Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo Book Review
“I’m going to pay someone to burn my kruge for me.”
Kaz fell into step beside him. “Why don’t you pay someone else to pay someone to burn your kruge for you? That’s what the big players do.”
“You know what the really big bosses do? They pay someone to pay someone to. . . .”
(pg. 218)
About
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Series: The Six of Crows Duology book one
Universe: Grishaverse
Click to read other book reviews
Other Leigh Bardguo Book Reviews
Crooked Kingdom Pt. 1 and Crooked Kingdom Pt.2
Synopsis
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.
Review
Spoilers Contained Below
To my Crows gang,
Brekker my heart why don’t you 😆.
I will be completely honest, I was probably sixteen when I first tried to read Six of Crows because I heard nothing but amazing things. At that point, I hadn’t read the Shadow and Bone trilogy, so gosh knows I had no idea what was going on in Six of Crows. So, goodness knows I wasn’t a huge fan of it. Then years later, I heard Netflix was combining Shadow and Bone with Six of Crows as a TV show, so then I had an excuse to tell myself to read the Shadow and Bone series and to reread Six of Crows. So, there I was two years ago, and I read through Shadow and Bone and liked it. I really did. Then I tried to reread Six of Crows and could not for the life of me get into the book.
And then I finally reread it this year because I wanted to fully understand what my sixteen year old self did not. Because my sixteen year old self did read Six of Crows, but she had no clue to the specifics. I mean, I knew Kaz, Inej, Jesper, Matthias, and Nina, I just didn’t know the specifics. And gosh knows the present day me was not going to watch Shadow and Bone on Netflix unless I understood the Six of Crows portion because I go all in or nothing 😆. So, here I am a week after I read Six of Crows after one full read through at sixteen and two reread attempts later, and I can FULLY say, I am OBSESSED 👌🏼. Like full on OBSESSED. I have no idea how my sixteen year old self did not enjoy Six of Crows because my gosh was reading this book such a wild ride of fun, laughter, drama, and trauma. And I loved every second of it ♥️. I haven’t been this obsessed with a series, excuse me, duology, since The Mortal Instruments first came out and the show aired. Obsessed. So good.
But the long backstory was just to preface and say that you may not like a book when you first read it. You might think everything sounds weird or jumbled or boring. But if you come back to read that book years later, it can mean something completely different to you. And it’s crazy how you feel like a changed person but the story has always been the same, but it’s the context and education of your life that influences how you perceive the story. Honestly, at sixteen I was going through a very difficult experience in my life and I think that’s part of why I didn’t enjoy Six of Crows. But now, I am in a much healthier space. So, I loved the book. So, I just wanted to remind you that it’s okay not to be obsessed with a story everyone loves at the time. Maybe you will find a love for it later on, maybe not. That’s okay too.
But I sure am a HUGE Leigh Bardugo fan now.
I want to write this review in the spirit of how the story was written: by characters. I have sooooo much to say about each character. So, I am going to start with my favorite character because I feel like if I don’t then the rest might not make sense. Then I’ll get more into the plot after each character, but gosh, did I LOVE the cast of characters we had. I honestly admired the diversity as well! 👏🏼 Thank you Leigh Bardugo for making people feel seen.
Anyway, let’s start with my whole heart, my traumatic little glove-wearing-cane-wielding sunshine: Kaz Brekker.
🖤 Kaz Brekker 🖤
Where do I even start!? 😆
If it isn’t obvious I LOVE Kaz ♥️. You know, authors really be out here trying to expose my love for traumatic and somewhat toxic men 🤪. Love that for me.
But in all honestly I love how suave, slick, sly, and sinister Kaz Brekker is. He can Brek my heart any day 😂.
Gosh, that’s enough of my jokes (for now). But he was just soooo cool. Like I don’t know, like to me, not many characters have ever just felt so cool! Every scene with Kaz, I was like, “Wow, he’s so cool!”
I just couldn’t believe that he was seventeen, and that he endured as much as he did to be where he was now. I give the dude props because he created this whole persona and reputation at seventeen. That’s CRAZY COOL. I mean, the boy was called Dirtyhands and everybody feared him. That’s not an easy reputation to build or have. I just wondered why Kaz came to be.
So, reading his backstory was honestly sooo fascinating and truly heartbreaking. It just made me understand why Kaz was the person he was. And gosh, he deserved sooo much more.
Kaz wasn’t always Dirtyhands. He was a normal boy who had an older brother, Jordie, and they lived on a farm with their dad/Da. I am still curious as to if the dad’s passing had been an accident or intended. I wondered who Kaz and Jordie’s mom was and didn’t they have relatives they could have stayed with? The parental portion was something I wanted to know more about. After their Da passed away, Jordie and Kaz traveled to Ketterdam when they were young and I think Kaz was ten or twelve at the time. Jordie tried to work odds and ends with various jobs while Kaz went to school and stayed stuck at home for his own protection. I give so much credit to Jordie because he was basically a kid himself, looking after his brother. That had to be rough. It wasn’t fair that Kaz and Jordie were taken advantage of because they were in a desperate situation and they were kids. They met this random dude named Mister Hertzoon who could give them a job. Mister Hertzoon invited Kaz and Jordie over to his house with his wife and daughter, and everything seemed homely and nice. Kaz and Jordie trusted them. I mean, if I were them, I would have too. They seemed like good, normal people. Kaz and Jordie had stable money until they were tricked to spend it. Mister Hetzertoon talked about monopolizing the jurda trade, and I felt like they were kind of cocky with their money. Again, I don’t blame them—they were just kids and they were desperate for stability.
This man took advantage of them and knew that. He took their money and was gone in a snap.
“He lay in bed and tried to pray, but all he could think about was the magicians’ coin: there and then gone.”
(pg. 212)
Because Kaz was home the majority of the time, he took an interest in magic—learning card tricks and disappearing acts. Magic was how Kaz saw the world—-trickery was how he came to live it.
But what stood out to me from this backstory was how this was the last time I think Kaz prayed. Because throughout the story he constantly tells Inej to not pray for him to her Suli gods or any gods or that he doesn’t believe in fate. I believe Kaz’s disbelief comes from being conned at a young age—fulling trusting in the good of people and the good of fate that things would be okay for him and Jordie. But in the end they weren’t. So Kaz stopped believing and praying because I felt like he thought that fate was out to get him or that if fate or a higher power really looked out for him, it wouldn’t have left Kaz and Jodie with no money and hope. My heart broke for both of them.
But it also made a lot of sense to why Kaz didn’t trust people. Kaz’s story also made sense to why he was a thief of a con artist. He only does what he does because he never wants to be taken advantage of again—-he never wants to be taken off guard or to be tricked. So, he keeps information on people, he built this reputation so no one would ever look at Kaz and think him weak. It was why he took on a different last name.
Kaz Rietveld no more. That Kaz suffered, and was in his mind, weak.
Kaz did not want to be weak. He wanted vengeance and justice for Jordie.
Because after Mister Hetzertoon left, Jordie and Kaz had basically nothing. They had no money, job, or education. They had to move to a harsher part of town, which explained how Kaz ended up in the Barrel. But gosh, there was a pandemic that swept Ketterdam that left many sick. And part of the population that fell ill was Kaz and Jordie. Jordie has it the worst. My heart literally kept plummeting for Kaz 😢.
