#i still can't believe how many notes that spur-of-the-moment reaction post has at this point lmao

[folatefangirl]

Thoughts on the Six of Crows-verse after finishing the duology:

(SPOILERS for Six of Crows, Crooked Kingdom, and a teensy thing from Wonder Woman if you haven’t seen the movie already)

- I'd like to thank Bardugo for giving me more gray hairs than I had two weeks ago. These chaotic kids stressed me out so much. - Bardugo wrote both great characterization and wonderfully twisty and puzzle-filled plots where she seemed to purposefully write herself into a corner and then wrote herself out of it again and again and again. As a writer who frequently traps herself in plotting corners, I would kill to see all her notes and drafts as she figured things out. - In retrospect, I can understand why the beginning of Six of Crows would be a major source of anxiety for anyone familiar with the Grishaverse. Jurda parem is scary shit. - The inclusion of chemistry made me very happy, though it did stray into the "deu ex machina" territory a few times and made this chemistry nerd give it the side-eye. (Because how do you do organic chemistry with such great yields and consistent effects with limited materials and instruments? Wylan must be a wunderkind or something because I studied for a year in an orgo lab and my percent yields were shit. I learned about TNT, but the most dangerous things I handled were small amounts of organometallics and hydrogen gas, so maybe in Kerch they're more cavelier about what students use?) - So would a modern version of Ketterdam also have a signficant cannabis market, given that jurda is already sold? Just asking for a friend. (I've thought much too long about how the Dregs would behave on sativa. My pharma/drug curiousity is leaking.) - The Kerch's constant obsession with work and money and markets made me laugh because they are so utterly ridiculous and also wince because I know people who behave just like them. - Matthias is the Icelandic Jon Snow to Nina's Ravka Ygritte and no one can convince me otherwise. - When Helnik actually moved on from significant glances and flashbacks to actual smooching I said out loud, "Fucking finally!" Because as much as I love them, their UST was driving me up the wall. "Lovestruck teenagers" indeed. - The little bits of physical affection Nina and Inej gave each other made me so happy. - Kaz is such an Extra Romantic™. He just can't help himself. - I was actually shocked by the Djel tree scene. I knew it would play some role in the story, but I didn't think they'd actually dare. Then again, Kaz is a faithless Chaotic Neutral so he probably didn't give two shits about some ice god cursing him for the rest of his days. - THE TANK. THE TANK. Man, if I thought the tank scenes in Wonder Woman had me wooed, then this scene had me over the moon. I was so gleeful when they trained the big gun on everything. - Bless Bardugo for not avoiding the effects of withdrawal and addiction. - The Crimson Cutlass scene was so brilliant and well-paced that I just want to read it again and again. Also: Romantic geranium flower petal shower. - I kinda ship Bajan and Alys. Just a little bit. - Llewllyn. Llewllyn. I love it. - Everything about Colm is so wholesome and lovely and he's such a great father. - Sure, everyone else might have found the necromancy subplot creepy, but I adored every word of it. The net rescue was my favorite part, followed by the fake plague.  - The Wesper development was so cute. And that they were willing to communicate and resolve their problems and everything? Be still, my heart. Since when does a YA novel avoid the stupid "let's have a misunderstanding that lasts three books" trope? - Kuwei, suprisingly capable of being a little shit. (Then again, if I was 15, had a massive crush on someone to the point of drawing doodles of them in my notebooks complete with little hearts and everything, and was also certain that I would die in the next few days, then I can see the amygdala-fueled logic in making a move involving a bit of trickery.) - The Council of Tides finally appeared after being a small bit of worldbuilding mentioned in the first book and I have to appreciate Bardugo's efforts to make every bit of her worldbuilding useful, including the return of the plague. - Specht and Rotty deserve huge raises and a nice vacation somewhere that's warm, sunny, and assassin-free. They're such underappreciated MVPs. - The stuffed crow made me grin because apparently I have 0 issues with my favorite characters threatening someone with "I know where your children sleep." - The bandages and handholding made me so proud of Kanej. Look at how much progress these bloodthirsty kids have made! - Kaz mentioned my favorite bit of crow trivia and I’m so happy everyone else who finished this series got to hear about it, too. - The ending was very bittersweet, but at the same time, it was like some part of Matthias's story had come full circle. Plus, I didn't expect an ending to a duology filled with chaotic capers to wrap up without a loss or two, romantic arcs be damned. (GRRM would have killed off 50% and then some.)

Would I recommend this series to someone else? 100% YES. This was so much fun to read and I can’t wait to read it all over again.