of Ketterdam. In the Barrel, there are gangs that control clubs, gambling halls, and other establishments. Kaz is one of our main characters, and he runs the Crow Club, home of the Dregs.

Now, let’s introduce you to the Crows, our main characters. First, we have Kaz Brekker. He’s a cunning and ruthless mastermind with a complex backstory. Inej Ghafa is also known as the Wraith. She’s a silent killer who works for Kaz — she has the ability to slip in and out of anywhere unseen and unheard. Jesper Fahey has a bit of a gambling addiction, but he’s always open to crack a good joke. Nina Zenik is a Grisha Heartrender who can rip your heart out — she comes from the Ravkan army and she is really outspoken. Matthias Helvar is a Fjerdan, believing in burning Grisha — he was raised in a military environment and is strongly against everything Nina stands for. And finally, we have Wylan Van Eck. He’s the chemist of the group, skilled in engineering and bomb-making — and he would absolutely never hurt a fly. This makes for interesting dynamics.

Now let’s dive a little bit into the writing style. The writing is very atmospheric in its description of both Ketterdam and the heist that our characters embark on. Action and suspense are littered across its pages, and some fans have even described Bardugo’s writing style as cinematic.

Since this is a very character-driven book, we should talk about the character dynamics, because they play such a big role in how the story plays out.

First, we want to talk about Kaz and Inej, who I feel like are some fan favorites among a lot of people who read the book and watch the show.

Definitely my favorite.

Yeah. So they have a really interesting dynamic, because Kaz technically owns her indenture — she does a lot of tasks for the Dregs and she’s technically part of their community as well. She’s his asset. And I’ve actually seen TikToks where people say, “girls don’t want flowers, they want Kaz to call them an investment.” It’s everywhere.

It is. It’s so crazy.

So Kaz kind of uses this indenture as a way of keeping their relationship strictly professional and very distant. But if you look at the book, in the chapters that are his POV, you’ll see that he mentions Inej more than any one of the other Crows. He mentions her more than the heist he’s going to do. It really points to their relationship. And for someone who’s so focused on getting revenge — that’s his whole thing — he’s completely oblivious to whoever is around him, all the people supporting him: not just Inej, but Jesper, Wylan, and Nina.

Yeah, they’re all in his corner, technically, even though this is kind of a band of misfits coming together.

Let’s talk about Nina and Matthias.

Matthias has the best character development, by far.

Yeah! Matthias has by far the most interesting character development. He goes from hating women and believing that they’re good for nothing and that they shouldn’t fight, to — with the help of Nina, of course — believing that women are queens and they fight better than men.

And I love how, underneath this, there’s the whole “waffles” thing, which is a reference to a conversation Nina and Matthias have — like the first real conversation they’ve actually had trying to get to know each other. It goes really well, and they find some common ground pretty quickly despite arguing with each other in every other situation up until that point. It’s become a running joke now — waffles. On the show, we see Nina and Kaz pretending to be a couple, and Nina goes up to him and says, “Hey, waffles.” So it’s become a running joke for the entire group.

I really want to talk about Jesper and Wylan.

He’s the best character.

Jesper is the best character, come on.

Okay, fine — but I’ll mention that later. I feel like we want to talk about Jesper and Wylan’s dynamic, which is honestly kind of adorable. They start out with a similar situation to Nina and Matthias, where they have this budding relationship where they kind of hate each other a little bit, even though they probably work together the most. Then we see Jesper move on from that strange dynamic to having this protectiveness over Wylan, and it creates some really good banter.

There’s so much good banter in this book.

Oh my god, so good. And I feel like Wylan is kind of the innocent one of the entire group. He’s kind of this outsider who comes in — he’s the only one who’s not technically in the Crows, but he still works in the Barrel where all this takes place. So it’s interesting to see him integrate himself into the group and get to know everybody. Jesper acts as a mentor for him in this criminal world, which is also really interesting to see.

Now we really need to talk about the show, because it was a major catalyst for reaching a wider audience and having so many more people read the book than when it was initially released.

So, what were your thoughts on the casting?

The casting was so good — everyone was exactly how I imagined them. From Amita Suman, who played Inej Ghafa, to Freddy Carter, who played Kaz Brekker, to Danielle Galligan, who plays Nina Zenik — they’re all straight out of the book.

And can we talk about how Kit Young, in this casting, was actually the best casting by far? I love him in this role so much. He has this goofy energy that just amplifies Jesper’s interactions with the other characters because of his ability to bring the character to life. It’s amazing to watch.

When I think of Wylan, I literally thought of Jack Wolfe. I didn’t even know him as an actor before this, but honestly, the casting — I don’t know who did the casting, but they need a raise. They nailed it, they’re so good. Jack Wolfe nails those innocent characters so well, and it’s really cute — it’s amazing just to watch Jesper and Wylan’s relationship grow in the series, after reading it in the book. It’s so heartwarming to see all over again.

Speaking of the series, we should probably talk about Cook Milo.

Oh my god, not Cook Milo.

So Milo is a character — well, not really a character, he was an addition in the series. He wasn’t in the book. He’s a goat, and he was a fan favorite. Milo is there to comfort Jesper when he’s very nervous about some changes in his life and with the Crows’ environment. And initially we think the goat is going to be used for a different reason — like to be lured as prey in a certain scenario that happens in the book. Spoilers.

So Milo quickly became a fan favorite from the show, and it influenced all of social media — everyone was loving Milo. Some people started tagging him “Cook Milo,” meaning cook the goat. There was this really funny interview with the whole cast, including Kit Young, where he reacts to the hashtag and says, “Cook Milo? No, why would we cook the goat?” And I completely agree — I love Milo, he’s superior out of all the animals. Literally an icon.

Iconic. And just to close this out — there are so many good characters, both in the series and in the book. So what would you say is your favorite character?

Well, I honestly really love Nina Zenik. But — just to give some context — this duology is part of a larger universe called the Grishaverse. My favorite character out of the Crows would definitely be Nina. She’s so outspoken and loud and strong, and she doesn’t care what anyone else thinks — she’s going to stick to her opinion no matter what.

Honestly, I’ve never thought about this question — it’s so hard to pick just one when they’re all so amazing. But I think out of all of them, I would have to go with Inej. I empathize with her so much in the show. Amita Suman does such an amazing job of portraying Inej’s talent for being this mysterious figure who flits between the shadows, but also isn’t afraid of showing her emotional side and how she reacts to all the changes that happen to the group. I think we got to see a side of Inej we didn’t get so much in the book — it’s so different, translating from book to TV show. There are so many different ways you can express emotions through television, so that was really interesting to see.

It’s also a very thick book — like 530-ish pages.

Yeah, it’s a ride, but it’s a really amazing journey. It’s complex, there are so many different characters, and the world-building is incredible. But it’s a journey, and if you want to take it, we really recommend it.

Unfortunately, the show got cancelled. We will never get to see the Crows on television again, unless someone else picks up the book — which I’m really hoping they do. But I really want it to be the original casting.

It got cancelled. I am so upset. I was so excited, and when I saw the news that it wasn’t being renewed for a third season, I was devastated. I was sad about it for days.

I mean, the thing is, they got such a positive reaction after the first season that they immediately renewed it for a second season, but I guess the hype died down after a while — which doesn’t make sense to us, because it’s such an amazing series, and the books are also incredible. So definitely go check them out.

Definitely do.

In case you want to read the book, we just want to say — read the book!

This has been fun.

Real fun.

Goodbye. Bye!