I couldn’t believe the people who took Jordie and Kaz straight from the streets and put them in the Reaper’s Barge to burn! Like, hello!? CHECK FOR A PULSE! KAZ WAS ALIVE. But they put him and Jordie in this creepy river of bodies. In my mind, I imagined that river scene from Hercules (the Disney animated one)—the part where he tries to get Meg’s body. Gosh, no wonder Kaz was traumatized! My baby! The fact he had to literally scream out that he was alive broke my heart 🥺. No, but the part that really made me sad was how Jordie didn’t survive because of the Queen’s Lady Plague and how Kaz had to use Jordie’s body as a raft to get to safety. Someone get Kaz some therapy! No one should have to ever experience what he did. No wonder he’s so tense and on guard. Gosh.
“He’d heard there were sharks in these waters, but he knew they wouldn’t touch him. He was a monster now, too.”
(pg. 276)
Part of Kaz died in that river with his brother—-the majority of his kindness and innocence was gone. I mean, how could it not be? He literally swam his way to life. He was angry, he was shivering, he was disgusted, he was cold, he was grieving. He was hurt.
And he felt like none of this—Jordie getting sick and them being in there Reaper’s Barge—would have happened if they were not conned. Kaz wanted to live to pay back whoever did this to them—made them suffer. And that was where I felt everything shifted for Kaz. He had a purpose, but it was in anger. Because in truth, everything Kaz is doing up to the heist has been in anger and hurt. As much as I love him, I feel like he needs to let go of that anger and hurt and heal because that is what Jordie might have wanted. He wouldn’t have wanted Kaz to walk around never loving or allowing himself to love because he’s so consumed by his hurt. I mean, I could be wrong, I didn’t know Jordie. But gosh, I just wanted Kaz to be happy. He deserved that.
Heck, though, I liked slick, cool Kaz. So, you know if his anger and hurt made him the cool guy he is, then so be it 🤪. But you know, the rational part of my brain does believe he should let go and let love in. But Six of Crows said throw my rationality out the window!
I am here for the DRAMA AND TRAUMA.
So, that is why Kaz wears gloves—he doesn’t like the feeling of flesh on flesh because of his experience of too much flesh on his hands when he was swimming for his life. Gosh, I would be creeped out as well. The gloves were also a wonderful fashion statement that added to his slickness. I loved it. And it added to his reputation. I liked that about Kaz. He was an enigma, but he let people wonder about him. I thought that was cool because no matter what people thought about him, he didn’t care, and some of people’s assumptions were partially true. But Kaz knew the truth and he just let people believe what they wanted to because people truly will just believe what they want. But it made Kaz untouchable and cool. What they didn’t know, though, was how human he was deep down. A human who was done wrong and who was hurt. I felt like if Kaz just opened up about his hurt—-where is the Ketterdam psychologist 🤪—I think he would be an entirely different person.
“When he was fourteen, Kaz had put together a crew to rob the bank that helped Hertzoon prey on him and Jordie. His crew got away with fifty thousand Kruge, but he’d broken his leg dropping down from a roof top. The bone didn’t set right, and he’d limped ever after. So he’d found himself a Fabrikator and had his cane made. It became a declaration. There was no part of him that was not broken, that had not healed wrong, and there was no part of him that was stronger for having been broken. The cane became a part of the myth he built. No one knew where he came from. He’d become Kaz Brekker, cripple and confidence man, bastard of the Barrel.”
(pg. 401)
I LOVED how the cane symbolized how he was not broken, but strong—that he may seem like a broken man with a broken past, but he was stronger because of all he endured. There is so much strength to be had in thinking of your battles as bricks to build up who you are. There’s this quote I heard a while ago about how things do not get easier, but you just become stronger. Life isn’t easy and life wasn’t easy for Kaz, but he was stronger because of it and he would be even more so. The cane was also a meaningful style move, if you ask me. I mean, this guy was cool, slick, sly, sinister, savage, suave, and STYLISH! I need to dress as cool as Kaz Brekker! 😆
When Kaz was on his own when he was young, boy was he SAVAGE! 😆 This kid literally had no mercy and I don’t blame him. I found it sadly funny. I mean, he really took some random guys pants and ate his candy 😅. I’m sorry, Kaz, why do you need a boy’s pants. OOOH, don’t get me started with how Kaz needed a job, so he literally beat the daylights out of the boy who had the job so he could get a job. WHAT THE FREAK!! SAVAGE. I liked learning why Kaz was starting to be known as Dirtyhands—it was because he fought sloppily, but he was a ruthless, dirty fighter. I mean, Kaz had to do what he had to do to survive at like what, age fourteen. Gosh! He didn’t know better. He lost everything. But Kaz Rietveld was definitely gone because that did not feel like him anymore.
But gosh, when Kaz found Mister Hetzertoon, I was like, it’s over! Kaz is going to whoop your butt! But Kaz couldn’t. What Kaz could do was burn in anger from afar and plot the day he could take down Mister Hetzertoon, or his real name Pekka Rollins. From the minute Pekka’s name was mentioned, I was like, Kaz has an obvious axe to grind with the dude. After Mister Hetzertoon vanished, I was like, “Oh, I bet his real name is Pekka Rollins and that’s why Kaz hates his stinking guts.” It was. But I give Kaz credit for not wanting vengeance in the moment. He wanted to take PEKKA DOWN in a slow burn—-a slow, tantalizing defeat. He wanted to enjoy bringing him DOWN! I can’t wait.
“If Kaz intended to do the same to Rollins, he would need to become his equal and then his better, and he couldn’t do it alone. He needed a gang, and not just any gang, but one that needed him.”
(pg. 316)
So, Kaz joined the dregs because he wanted an army to help him take down Pekka. He knew he could not do it alone. Who said trauma doesn’t build a team? Who said trauma doesn’t build purpose? Kaz certainly had one 🤪.
LOVED that for him.
Speaking of love, Kaz, again, does not let love in. I’m talking about KANEJ! I AM A STAN ♥️!
But I feel like it is hard for Kaz to be vulnerable and open about love/his feelings because he had lost so many people he loved. So I think he feels like if he loves someone, it will only hurt him in the end to lose them too soon. To protect his heart, he doesn’t let anyone in because it is easier. But I know Kaz loves Inej. I just LOVED the way Leigh Bardugo built this whole relationship between Kaz and Inej without any explicit words or romantic actions because their subtle actions and words spoke volumes. I think that is beyond beautiful because love can be written in hundreds and thousands of pages, but Leigh Bardugo crafted such an intense and sweet love within just a few words. That takes talent and Leigh Bardugo has a way with words. She utterly gripped my heart with Kanej.
I absolutely loved the way Kaz came to notice when Inej was around and if she wasn’t he was on edge and felt off. Inej has such a precious and powerful presence in his life. She brought him familiarity and safety when so many people left his life. And I loved that for him because it is not wrong to want people in your life and to want love. Kaz needed to let himself love 🥺. I loved how when Inej was stabbed, Kaz was there to rescue her and how he talked to her the whole time because he didn’t want her to go! And then GOSH, don’t MESS WITH KAZ and his woman because gosh I felt soooo sorry for Oomen because he was going to get Kaz’s wraith (get it, like wrath but, wraith) 😉. Gosh, when Kaz carved out Oomen’s eyeballs because he was sooo pizzed at him for stabbing Inej?! I don’t know why I found that grotesquely cool 🙃. Darn, Kaz Brekker. But he only acts out in anger whenever something bad happened to Inej and that was his way of showing how much he loved her because something felt wrong. There’s this quote I heard recently about how anger is a part of you that acts out because it loves you. So, Kaz’s anger was because he loved Inej and it was easier to be angry, which is usually associated with a masculine emotion, rather than sad.
