#kazscrowsreadssoc

Chapter 40: Nina

Poor Nina is practically naked right now-

…Matthias was dragging a limp, unconscious Kaz out of the shallows.

“Saints, is he breathing?” asked Nina.

Matthias flipped him onto his back none too gently and started pressing down on his chest with more force than was strictly necessary.

“I. Should. Let. You. Die,” Matthias muttered in time with his compressions.

Bahahaha—

I really want to see this on screen

Oh I forgot Nina actually gives him mouth to mouth-

Wow poor Kaz though this would really be horrible

He shoved her off of him, sucking in air.

“Get away from me,” he gasped, wiping his gloved hand over his mouth. Kaz’s eyes were unfocused. He seemed to be staring right through her. “Don’t touch me.”

“You’re in shock, demjin,” Matthias said. “You almost drowned. You should have drowned.”

Kaz coughed again, and his entire body shuddered. “Drowned,” he repeated.

Nina nodded slowly. “Ice Court, remember? Impossible heist? Near death? Three million kruge waiting for you in Ketterdam?”

Kaz blinked and his eyes cleared. “Four million.”

“I thought that might bring you around.”

Man was definitely having some flashbacks

Now it makes me think of Jordie forcing him underwater in the show

Just wave money under Kaz’s nose to revive him

And tell him the wrong amount

He can and will correct you

Nina threw up her hands. “You’re welcome, you ungrateful wretch.”

“I’ll thank you when we’re aboard the Ferolind. Move.” He was already dragging himself up the boulders that lined the far side of the gorge. “You can explain why our illustrious Shu scientist looks like one of Wylan’s school pals along the way.”

Nina shook her head, caught between annoyance and admiration. Maybe that was what it took to survive in the Barrel. You could never stop.

“He’s a friend?” asked Kuwei in skeptical Shu.

“On occasion.”

LMAO

The tank is coming and they don’t know what it is yet but this is all Kaz can say

“What do we do, Kaz?”

“Wait,” he said as the sound grew louder.

“How about ‘take cover’?” Nina asked, bouncing nervously from foot to foot. “‘Have heart’? ‘I stashed twenty rifles in this convenient shrubbery’? Give us something.”

“How about a few million kruge?” said Kaz.”

I’m living for Nina and Kaz’s back and forths

Always loved their sibling energy

He’s probably raising an eyebrow so high at her

A tank rumbled over the hill, dust and gravel spewing from its treads. Someone was waving to them from its gun turret – no, two someones. Inej and Wylan were yelling and gesturing wildly from behind the dome.

Nina let out a victorious whoop as Matthias stared in disbelief. When Nina looked at Kaz, she couldn’t quite believe her eyes. “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.

I really want to see this moment too

“We have a tank,” marvelled Nina. “Kaz, you creepy little genius, the plan worked. You got us a tank.”

“They got us a tank.”

I am cackling

Creepy little genius-

But also I love that Kaz doesn’t take credit

He knows he couldn’t have done it without Jesper, Wylan and Inej

And then… BOOM!

They blow up the bridge!

“We have a tank and a moat-“

“Climb on!” crowed Wylan.

Including this just because I like when the Crows crow

A girl in purple silk and a boy with red-gold curls poking out from behind the guns; four soaked people holding tight to the sides for dear life – a Shu boy in prison clothes, two bedraggled drüskelle, and Nina, a half-naked girl in shreds of teal chiffon shouting, “We have a moat!”

The duality of this quote versus the quote from Inej in chapter 28

Kuwei tilted his head back, his face bright with joy. “I can smell the sea,” he said happily.

You know I’ve never really thought much about Kuwei, but this got me

This poor kid fled his country, lost his father, then got imprisoned and forced to experiment with a dangerous drug

It’s quite tragic

Leigh Bardugo’s specialty

“Kaz?” called Jesper from inside the tank. “This would be a really good time to say you saw this coming.”

Kaz looked out over the sea of soldiers. “I didn’t see this coming.” He shook his head. “You told me one day I’d run out of tricks, Helvar. Looks like you were right.” The words were for Matthias, but his eyes were on Inej.

