Spoilers ahead! Also keep an eye out for my take on Nina's chocolate biscuits!
"I'll tell you a secret, Hanna. The really bad monsters never look like monsters."
After being tricked by Van Eck and losing Inej to capture, the Crows are in hiding, perfecting their plans to get the Wraith and their money. Outsmarting a merch has always been Kaz Brekker's best skill, but when his greatest enemy Pekka Rollins gets involved, the crew takes a big hit.
The heist grows larger than any of them could have imagined when representatives from nearly every country dock in Ketterdam to find Kuwei Yul-Bo. In order to guarantee they get their pay and keep their lives, the Crows must be twenty steps ahead of their targets.
He had often wondered how people survived this city, but it was possible Ketterdam would not survive Kaz Brekker.
To be honest, it did take me a little while to get through this book. That is partially because I've been dealing with my own personal things outside of reading, but I do also think it's because I knew how the book was going to end. I've known the spoilers for a while, but it was still quite upsetting.
Jesper tapped his fingers restlessly on his thighs. "Has anyone noticed this whole city is looking for us, mad at us, or wants to kill us?" "So?" said Kaz. "Well, usually it's just half the city."
I think I'll go through this pair by pair! That sounds like a grand idea to me. First, though, I'd like to talk about my only slight issue with the novel. It's actually not so much an issue as much as something I found quite easily noticeable about Bardugo's writing. I can see a very clear outline for how she writes her books. Both Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom follow an eerily similar breakdown: bad thing happens, they make a plan, plan totally falls through, hope is lost, new plan is made, new plan SEEMS to go wrong but that's actually how Kaz planned it to go but didn't tell anyone, they solve the problem and it all works out. The only deviation from that outline is that obviously, one of our Crows dies in this one.
Wylan looked back at the water. He'd started to think of Jesper as fearless, but maybe being brave didn't mean being unafraid.
Hi, I have to start with Jesper and Wylan because I love love love love love love love them. I kept seeing people on twitter saying they didn't have opinions on Wylan because he doesn't seem to do much. I find that incredible ridiculous because I know exactly who Wylan is. He is thoughtful and kind and still believes the best of people no matter how many times they've hurt him. Instead of running from his hateful father, he finally got his chance to stand up to him and still treated him with kindness and grace. All he wanted was to get his mother back and I'm so happy he did. I love Wylan with my whole heart and his relationship with Jesper is BEAUTIFUL. They compliment each other so well, and I'm glad they're together. I'm also really pleased with Jesper's journey. He made amends with his father and finally accepted himself for who he is. I really hope we get to see more of these two in King of Scars.
"I would come for you," he said, and when he saw the wary look she shot him, he said it again. "I would come for you. And if I couldn't walk, I'd crawl to you, and no matter how broken we were, we'd fight our way out together-- knives drawn, pistols blazing. Because that's what we do. We never stop fighting."
Kaz and Inej are the epitome of a slow-burn romance, and it made my heart full in a strange way. The two of them never kiss-- in fact the most they ever touch is when they quickly hold hands at the end of the book. Kaz fears skin on skin touch more than literally anything else after he was forced to use his brother's corpse as a floating device to avoid drowning as a child. I imagine after that, not many people would enjoy touching a human body, so I don't blame him. Inej was sold as a child to a pleasure house, and I'm sure you can guess what that means. Kaz was the one who got her out when she was around 15 or so (I think? Maybe 14 or maybe 16? Don't quote me on that.) The two of them have clearly cared for each other for a long time, but their own mental blocks have gotten in the way. I always really appreciate when authors show genuine effects of traumatic experiences. It would be really easy to just say "but he was brave, so he got over it", but Leigh doesn't do that. She gives Kaz the time and space he needs and she doesn't make it unrealistic in the end-- he never kisses Inej. His big moment with her is the fact that he takes of his gloves and holds her hand. I found it really beautiful and meaningful. Inej, as well, knows that this is huge and doesn't try to push him past his limits. I think that's the main reason why they're so lovely together-- she understands him in a way that no one else does. And I won't even go into detail on the fact that he FOUND HER FAMILY AND BOUGHT HER A BOAT. Ugly tears over that.