But I loved how they would always share looks with each other or do things without saying they liked each other. It made my heart giddy when Jesper and Inej walked around the ship after the day she woke up, and Kaz just watched them from afar and his jaw was tense. HE LIKED her. He just couldn’t bring himself to see her hurt because that would hurt him. Two days later he went to see her to ask if she could climb up the incinerator shaft. In Inej’s eyes I could see how insensitive that was because to her it felt like Kaz didn’t care. I mean, to her she felt like 1) he never visited her so she didn’t matter 2) Kaz only cared about her because she was the wraith and could get the job done. But it was so sad because we all knew the reason why Kaz didn’t visit her and why he went to see her days later. I thought it was cute how he thought that talking business with her was his only way to talk to her. I think he uses business as his opening because that’s one of the only things they share. Kaz should have just talked to her and asked her if she was okay. But that’s another thing, Kaz moves on. As someone who had to constantly move and move forward to survive, I understand why. But I also think it’s his way of not stewing in the very real emotions that come with pain—-the processing of his emotions.
“Survive. Survive. Survive. It was the way he’d lived his life, moment to moment, breath to breath, since that terrible morning when he’d woken to find that Jordie was still dead and was still very much alive.”
(pg. 401)
I loved that moment where Inej Brough Kaz out his traumatic memory because the prisoner bodies in the van were crowded, which reminded him of the bodies in the Reaper’s Barge. Inej had a ways of saving him 🥺. I liked how Kaz was concerned for her when she left to go with the Menagerie when their plan was going awry. I LOVED when Inej gave Kaz Brekker his gloves back after finding them in the laundry room. What an intimate moment. OR WHEN INEJ TOUCHED HIS CHEEK AND KAZ TENSED UP. KAZ SHOW SOME FREAKING EMOTION, I was freaking out here for him!!!!
I loved how when Kaz and Inej had to split up from the women and men prison sects, Kaz kept looking back and then when they weren’t together anymore, Kaz felt off. HE LOOOOOVED her! 🤪 I also loved loved loved the moment where Kaz, Matthias and Nina were out of the Ice Court and then Jesper and Inej came barreling down the bridge in a tank and Kaz was grinning like an idiot. He wasn’t grinning because Jesper and Inej were crazy enough to escape on a tank, he was BEAMING because Inej was alive. I BET YOU!
“Saints, Kaz, you actually look happy.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” he snapped. But there was no mistaking it. Kaz Brekker was grinning like an idiot.”
(pg. 418)
I was grinning like an idiot. I just wanted Kaz to be happy.
Which brings me to . . .
🔪 Inej Ghafa 🔪
Freak, Inej is soooo cool! Honestly, Kanej would be one of the coolest couple there ever was. Sorry, Malina 😆.
But I love a powerful woman who knows her freaking worth.
Inej had an interesting backstory as well. I thought it was cool how she grew up with her parents in Ravka, doing circus training by learning tightropes, how to fall, and all these acrobatic tricks. It’s why Inej is so flexible and lethal today. I liked her father because he was the one who trained her and loved her. I would like to know more about Injej’s mom and dad and if she had any siblings. I wonder if Inej’s parents ever went to look for her or if they could have. I wonder if Inej will ever find her parents again and what would they say. Inej misses her parents, I mean, how could she not, she was taken from them when she was very young.
Inej was sleeping in a barn area where her and her dad were working. Instead of going home that day, Inej was taken and shipped to Ketterdam to work as a Suli girl in the Menagerie, a pleasure house. My heart just hurt so much for Inej because she was just a freaking kid when she was captured, caged, and sold like a carton of milk. I felt utterly disgusted. Her story made me think of human and child trafficking and how DISGUSTING, REVOLTING, and SICKENING that is. It rubbed me the wrong way with how everyone paid or bargained for Inej. Inej was a human. I was disgusted.
I continued to hurt for Inej with how Heleen—-the Peacock of the Menagerie—-would beat her and keep her in line. The house should have been called the house of horrors for all the horrible things Inej had to live through. She was pretty darn bold when she told Kaz she could help him. I wondered what she meant by helping him because for all I knew she had nothing to help Kaz with. But I thought it was interesting how Kaz got her a deal to join the Dregs because he was so impressed by how soft-footed she was.
“All right,” she said. “How do we begin?”
“Let’s start by getting out of here and finding you proper clothes. Oh, and Inej,” he said as he led her out of the salon, “don’t ever sneak up on me again.”
(pg. 309)
They had a cute relationship because they both had traumatic experiences and parental hardships. I liked how Kaz saw the best in her and wanted to help her leave such a horrible place like the Menagerie. But I think that’s part of the reason Inej always feels indebted to Kaz or why she feels like a deal rather than a person to him. But if only she knew how Kaz Brekker saw her 😊. Part of me also feels like she likes Kaz because he helped her out of a bad situation and she trusted him from there on out. But over time, I think she also learned to like the subtlety and mysteriousness of Kaz just like everyone else.
I could tell sooooo much that Inej didn’t want to like Kaz because she didn’t think he liked her.
“Many boys will bring you flowers. But someday you’ll meet a boy who will learn your favorite flower, your favorite song, your favorite sweet. And even if he is too poor to give you any of them, it won’t matter because he will have taken the time to know you as no one else does. Only that boy earns your heart.”
(pg. 136)
Kaz better learn her favorite flower, song, and sweet, gosh darn it! 😆 Inej had high standards and I was here for it! Gosh, do not settle, but gosh Inej just loves Kaz 😂. No, but in all honesty, Inej and everyone deserves someone who will know their heart inside and out and who will not be afraid to love you. And I felt like Inej knew she deserved better, but deep down Inej loved Kaz, but she didn’t want to because he didn’t earn her heart the way her father said a boy should.
“Or despite all good sense and better intentions, she’d let herself feel something for the bastard of the Barrel.”
(pg. 303)
I could feel Inej’s conflicted emotions of not wanting to love Kaz, but also loving him. I mean, she and I have the same test in traumatic men 😂. Joking! But there were times she would also give Kaz looks or think of Kaz romantically, but then talk herself out of it because she would say she was just another business deal and so what. Honey, not at all.
Inej deserved a man who could give him her heart. Kaz was that man, but he needed to work on it ASAP because he was quickly losing her.
When Inej climbed that incinerator shaft, she had this epiphany. Honestly, I wanted to scream you go girl because gosh only knows she deserved to stop pining for a boy who hasn’t shown her he loved her in a way she understood. I loved how climbing that shaft made Inej realize her purse. I loved how she was going to start her own crew with a ship and travel the world looking for slavers she was going to bring down! She wanted to bring down pleasure houses and rescue all people so they never had to endure what she went through. I admired that so much!
“The heart is an arrow. It demands to land true.
She was not a lynx or a spider or even a Wraith. She was Inej Ghafa and her future was waiting above.”
(pg. 311)
After the shaft moment, there was a notable shift in Inej. She seemed freer, lighter, and happier because she had purpose and drive for a goal rather than just staying with the Dregs. She was moving on and creating a life for herself without Kaz because she gave him too many chances before and she wasn’t going to wait around. I loved that for her, but didn’t love that for Kanej. I felt Kaz also saw this change in her and saw how serious Inej was about leaving. And that scared the heebie jeebies out of him because he assumed Inej was always going to stay with them. But now he had this fear of her leaving.
I loved the sort of heart-to-heart moment they had on the Feorlind heading back to Ketterdam where Inej wondered what hurt Kaz/took the hope from his heart. Honey, stick with him and I hope to gosh you find out 😂.