Oh my gosh why doesn’t anyone talk about this moment??

Kaz always looks to Inej

The last thing Kaz wants to see is Inej

He wants her to be his very last moment

His last memory…

Sobbing in Kanej 😭😭😭

“I’ve had my fill of captivity,” she said. “They won’t take me alive.”

“Me neither,” said Wylan.

Jesper snorted from inside the tank. “We really need to get him more suitable friends.”

“Better to go out with fists swinging than let some Fjerdan put me on a pike,” said Kaz.

Matthias nodded. “Then we agree. We end this here.”

Just. My crow babies—

I love them all

Nina’s about to make a huge sacrifice and save the day

She touched Matthias’ cheek briefly. “If it gets bad, find a way to end it, Helvar. I’m trusting you to do the right thing.” She smiled.

“Again.”

I am going to bawl my eyes out when this happens in the show

Oh my gosh—

Because.. if she didn’t do this…

She might’ve been able to save Matthias…

I’m sad so now all of you can be sad about this too 😭

She could see the true colour of Matthias’ eyes..

Everything made sense. Their bodies were a map of cells, a thousand equations, solved by the second, by the millisecond, and she knew only answers.

Jurda Parem is, once again, so incredible and terrifying

When people leave comments on my rereads I’m just:

Chapter 46: Pekka

I know this chapter happens but I cannot for the life of me remember anything about it

So this should be fun

Like reading it again for the first time

Poor Nina already sounds worse for wear because of the parem…

Pekka describes her as jutting bones and dark hollows, trembling hands…

She leaned against a giant Fjerdan with a shaved head and grim blue eyes. He was huge, probably former military. Good muscle to have around. Where did Kaz Brekker find these people?

Wait Matthias is bald—

When did that happen??

And Kaz just knows how to find the right people

It’s called making friends.. sort of and being kind.. ish

He’s also just a little lucky

The little canal rat had managed to make it to the Ice Court after all.

It was a good thing, too. If not for Kaz Brekker, Rollins would still be sitting in a cell in that damned Fjerdan prison waiting for another round of torture – or maybe looking down from a pike atop the ringwall.

This is the last time Pekka will think Kaz ever did anything to be glad about

…he’d seen him around the Barrel a few times. The boy had come from nowhere and been a slew of trouble since. But he was still just a lieutenant, not a general, a terrier nipping at Rollins’ ankles.

You created him Pekka

Ooh flashback to the ominous prison cell scene

“Hello, Brekker,” Rollins had said. “Come to gloat?”

“Not exactly. You know me?”

Rollins had shrugged. “Sure, you’re the little skiv who keeps stealing my customers.”

The look that passed over the boy’s face then had taken Rollins aback. It was hatred – pure, black, long simmering. What have I ever done to this little pissant? But in seconds the look was gone, and Rollins wondered if he’d imagined it altogether.

Ha- there and then gone again

“What do you want, Brekker?”

The boy had stood there, something bleak and mad in his gaze. “I want to do you a favour.”

It probably took everything in Kaz not to kill him right then and there

And then he offers him a favor on top of it!

“Why the hell would you help me?”

“You weren’t meant to die here.”

Somehow it sounded like a curse.

Oh it is

Just wait for Kaz’s vengeance…

And the Wraith-

“I owe you, Brekker,” Rollins had said as the boy exited his cell, hardly believing his luck.

Brekker had glanced back at him, his dark eyes like caverns. “Don’t worry, Rollins. You’ll pay.”

Yes, yes he will

Man we probably won’t get something like this on screen anymore

Will Pekka even be at the ice court?

Why did they already do Kaz’s revenge plot in the show???

Ughhh

He stood in the middle of Rollins’ opulent office looking like a dark blot of ink, his face grim, his hands resting on a crow-handled walking stick.

Wow this description of Kaz

He’s a stain in Pekka’s “kingdom”

Kaz just casually asking Pekka for two hundred thousand dollars (kruge)

He offers his shares for the club and fifth harbor too and it’s obviously painful for him

So maybe it’s not so casual actually

It’s weird how the show has flipped this all around

Pekka already has fifth.. he got the club.. it’s already been destroyed..