Matthias was dreaming again. Dreaming of her. The storm raged around him, drowning out Nina's voice. And yet his heart was easy. Somehow he knew that she would be safe, she would find shelter from the cold. He was on the ice once more, and somewhere he could hear the wolves howling. But this time, he knew they were welcoming him home.
Don't even want to get into the fact that Matthias's first chapter in the first book began with the same two sentences as his last. Hating that. Totally hating it. I'm devastated over his death, and even more annoyed because I know it needed to happen to get Nina where she needs to be. I love her with my whole heart, she's my favorite character, so seeing her suffer hurts. It was so precious to see how Matthias changed from being grumpy killer man in SOC to gooey eyed in love in CK. Honestly, I really am just about speechless here. I don't know what to say other than I am so sad to see him go.
But what about the rest of us? What about the nobodies and nothings, the invisible girls? We learn to hold our heads as if we wear crowns. We learn to wring magic from the ordinary. That was how you survived when you weren't chosen, when there was no royal blood in your veins. When the world owed you nothing, you demanded something of it anyway.
Just wanted to devote a quick paragraph to the ladies of this series. Nina and Inej-- I love you both SO much. They're both nearly polar opposites but are incredible in their own ways. Inej is so soft and strong at the same time and somehow neither of those traits are every weaknesses for her. Nina is bold and quick-witted and shameless. I'm so thankful to Leigh Bardugo for creating these wonderful women. I know they will stay with me forever.
"Crows remember human faces. They remember the people who feed them, who are kind to them. And the people who wrong them too."
I really enjoyed this series-- specifically because of the characters (which I'm sure I've made quite obvious). I could go on and on about their plans and schemes but I think that's just something you need to experience for yourself. I know their stories aren't over, so I anxiously await what's next for my Crows. Nina is on her way to Ravka with Kuwei, Inej has been reunited with her family and has a boat she hopes to use to stop slavers, Kaz will HOPEFULLY be joining Inej, and Wylan and Jesper are hanging out for now at the Van Eck estate. The loveliest thing about this series is that I felt like I went on all those adventures with them. I miss them so intensely already, as if I too have parted ways with the crew. So I'll say this: No mourners, no funerals.
And maybe, in the quiet hours, he'd raise a glass to the men like him, to his fellow architects of misfortune who had helped raise Brekker and his crew. He'd drink to the whole sorry lot of them, but mostly to the poor fools who didn't know what trouble was coming.
NINA'S CHOCOLATE BISCUITS
Nina looked like she might tell Alys exactly where she could put her honey and lemon, so Matthias said hurriedly, "How would you like a chocolate biscuit?" "Oh, I love chocolate!" Nina's eyes narrowed. "I don't remember saying you could give away my biscuits."
I thought this week's baking would be quite boring because chocolate cookies aren't wildly exciting, but these were actually really delicious? They aren't too sweet so they're a lovely, light snack. It's only been three days since I baked them and we've already devoured them. The recipe is super easy and a nice quick bake! Here's how mine came out:
I totally forgot to take a picture of them, but I remembered as I went to eat the last one! I think Nina Zenik would be proud.
Also-- if you don't have self-raising flour, have no fear! You can use all purpose and throw in some baking soda OR baking powder to do the work for you. I suggest googling the correct amounts if you do that for a different baked good. For this recipe I used 1 cup of flour and 1.5 tsp of baking powder. I also recommend throwing in a dash of salt to bring out the flavor.
Chocolate Biscuit Recipe: https://www.cookingwithmykids.co.uk/chocolate-fork-biscuits/
If you didn't know, I bake something from a book every week and post live updates on my Instagram. Tune in to @picklesandpages every Wednesday to check it out!
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