But what RIPPED out my heart was when Kaz asked her to stay!!!! 😰 Someone cue Stay With Me by Sam Smith!!! Stay Inej, that is the closest thing Kaz had ever come to with his emotions!!!!! 🎶Why don’t you . . . stay with him! 🎶♥️
When Inej asked how will he have her . . . oh, I was like, gosh Kaz you better come up with some witty remark 😂.
“I will have you without armor, Kaz Brekker. Or will not have you at all.”
Speak, she begged silently. Give me a reason to stay. For all his selfishness and cruelty, Kaz was still the boy who saved her. She wanted to believe he was worth saving, too.
The sails creaked. The clouds parted for the moon then gathered back around her.
Inej left Kaz with the howling and dawn still a long while away.”
(pg. 434)
DARN Kaz!!! He needed to let down his guard because Inej wasn’t going to date a wall 😂. But Inej . . . he is worth saving 🥺.
“She had her aim now, her heart had direction, and though it hurt to know that path led away from him, she could endure it.”
(pg. 334)
Gosh, I cannot with them. They are going to be my ruin and rising.
I swear, if Kanej doesn’t kiss or at least hug or even hold hands in the next book, I will sue (joking) 🤪.
⚔️ Jesper Fahey ⚔️
To ease my Kanej heart and the darkness and excitement of this book, we had Jesper. I freaking loved Jesper too! He made me laugh sooo much, without him this book wouldn’t have been as fun. He really added the humor and humbleness in this story. I love Jesper.
I swear, he’s so funny. I loved his banter with everyone, especially Kaz. They bantered like brothers. They also loved each other like brothers because they may not have said it, but they did.
“Fine. If Pekka Rollins kills us all, I’m going to get Wylan’s ghost to teach my ghost how to play the flute just so that I can annoy the [heck] out of your ghost.”
Brekker’s lips quirked. “I’ll just hire Matthias’ ghost to kick you ghosts’s [butt].”
“My ghost won’t associate with your ghost,” Matthias said primly, and then wondered if the sea air was rotting his brain.”
(pg. 181)
I also liked his banter with Inej and Nina.
“He made himself recess on Inej’s feet. “Saints,” he said.
Inej financed. “That bad?”
“No, you just have really ugly feet.”
(pg. 324)
Jesper and Inej had a brother-sister relationship that was more caring. I loved how Jesper was on edge and nervous after Inej got wounded, so much he couldn’t sleep or stop moving around. And when Inej did wake, I loved how he was her crutch and how he walked her around the boat. I loved that heart to heart they had on the boat about Kaz and the journey. I also loved how Jesper was the one to break Inej out of the jail part when she got separated from Nina when trying to enter the White Island. I loved how they kicked some major butt together and how they rode a tank to victory. I loved their relationship because they may not have had a notable family, but they were there for each other—-they were survivors.
We can’t talk about Jesper without talking about his lovable banter with Wylan. Super cute. I loved Jesper and Wylan and how Jesper always teased him for being an academic flute boy 😆. I felt like humor was Jesper’s way of coping with a dark situation or his way of showing his love. He LOOOOOVED Wylan. We all know that!
That’s why it was so sweet how Jesper got mad at Wylan for turning into Kuwei. For Jesper’s sake, I hope Wylan turns back to himself ♥️.
Jesper’s backstory was also interesting. He was raised in Novyi Zem with his family on a farm. He was sent to Ketterdam to go to college—-I wonder where this so-called college was 🤪—-instead, Jesper fell into debt with his gambling addiction. Jesper loves the rush and the high of winning it all and losing it all. That’s why he made an excellent Drug. But it also made him somewhat unpredictable because he always wanted to win—-I mean, who doesn’t like the feeling of winning. I think Jesper needed professional help with his addiction and he needed a better outlet for his emotions. I wonder if he will ever go back home to his parents and tell them he was in debt and never went to college. I wonder if his parents were ever going to visit him and see him graduate because gosh were they in for a surprise.
“The world can be cruel to your kind.”
(pg. 351)
I also found it interesting how Jesper was part Grisha—-he was a Fabrikator—-but he hid it all his life. That made my heart hurt 😢. Jesper shouldn’t have felt wrong for being part Grisha to the point he felt the need to hide who he was to make other people accept or love him. I didn’t like how the dad told him to hide. Elsa and Jesper were on the same wavelength—-conceal, don’t feel. But I guess, now they know because Jesper let it go 😂.
I was happy that he was starting to use his powers because I felt like he had them for a reason. He should use them for a good reason. I hope that in the future we see Jesper navigate his powers and accept himself for who he is.
🧇 Nina Zenik 🧇
Our bold, brazen QUEEN. I love Nina with a burning passion. She is such a confident and snarky woman and I loved that.
“Okay, okay. When we’re back in Ketterdam, take me out for waffles.”
Now Inej did laugh. She dropped her hands and appeared to speculate. “Dessert for a life? I’m not sure that seems equitable.”
“I expect really good waffles.”
“I know just the place,” said Jesper. “They have this apple syrup—“
“You’re not invited,” Nina said. “Now come help me get her standing.”
(pg. 196)
I honestly don’t remember Nina from Shadow and Bone, but that could be because it has been a while. But I do remember Zoya. I remember I didn’t like her 🤪. But I like Nina. Nina’s backstory was she was now working at the White Rose after everything with Matthias.
Nina and Matthias have a tense, complicated, but fun relationship. Obviously, they loved to hate each other . . . mostly loved each other, but didn’t want to love each other. I just wondered why Matthias’s first reaction to her was to choke her 😅. Did she really do something that terrible to him? She seemed harmless, well besides being a Heartender.
I liked reading their backstory because we got to see how much they liked each other but how that love fell out and was replaced by anger.
Matthias was training to become a Drüskelle for his home country of Fjerda. Drüskelle hunted Grisha on the Fjerda basis that Grisha were unnatural beings and witches that deserved to rot. So, they had people hunt Grisha and usually hang them or kill them because they were scared of Grisha. I felt Fjerda feared Grisha because they had powers they did not understand or they felt were an unfair advantage to normal people. They didn’t know that Grisha were really good people. Yes, there are bad Grisha like everything, but most people were good. I think they needed to stop letting their fear drive their hate.
So, that was how Nina got captured—she was a Grisha. She was on Matthias’ ship with their commanding officer, Jarl Brum. The ship got ruined and sank, but Nina saved Matthias and the ended up way up north in Fjerda. They had to rely on each other to survive—warmth, travel, etc. But Matthias, a loyal Drüskelle, didn’t trust her or like her all that much because he didn’t want to admit that he saw the good in her.
But gosh, did I love how Nina did not make it easy for Matthias 😂. I couldn’t stop laughing when she started taking off her clothes and Matthias got uncomfortable and she was like, I’m not trying to seduce you. I felt his obvious discomfort at having to sleep next to her for warmth. But I loved their banter ♥️.
“Because it’s fun, dummy. You know, ‘fun’? There’s a word for it in Fjerda so you must be familiar with the term.”
“I have plenty of fun.”
“All right, what do you do for fun?”
(pg. 238)
I bet he had no fun 😂. Maybe fishing and brooding.
“Why don’t Fjerdans let girls fight?” She asked him one night as they lain curled beneath a lean-to . . .
“Think how embarrassing it would be for you when you got trounced by a Fjerda girl.”
(pg. 239)
Is it weird that I would love to see Nina beat Matthias up 🤪. She can take him for sure, gosh knows his ego would be ruined. But I loved how confident Nina was and how she really was a woman who couldn’t care less what people thought of her and she lived proudly. I respected that, for sure.