I don’t get why they did that

It’ll be… interesting to see what they do in the spin-off now to say the least

Rollins leaned back and pressed his fingers together. “It’s not enough, you know. Not to go to war with the Merchant Council.”

“It is for this crew.”

“This crew?” Rollins said with a snort. “I can’t believe you sorry lot were the ones to successfully raid the Ice Court.”

“Believe it.”

Kaz, if not saints, what do you believe in?

My Crows

SaB s1e7

“Van Eck is going to put you in the ground.”

“Others have tried. Somehow I keep coming back from the dead.”

“I respect your drive, kid. And I understand. You want your money; you want the Wraith back; you want a bit of Van Eck’s hide—”

“No,” said Brekker, his voice part rasp, part growl. “When I come for Van Eck, I won’t just take what’s mine. I’ll carve his life hollow. I’ll burn his name from the ledger. There will be nothing left.”

Just like when he eventually comes for you

Such a banger quote

Kaz really has never had a bad track

Pekka Rollins couldn’t count the threats he’d heard, the men he’d killed, or the men he’d seen die, but the look in Brekker’s eye still sent a chill slithering up his spine. Some wrathful thing in this boy was begging to get loose, and Rollins didn’t want to be around when it slipped its leash.

lol it’s already too late for you Pekka

When he held out his hand to shake on the deal, Brekker’s grip was knuckle-crushing.

“You don’t remember me at all, do you?” the boy asked.

“Should I?”

“Not just yet.” That black thing flickered behind Brekker’s eyes.

“The deal is the deal,” said Rollins, eager to be done with this strange lot.

“The deal is the deal.”

Watch your back Pekka…

Or don’t

Actually don’t

RIP (Rest In Pieces)

“What’s with those gloves he wears?” the bruiser asked.

“A bit of theatre, I suspect. Who knows? Who cares?”

Or you know… it’s just Kaz’s greatest weakness.. his greatest shame…

Rollins reached for his watch. It had to be about time for the dealers to change shifts, and he liked to supervise them himself.

“Son of a *****,” he exclaimed a second later.

“What is it, boss?”

Rollins held up his watch chain. A turnip was hanging from the fob where his diamond-studded timepiece should have been. “That little bastard—” Then a thought came to him. He reached for his wallet. It was gone. So was his tie pin, the Kaelish coin pendant he wore for luck, and the gold buckles on his shoes. Rollins wondered if he should check the fillings in his teeth.

I am CACKLING

No one got one over on Pekka Rollins. No one dared. But Brekker had, and Rollins wondered if that was just the beginning.

“Doughty,” he said, “I think we’d best say a prayer for Jan Van Eck.”

Oh it’s definitely only the beginning

And you better save your prayers for yourself

Rollins straightened the knot of his pinless tie and headed down to the casino floor. The problem of Kaz Brekker could wait to be solved another day. Right now there was money to be made.

And that’s what we call a very big mistake my friends

What an idiot

Thats the end folks! Six of Crows finished!

Crooked Kingdom reread… coming soon…

Chapter 29: Matthias

Kaz knows he doesn’t even have to threaten Matthias in anyway. He’ll help them just for Nina’s sake at this point

The boys in this series really do have it bad for their love interest don’t they

Simps 💕

“Water everywhere,” said Wylan. “Do the fountains symbolise Djel?”

“The wellspring,” mused Kaz, “where all sins are washed clean.”

“Or where they drown you and make you confess,” Wylan said.

Jesper snorted. “Wylan, your thoughts have taken a very dark turn. I fear the Dregs may be a bad influence.”

Or Wylan is just like this

I like that Matthias points out that the climbing is extremely easy for both Kaz and Jesper, but not Wylan

Poor kid has no upper body strength yet

They rig him up a sling to slide across

But now his thoughts were muddied with these thugs and thieves, with Inej’s courage and Jesper’s daring, and with Nina, always Nina. He couldn’t deny the relief he’d felt when she’d emerged from the incinerator shaft, dishevelled and gasping, frightened but alive. When he and Wylan had pulled her out of the flue, he’d had to force himself to let her go.