I also liked when Nina got all excited and jumped around saying she was beguiling him 😆. They were so cute. They really had to work up to saying they actually liked each other. Heck, to even introduce themselves to each other. But I thought it was such a sweet moment because it emphasized how they trusted each other now.
They had such a good relationship, so what made it so bad that Matthias wanted to kill her?
Apparently, Nina turned him in as a slaver. I didn’t understand why Nina would do that when it seemed really random and unlike her to do that. She was such a kind person. I felt like if Nina just told him the situation with the Grisha spies being in town that day (pg. 252), it would have made Matthias understand the situation better rather than him thinking Nina just turned on him. I think they could have talked things through better—things would be so different if they just let each other into the situation. Nina and him could have escaped the situation without her protecting him in the way she felt was best.
Nina lived with the guilt of turning him in because she didn’t think turning him in would have turned into how bad it actually was. She didn’t know they would take him to Heckgate prison to rot. No wonder he was mad at her. He didn’t know the reasoning behind the situation. So I didn’t blame him for being angry, but he was pretty hasty when he wrapped his arms around her neck and tried to choke her. He was being irrational.
They eventually learned to get along because they shared a common goal: they wanted to kill Bo Yul-Bayur before the Dregs got to them because that way Bo couldn’t replicate something as vile as jurda parem to harm Grisha, and so Matthias knew that jurda parem wouldn’t be replicated as another scary weapon for Grisha to use. When they both agreed to turn on the Dregs like that, I was like, “They are doing Kaz DIRTY! They are literally doing Dirtyhands dirty! They was gonna get it!” I guess teamwork does bond people together
“What had grown up between them had been something fiercer than affection, an understanding that they were both soldiers, that in another life, they might have been allies instead of enemies She felt that now.”
(pg. 254)
They made a good team when they weren’t trying to kill each other. I honestly loved how Matthias was the only one who wanted to help Nina bury her Grisha friend in Fjerda. Matthias was a good guy, he might have had his dumb angry moments, but I thought he was decent if he honored and respected a fallen Grisha. The fact that Matthias buried the Grisha in Fjerda ice was also very honorable because Fjerdans believe in the power of water and they usually burn Grisha. I was honestly disgusted right alongside Nina when they found the Grisha pikes. I just could not 😢. I understood the Fjerdan’s fears, but they were unwarranted when most Grisha didn’t want to hurt other people. It was rude to assume all Grisha bad just because of a few. I didn’t like that. And I felt Nina’s anger and pain because she knew Grisha were good and it’s hard to change a whole culture that already believed one thing. But she could start with Matthias.
I loved how you could tell Matthias loved her.
“So why do your eyes keep searching the crowd for her?”
“They do not,” Matthias protested. She had to laugh at the ferocity of his scowl. He drew a finger through a pile of crumbs. “Nina is everything you say. It’s too much.”
“Mmm,” Inej murmured, taking a sip from her mug. “Maybe you’re just not enough.”
(pg. 265)
That’s the attitude I like to hear! He wasn’t good enough for her!! Gosh, saying Nina was too much 🙄. He liked her because she was too much—-she was a confident, funny, and strong woman. He wasn’t man enough to appreciate that or admit it.
I ABSOLUTELY FREAKING loved how Nina slayed her role as the horse 😂. She really knows how to work it! She got everyone eating out of her palm . . . or so I thought. Gosh, I was really out here saying that men were soooo predictably weak to a pretty girl because Jarl Brum wasn’t even phased by her. I was like, this was soooo funny 😂. I thought it was kind of weird how he was so open to showing her a Grisha and then showing her this whole line of Grisha. Little did I know, but I’ll get more into that later. But gosh, Nina did wonderful because she had me believing that she had everyone smitten with her. Heck, I am smitten with Nina. What a woman.
Gosh, she was a brave, unabashed woman, which I will get more into later. But I have the utmost respect for my waffle loving queen ♥️.
“When I don’t want to eat, you know there’s a problem.”
(pg. 373)
🧊 Matthias Helvar 🧊
I had a love-hate relationship with Matthias at first. What a name.
He gave me Queen Elsa caveman vibes 😂.
“A Grisha may be capable of kindness, but that does not change her fundamental nature.”
(pg. 381)
I admire his loyalty to his country, but to a fault. I felt like he just grew up always believing one thing about Grisha based on the fear others instilled in him that he never really got a chance to make his own decision about how he felt about Grisha. Because all of Fjerda was pretty much indoctrinated with hating Grisha without really getting to know them. It’s never okay to be presumptuous about a people just because you fear them or do not understand their practices. The same could be said about Grisha to Fjerda. The same can be said with real life too.
I believe Nina and Matthias also worked well because they got to know each other and dissipate fears or presumptions they had about each other. They got to learn from one another. As mentioned above, I loved the banter Matthias and Nina had. On Matthias’s part, I liked how resistant he was to liking Nina because it would feel wrong to like a Grisha. He was trying so hard not to laugh or make her feel like he liked her and that made Nina try harder to get him to smile. But I knew he didn’t think she was a bad person. But, again, it’s difficult not to believe what you were told to.
“It’s just a death sentence, just one little longer in the making. We discovered long ago that the Grisha could prove a useful resource.”
(pg. 381)
Google is a resource, GRISHA? NO.
Fjerdans can suck my toes!
I found it kind of dumb and unsettling how the entire Ice Court and many of places in Fjerda were made by Grisha—most likely Grisha slaves. That’s hypercritical and wrong to capture and kill an innocent race just because you are scared, but at the same time use them to build you up. No. Absolutely not. Couldn’t they see that Grisha were just people? Don’t even get me started on their Grisha prize wall of all the teared clothing. Disgusting ☹️.
I also felt like that didn’t make Fjerdan’s any better than Grisha. Heck, it made them worse for using Grisha, slaving them, and killing them because they were scared of Grisha. It was their way of controlling them.
OOOOOH, BUT DO NOT, DO NOT, get me started on his FREAKING BETRAYAL!!! 😆
I was ready to throw down!! 😂
I literally wrote in my notes, “Get this dummy’s POV out of here!” I was sooooo over him. I called him an idiot and I detested him. I said he could suck my toes in my notes. I could NOT. When Matthias walked up the glass where Nina was trapped because Jarl Brum knew it was her and cornered her into a Grisha cell, I was like, FREAK. No. No. NO! Jarl was like, “There’s someone who would like to press the parem button more than me.”
Absolutely not. How could he?! First, he wanted to betray the Dregs with Nina and then he betrayed her!? You can take the Drüskelle out of Fjerda, but I guess you can’t take the Drüskelle out of the man. I could not. But then, Matthias started to listen to the obvious garbage that was coming out of Jarl’s mouth and realized Fjerdan’s sucked toes!
So, I need to say I did a full 360 on Matthias because I detested him in an instant when he betrayed Nina. But similar to when Nina betrayed him, he was doing it to protect her. What a full circle moment. Matthias saw Jarl Brum (who should have sunk on the boat) but was alive. Jarl was at the party and Matthias knew he was going to recognize Nina because Jarl’s just that kind of person, so Matthias intercepted Jarl before he could do something to Nina, that way Matthias had control of the situation even if he did seem like the villain in that moment. Gosh, knew I painted him the villain the moment I saw him betray Nina. I loved the different POVs truly for that reason—-seeing how other people see each other.
But the moment that changed my mind was when Matthias finally changed his mind about Grisha. He finally saw how Fjerdan’s were no better, and Nina was only a person deep down. A good person.
“Nina had wronged him, but she’d done it to protect her people. She’d hurt him, but she’d attempted everything in her power to make things right. She’d shown him in a thousand ways that she was honorable and strong and generous and very human, maybe more vividly human than anyone he’d ever known. And if she was, then Grisha weren’t inherently evil. They were like anyone else—full of the potential to do great good, but also great harm. To ignore that would make Matthias the monster.”
(pg. 383)
Let’s GO Matthias! I LOVED that for him ♥️. Because he let go of the fear and everything he used to believe because that made him the monster. Matthias’s growth reminded me of nature versus nurture and how people are inherently born in certain ways. But nurture/environment really has a powerful impact on a person in what they believe. Because Matthias’s environment changed within the last few years, he grew as a person to realize the good of Grisha. So there is always great power to put yourself out of what you know or to question your beliefs because they may be wrong. When we explore or experience other cultures or things, is when we truly get to decide what we think or how we perceive them. I liked how Matthias changed for the better. No longer that Elsa caveman, but someone who was letting it go and figuring things out along the way. I loved that.
When Matthias left Jarl Brum in the cell, I couldn’t have been happier for Matthias because it symbolized his growth.
“The life you life, the hate you feel—it’s poison. I can drink it no longer.”
(pg. 385)
We all need to recognize when we live in a toxic environment built on hate, and when we need to leave that environment—to be free. Anger and hate really does take a toll and it burns through you. I was happy Matthias was going to lead his own life now. He had so much more out there waiting for him to learn.
I also loved Nina and Matthias’s moment when Nina was out of her Grisha cell 🥺.
“Jer molle pe oonet. Enel mörd je nej afva trochee verzet.”
Nina swallowed hard. She remembers those words and what they truly meant. I have been made to protect you. Only in death will I be kept from this vow. It was the vow of the drüskelle to Fjerda. And now it was Matthias’ promise to her.”
(pg. 390)
My heart ♥️.
👓 Wylan Van Eck 👓
And last, but certainly not least: Wylan Van Eck.
Wylan, our sweet, nerdy, Wylan who was leverage 😆.
I felt so bad for our sweet Wylan because he fell in with the Dregs. Gosh, I bet he never saw that coming.
Wylan’s a pretty cool dude, too. I give him props for going on this entire heist as best as he could and how he survived and helped. I mean, the dude was new to the whole thieving thing so, kudos! He also held well to the snark he got from everyone, especially Jesper. We know they LOOOOVE each other. I loved how they were in the clock together, working like a team. I loved how Jesper basically baby sat him the whole journey and who Jesper had to get Wylan to the real Feorlind, and Wylan flashed that light thing to blind the incoming crew. Smart thinking Wylan.
Honestly, he was just there for the wild ride. Good for him! If anything, it helped him grow a spine 😂. In all seriousness, this journey made Wylan much more confident and strong in himself.
What made my heart really sad for him was how lowly his dad viewed him. Because Kaz didn’t know the dad–Van Eck—didn’t care for Wylan until Wylan told Kaz. Wylan was kicked out of his rich and pretty mansion and slummed it in the Barrel because the dad felt Wylan was a disgrace and a disappointment because he couldn’t read. SUCK MY TOES VAN ECK! Wylan is such a brilliant person and just because he can’t read doesn’t mean he can’t learn still. The teacher in me says he might have dyslexia and that is why reading may be difficult. Because I am assuming the dad got the best help for Wylan to read, but nothing worked. So, I am thinking it has to be something to do with Wylan’s brain and there’s not shame in that! Absolutely not! I think Wylan just needs more support in learning how to read. Gosh, I hope in the next book, Wylan sticks around and someone teaches him how to read. Maybe Jesper?
Gosh, I hope Wylan gets a POV 😂.
He was the sixth person on this heist and yet he didn’t get a POV. Wylan was done dirty 🤪. I’m joking. But I would have loved to know what sweet little Wylan was thinking. He was probably like, “What the freak have I gotten myself into?”
Speaking of little, I could not believe how Wylan transformed into Kuwei just to confront his dad. I mean, all the power to Wylan for being bold enough to want to know how his dad truly thought of him. Gosh, that must have been hard to hear. But I am sort of happy Wylan knows now because it can close a chapter in his life with his dad. Wylan deserved to be appreciated and loved as who he was and the dad sucked. It made sense he was Kuwei though because I was confused as to why Jesper was like Wylan wasn’t around. I’m so sorry, they were traveling back to Ketterdam, how did they lose him on the boat? Last time I checked, Kaz didn’t through I’m overboard 🤪.
Anyway, I felt Jespers’s pain when Wylan said he wasn’t sure if he would turn back to his own body. Again, I hope so because I need that Jesper and Wylan content 👌🏼♥️.
⚔️🧊🦅 The Heist ⚔️🧊🦅
Now, the heist. I don’t read a lot of heist-y books, actually, this was my first heist book I read when I first read the book. And it’s still my first heist book I’ve read.
I thought Kaz was cool. Gosh, I should just call this post Kaz is cool 😂.
But he has really good leadership qualities and thinking. I liked how he thought of everything in terms of magic and trickery.
I liked how he talked about how people always patted the area they had money in because they were so sure they were protecting where their money was. But in reality, it just showed thieves where you put your money. It’s funny because when I am trying to be inconspicuous about not showing where something important is, I tend to look or touch that area (i.e., pat my purse where the wallet is or whatever), so I guess I learned something new 🤪. Being inconspicuous makes you suspicious!
“Ever heard about the dying man whose medik told him he’d been miraculously cured? He danced into the street and was trampled to death by a horse. You have to let the mark feel like he’s won.”
(pg. 291)
or
“Some people see a magic trick and say, ‘Impossible!’ They clap their hands, turn over their money, and forget about it ten minutes later. Other people ask how it worked. They go home, get into bed, toss and turn, wondering how it was done. It takes them a good night’s sleep to forget all about it. And then there are the ones who stay awake, running through the trick again and again, looking for that skip in perception, the crack in the illusion that will explain how their eyes got duped; they’re the kind who won’t rest until they’ve mastered that little bit of mystery for themselves. I’m that kind.”
(pg. 346)
Kaz pays attention to detail, which makes him a fantastic thief. It also makes him good at crafting plans because he thinks one step ahead of everyone else. Gosh, to walk around in Kaz Brekker’s mind would be a nightmare, but it would be interesting.
Because Kaz played dirty and never got caught, he was hired by Jan Van Eck to break Bo Yul-Bayer out of the Ice Court. Bo created jurda parem, which could make Grisha wield crazy amplified powers that made them even more lethal. However, jurda parem was highly addictive and anyone who took the drug would crave it, and the more the Grisha took parem, the harsher the toll on the Grisha’s wellbeing/state. Van Eck wanted Yul-Bayer so he wouldn’t replicate the drug—-the drug would get out. According to Van Eck, Yul-Bayer wasn’t dead yet, but trapped in the Ice Court and he needed a team to get him and retrieve him for Ketterdam. In return, Van Eck would give Kaz and his grew thirty million kruge—-thirty million kruge that would allow Kaz to break free from Per Heskall and finally take down Pekka Rollins, enough money for Jesper to pay off his debt, for Inej to pay off her investment to the Dregs and start a rouge ship, and enough for Nina and Matthias to go wherever they please. They all had something to gain with that much money.
The thing was I just felt kind of sad with how much they all needed that money in the first place. Most of them didn’t have stable home lives or any home to go back to. They were just kids. That’s sad.
However, they were survivors that beat the odds.
“They’re all survivors, Matthias understood. They adapt.”