Helnik ❤️

And lol Kaz is noticeable absent from his praising thoughts

While on the way to the magic tree:

“All this to be a witchhunter?” Kaz said behind him. “The Dregs need a better initiation.”

“This is only one part of Hringkälla.”

“Yes, I know, then a tree tells you the secret handshake.”

“I feel sorry for you, Brekker. There is nothing sacred in your life.”

There was a long pause, and then Kaz said, “You’re wrong.”

He’s thinking about Inej I bet

Or maybe avenging Jordie

I do think that Kaz very much so wants to believe in something

Also.. what is the Dregs initiation? Is it usually just getting the tattoo?

“Were you always good at locks?”

“No.”

“How did you learn?”

“The way you learn about anything. Take it apart.”

“And the magic tricks?”

Kaz snorted. “So you don’t think I’m a demon any more?”

“I know you’re a demon, but your tricks are human.”

“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.”

“You love trickery.”

“I love puzzles. Trickery is just my native tongue.”

This paragraph is really quite a deep dive into Kaz’s mind

He’s such a complex character

He sees just about everything in life as a lie he just hasn’t figured out yet

This is also getting me excited to see Freddy and Callahan do the Kaz and Matthias dynamic. They have said they’re looking forward to it themselves

Fingers crossed for season 3 or even better: a Crows spin-off!!

The reality of the situation struck Matthias suddenly. Kaz hadn’t picked up the rifle. Matthias had a gun in his hands, and Kaz Brekker was unarmed. They were standing over the bodies of two unconscious drüskelle, men who were supposed to be Matthias’ brothers. I can shoot him, Matthias thought. Doom Nina and the rest of them with a single act. Again, Matthias had the strange sense of his life viewed the wrong way up. He was dressed in prison clothes, an intruder in the place he’d once called home. Who am I now?

And you know what? He doesn’t shoot him

I really really like this scene

Matthias lowered his weapon.

A faint smile touched Kaz’s lips. “I wasn’t sure what you’d do if it came down to this.”

“Neither was I,” Matthias admitted. Kaz lifted a brow, and the truth struck Matthias with the force of a blow. “It was a test. You chose not to pick up the rifle.”

“I needed to be sure you were really with us. All of us.”

“How did you know I wouldn’t shoot?”

“Because, Matthias, you stink of decency.”

“You’re mad.”

“Do you know the secret to gambling, Helvar?” Kaz brought his good foot down on the butt of the fallen soldier’s rifle. The gun flipped up. Kaz had it in his hands and pointed at Matthias in the space of a breath. He’d never been in any danger at all. “Cheat.”…

Kaz is just. So. Cool—

He’s such a little turd

I love him

“One day you’ll run out of tricks, demjin.”

“You’d better hope it’s not today.”

Chapter 43: Nina

Woah you guys I’m almost done

We’re so close to the end of the book—

This chapter is super short too

Her senses were still sharp enough that she could smell the coppery scent of the Suli girl’s blood beneath the cleaner Rotty had used to remove it from the wood. It smelled like Inej.

I’ve never thought of blood smelling different

She liked that word. Us. A word without divisions or borders. It seemed full of hope.

It is better to be united than divided

Ha… hahaAhaHa— *sobbing*

They think Nina might die but in the end… it will be Matthias-

“Stay,” she panted. Tears leaked from her eyes. “Stay till the end.”

“And after,” he said. “And always.”

“I want to feel safe again. I want to go home to Ravka.”

“Then I’ll take you there. We’ll set fire to raisins or “whatever you heathens do for fun.”

“Zealot,” she said weakly.

“Witch.”

“Barbarian.”

“Nina,” he whispered, “little red bird. Don’t go.”

Instead it’ll be Nina taking Matthias back to Fjerda to be buried…

Rereading Helnik is painful now 😭

Leigh why!