(pg. 219)
I got to hand it to Kaz, he knows how to make a heck of a plan. I still kind of don’t understand why they couldn’t have just dressed up as party goers and entered that way, rather than pretending to be prisoners because that seemed like more work. I think it was because they were checking people at the door and they would be recognized? I’m not sure I remember, but gosh, they had a pretty solid plan. I thought it was smart to plan their thing based on the clock. Also liked how they all served a purpose—even, sweet Wylan. Gosh, Wylan 😆.
Kaz literally formed the opposite of the Avengers when forming his heist crew, which I loved ♥️
“If you aren’t born with advantages, you learn to take your chances.”
(pg. 194)
I found it pretty darn cool when the crew was going to the Ferolind, how the real ship was hidden somewhere else. I mean, Kaz was brilliant to think about the possibility of being raided that night. No one could call Kaz Brekker stupid. But he just didn’t expect Inej to be badly wounded, which obviously made Kaz on edge as I mentioned earlier. I think part of him felt at fault for Inej getting hurt because it was his plan. And to him, that felt like another one of responsibilities. I also thought it was interesting how Kaz never told anyone the full plan until they were actually doing the plan or after the plan. It was a smart move because the less people knew, the less they could talk. But at the same time, I could understand how frustrating that must have been to not know what the heck was going on most of the time. I also understood why Jesper and Inej both felt unsettled because it felt like Kaz didn’t trust them, and trust is needed in a team.
I don’t know why it was so funny to me when Kaz and the boys dropped a tree in the way of the prisoner van. I think it was because the guards just stared at the fallen tree in their path like they expected the tree to sprout legs and move 😂. That’s my level of lazy. I was kind of surprised with how off guard Kaz was because he was usually so well-kept and stoic. But it was the situation that triggered him, which I understood. I liked how we see Inej and Kaz have these intimate moments where they learn more about each other without even speaking. I love how intuitive and observant they were with each other. I also liked that it was Inej who was with him when he was feeling triggered because Kaz didn’t take lightly to being seen as weak or vulnerable. I felt like Kaz didn’t like being weak and vulnerable because of where it eventually led to with Jordie and him on the streets.
“Though he’d trusted her with his life countless times, it felt much more frightening to trust her with shame.”
(pg. 278)
Honestly, I wanted to tell Kaz being vulnerable and scared is nothing to be ashamed about. And trusting people is nothing to be ashamed about either. But I get it, as cliché as it sounded, Kaz had trust issues. DUH. 🤪 But he should have just let Inej in because it was obvious he did trust and rely on her. I liked how Inej asked him if he was okay and Kaz felt drawn to her voice. Kaz, we all know you love her, so just be a man and admit it!
“Helvar came up beside him. “Was that really necessary?”
“No.” But it had been—-to make sure they were left alone to do what needed to be done, and to remember that he wasn’t helpless.”
(pg. 285)
One thing I also noticed about Kaz was that whenever he felt nervous or weak, he acted out in anger to showcase his strength. I felt like he needed to do that to remind himself he was strong and no one could get the best of him like before. I also felt it made him feel in control or powerful. I wouldn’t say Kaz Brekker was a bully, but he sure was assertive.
I thought it was kind of hasty and inconsiderate when Kaz deviated from the plan to find Pekka Rollins. I wondered how Kaz even knew Pekka Rollins would be in a cell at the Ice Court? They knew that Pekka was there because of the Grisha that came after them (the one Nina and Matthias buried), but how did Kaz know Pekka was already there? I didn’t know. I wondered why Kaz even sought him out in the first place when there were bigger things they had to accomplish? We didn’t know what happened until the end, but I was curious whY Kaz came back with blood on his shirt. I felt he didn’t kill Pekka because that would be too easy and Kaz doesn’t do too easy. He wanted Pekka to slowly suffer like he did. So, it made sense that Pekka said that Kaz let him go when Kaz found him. But that was because Kaz knew there was a bigger game to be had with him. I just don’t know if I buy the fact that Pekka didn’t know who Kaz was? I mean, if Jarl Brum could still recognize Nina and Matthias after all these years, surely Pekka could recognize Kaz. I also didn’t understand Kaz’s game with Pekka at the end and why he sold the Crow Club and his shares of Fifth Harbor. I didn’t see how that was helping him get back at the man he wanted vengeance on. I think Kaz was playing the game of keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. Who knows with Kaz?
But I thought that Kaz going to Pekka was strange because it now put Kaz on Pekka’s radar. I mean, I guess Pekka knew who Kaz-Dirtyhands was, but at the end I felt like Pekka wanted to do something to Kaz or that he was going to figure out who he was. Was Kaz trying to set things in motion with his revenge? I don’t know.
I am also curious who the freak Pekka Rollins is and what makes him the big bad? I want to know his backstory because I feel like there’s something there that would be interesting. Heck, maybe Pekka had a backstory similar to Kaz’s. That would be interesting, not surprising because trauma likes trauma, but interesting.
I also found it interesting when Kaz tested Matthias’s loyalty. They were battling soldiers in the hallway and Matthias contemplated shooting Kaz, but Kaz was unarmed. I didn’t think Matthias was going to shoot him anyway, he had a heart.
“Do you know the secret to gambling, Helvar?” Kaz brought his good foot down on the butt of the fallen soldier’s rifle. . . “Cheat. Now let’s clean up and get those uniforms on. We have a party to go to.”
“One day you’ll run out of tricks, demjin.”
“You’d better hope it’s not today.”
(pg. 348)
Little did Kaz or Matthias know 😆.
I was surprised at the whole Jarl Brum being alive and Matthias’s WILD betrayal. But I liked how Nina and Matthias didn’t kill Kuwei when they found him. I honestly want to know who got to Bo because what the heck?! They went on this crazy WILD mission, excuse me, job 🤪, and the person they were trying to rescue was not there? Honestly, I was kind of shocked how no one even knew what Bo looked like. I mean, anyone could have known the code word and if they did and they got the wrong person, they would surely be in for a treat. If Kuwei wasn’t there, I swear this job would have been ridiculously pointless. I was scared for Kuwei, but not really because I didn’t think Nina had it in her to kill a kid, nor did I think Matthias.
“One of us. A boy not much younger than she was, caught up in a war he hadn’t chosen for himself. A survivor.”
(pg. 392)
I also liked how he was perceived just like them.
This whole story was built on the survival of survivors.
To escape the Ice Court, Kaz, Nina, Matthias and Kuwei all fell down where the Djel tree spring where they Fjerdan’s worshipped. When Kaz fell down that water spring, it felt like he was drowning because he started to question his life. Gosh, I knew Kaz was going to be okay, but it broke my heart to see him spiraling in all this weaknesses and failed choices. He wasn’t weak, he was just a hurt man trying to survive. He was a hurt man who should have told Inej he loved her! 🤪
“You shouldn’t make creeds with crows,” he’d told her.
“Why not?” She asked.
. . . He said the first thing that popped into his head. “They don’t have any manners.”
“Neither do you, Kaz.” She’d laughed, and if he could have bottled the sound and gotten drunk on it every night, he would have. It terrified him.”
(pg. 402)
I would be friends with Crows, they are FREAKING COOL!! ♥️ Who needs manners 😂?
But in their own way, I felt this was how they filtered because Inej just told him he didn’t have manners, but yet she was “friends” with him. Kaz was the crow.
I could NOT when Kaz literally had his life saved from Nina and Matthias and he didn’t even say thank you! 😂 No manners alright 😅.
This guy literally was struggling and then went back to work. Classic Kaz.
But I thought Kaz would have had more power within him to tell Inej how much he liked her after nearly drowning. But you know, I guess baby steps 😆. I really hoped for a slightly changed man, at least on the romantic side.
Speaking of romance, Wylan and Jesper were with each other practically the whole time. I liked how Wylan helped out in whatever ways he could like distracting the guards when Jesper was on the roof. They also had to trigger black protocol because their plan was going awry. Black protocol would ensure no one got in or out, but they had to find a way out.
Inej was stuck in this waiting period after splitting from Nina. And I could NOT with how Heleen saw her and turned her and the Dregs in. This woman was going to get it! The audacity for her to laugh at Inej and still threaten her was beyond me. She could suck my toes along with Van Eck. But I loved how Jesper and her stole a freaking tank. That’s Fjerdan might for you. I loved how when they escaped the other Fjerdan’s they trekked over the Fjerda might sign their way out. That’s symbolism for you. Backfired on their butts for thinking they could cross the Wraith and Jesper. They were so cool!
“Kaz looked out over the sea of spoilers. “I didn’t see this coming.” He shook his head. “You told me one day I’d run out of tricks, Helvar. Toks like you were right.”
(pg. 421)
But no one was as cool and strong as Nina.
Gosh, I screamed when she took the parem. I mean, couldn’t there have been any other solution than Nina going all mighty all the soldiers that blocked them to the Ferolind?! But gosh, the power she wielded was scary crazy. She was SOOO COOL! I need a richer vocabulary because I have probably said cool too much 😂. But there wasn’t a better way to describe how she worked her powers. But I loved how Matthias brought her down to earth and had her show mercy to Brum and the other drüseklle. Nina wasn’t a killer and they were just people taught to hate. I loved that for Matthias.
“They fear you as I once feared you,” he said. “As you once feared me. We are all someone’s monsters, Nina.”
(pg. 427)
This reminded me of the quote about how we might be the bad guy in someone’s story but doesn’t mean we are a bad guy/person. Most times we don’t choose to be, but it’s all about perception.
I was still curious why no one went after them. I mean, didn’t they notice Kulwei was gone after some time? I don’t know. But I was happy they were safe. I was just also hurting for Nina because she was going to go through withdrawals from having taken parem. It wasn’t going to be an easy road.
But gosh did I love how Matthias was so ready to be by her side. Get married already!
“Stay,” she panted. Tears leaked from her eyes. “Stay until the end.”
“And after,” he said. “And always.”
(pg. 436)
Everyone wanted everyone to stay! The Dregs needed to stay together!
No mourners, no funerals bish!
Oh gosh, I thought things would end swimmingly—they would get their money, the end. NOT.
Freaking Van Eck can suck my toes because he didn’t even give them the money and he wanted to kill them because he wanted to monopolize parem and use it. What a SCUM. Freaking smart of Kaz to tell Kuwei and Nina to hide and to trick Van Eck with Wylan. I would have never thought until Kaz said it, honestly, I need his level of wits.
But GOSH, when Kaz looked at Inej and then Van Eck and her flew off into the sky!? They really said I believe I can fly, I believe I can touch the sky. Darn it! Inej lost his woman because Van Eck knew that was Kaz’s weakness and Kaz wasn’t saying where Kuwei was. When Inej was gone, I felt Kaz spiral into feeling weak.
“Without meaning to, he’d let Kaz Rietveld return. He didn’t know if it had begun with Inej’s injury or that hideous ride in the prison wagon, but somehow he’d let it happen and it had cost him dearly.
That didn’t mean he was going to let himself be bested by some thieving merchants.”
(pg. 455)
Kaz needed to know that he wasn’t a weak man just because of one moment of weakness. We all have them. But sadly, for him, it cost him a lot. Every single time. No wonder he was so cold and distrustful of the world. I mean, I think I might be too. Nature versus nurture.
I also found Jesper’s slip up not as terrible as Kaz made it out to be. That was just Jesper talking his mouth off at one of his card games. Doing so didn’t make Jesper a traitor worthy of hate, just a rookie mistake. I felt bad for Jesper because I could tell Jesper respected Kaz and Kaz was somewhat a friend to him. He didn’t want to be in Kaz’s bad graces, heck, no one did. But I know Jesper is going to make it up to Kaz and that Kaz didn’t entirely hate him. I think Kaz was just angry because he had lost Inej and maybe Kaz just needed some sleep, some self-care if you will 🤪. He needs to go back to Fjerda and chill 😂. Gosh, cut this kid a break.
But no, he has to now rescue his woman and get his money.
And it’s going to be a whole new trick.
“When they took everything from you, you found a way to make something from nothing.
‘I’m going to invent a new trick,’ Kaz said. ‘One Van Eck will never forget.'”
(pg. 456)
I am sooooo ready to read Crooked Kingdom, heck I’m reading it as I am writing this post. I have a lot of questions or requests for the second book.
First, I want to know more about Kaz’s parents and all their parents because where they heck were they and what really happened? Like doesn’t Kaz have a mom? I don’t know. I feel like someone needs to come get their children they left to slum it in Ketterdam.
I also wondered how Nina was doing. I wondered if she would beat the addiction or if it would get worse. For Nina’s sake I hoped she was okay because the other Grisha’s reaction to parem wasn’t good. I wonder how Nina could fully heal from Parem.
I also wondered how Jesper and Wylan would get together when Wylan looked like Kuwei. Wylan needs to transform back in the next book or I am going to go livid. Speaking of Jesper, I wondered what would happen to him now that he riled Kaz’s crow feathers? Would he need to redeem himself or was he out of the dregs?
What about Kaz and Pekka? I wondered how this relationship was going to be in book two? Was Kaz finally going to take Pekka down too? What about Kaz and Inej? Gosh, I am all for Inej doing her own thing as a strong independent woman, but for the love of my Kanej heart, will they hold hands or admit they like each other in the next book? I dearly will be unsettled if Kanej doesn’t at least do something productive with their feelings 😅.
I also wondered how they were going to get Inej back because gosh knows Kaz was going to get her back. And when she was back, was Inej going to go after Heleen? I think we need to have another confrontation with Heleen because there’s unfinished business between her and Inej.
What about Kuwei? Where the heck was he? Where was Nina? And what about Brum and the Fjerdans? Were they going to seek out the Dregs after their heist?
I don’t know, but I hope we see all the Dregs in the next book and that we take Van Eck down, and for Kaz’s sake, maybe Pekka.
I also NEED the Dregs to own up to their feelings and make the romance happen!!! ♥️
I am obsessed, so excuse me while I nestle myself up with Crooked Kingdom now.
Anyway, what was your favorite part of the book? Least favorite part? Who is your favorite crow and why? Anything I mentioned that you want to discuss more about? Let me know below in the comments as I love hearing from you all 💕
I hope you have a beautiful day whenever and wherever you might be reading this 😊.
And as always, with love,
Rating
5 Full Flight Crows
Characters: A full cast of diverse, complex, and unique characters that you will love in a heartbeat. I can’t choose a favorite, but if I had to, Kaz Brekker can brekk my heart anyway.
Plot: I loved the heist drama and intrigue—no page was a dull page. I also loved how the backstory was interwoven nicely during moments each character was triggered or connected to. Also, having multiple POVs was an excellent idea because it showcased each character’s thoughts, which helped me connect to them more, and piece the story together better.
Writing: Leigh Bardugo can make me laugh, angry scream, and gush in unrequited love within the span of a few words. I love it. She keeps me on my toes.
Romance: Don’t even get me started with the romance . . . ♥️🤪