I’d be fine if they don’t kill Matthias off in the show… just putting it out there-

@iwillmourn-thewicked

Me:

Chapter 44: Jesper

Jesper has no idea that Nina altered Wylan to look like Kuwei

Kuwei seemed friendly enough, but his Kerch was rough, and he didn’t seem to like to talk much. Sometimes he’d just appear on deck at night and stand silently beside Jesper, staring out at the waves. It was a little unnerving.

Cry laughing because he doesn’t know it’s actually Wylan—

Only Inej wanted to chat with anyone, and that was because she seemed to have developed a consuming interest in all things nautical. She spent most of her time with Specht and Rotty, learning knots and how to rig sails.

I had forgotten this small detail

She’s already reaching to act on her new dream

What’s that Tangled quote? “Go. Live your dream”

And then Kaz is Flynn saying he will and wanting to be buried in piles of money “Not you. Your dream stinks-”

Jesper worried about Nina, but thinking about her made him feel guilty. When they’d boarded the schooner and Kuwei explained parem, a tiny voice inside him said he should offer to take the drug as well. Even though he was a Fabrikator without training, maybe he could have helped to draw the parem out of Nina’s system and set her free. But that was a hero’s voice, and Jesper had long since stopped thinking he had the makings of a hero.

Woah poor Jesper 🥺

But even if he had helped then he’d be the one suffering withdrawals…

I wish I could hug him

“Does the Council know the scientist is dead?”

“I put it all in my note to Van Eck,” Kaz said. “I told him Bo Yul-Bayur is dead, but that his son is alive and was working on jurda parem for the Fjerdans.”

“…Did he haggle?”

“Not in the note. He expressed his ‘deep concern’, but didn’t mention anything about price. We did our job. We’ll see if he tries to bargain us down when we get to Vellgeluk.”

HA—

He’ll do a lot worse than haggle—

A lot worse…

“Where’s the other longboat?” Jesper asked as he, Kaz, Matthias, Inej, and Kuwei rowed out from the Ferolind with Rotty.”

“Repairs,” said Kaz.

Jesper really is quite observant

Actually Jes, Kaz is lying, the longboat already left with one Kuwei, Nina, and Spect?

The island was less than a mile wide, a barren patch of sand and rock distinguished only by the wrecked foundation of an old tower used by the Council of Tides.Smugglers called it Vellgeluk, ‘good luck’

How ironic

“All right,” Kaz said. “Let’s go get rich.”

“No mourners,” Rotty said, settling down to wait with the longboat.

“No funerals,” they replied.

Kaz thinking of the reward before offering good luck

Rotty offers it actually

So it’s definitely a Dregs thing and not just a Crows thing

Two men lugged a heavy trunk between them, staggering slightly with its weight.

“So that’s what thirty million kruge looks like,” said Kaz.

Jesper gave a low whistle. “Hopefully, the longboat won’t sink.”

Imagine they pulled off that whole heist just to drown because their reward weighed too much….

I’m having lots of thoughts so I’ll just include this scene and butt in when necessary

Van Eck smiled. “I will confess I am surprised, Mister Brekker. Surprised but delighted.”

“You didn’t think we’d succeed.”

“Let’s say I thought you were a longshot.”

“Is that why you hedged your bets?”

“Ah, so you’ve spoken to Pekka Rollins.”

“He’s quite a talker when you get him in the right frame of mind,” said Kaz, and Jesper remembered the blood on Kaz’s shirt at the prison. “He said you contracted him and the Dime Lions to go after Yul-Bayur for the Merchant Council as well.”

With a niggle of unease, Jesper wondered what else Rollins might have told Kaz.

Huh… this is kind of an odd thought

I’m pretty sure Jesper didn’t realize he had outed their location when they first were leaving for the heist so he shouldn’t be feeling guilty for that right?

Or am I just remembering wrong…

Either way, Jesper is definitely a little afraid of Kaz

Which is kind of sad but also fair

Any sane person should be a little afraid of Kaz Brekker

Van Eck shrugged. “It was best to be safe.”

“And why should you care if a bunch of canal rats blow each other to bits in pursuit of a prize?”

“We knew the odds of either team succeeding were small. As a gambler, I hope you can understand.”

But Jesper had never thought of Kaz as a gambler.

Gamblers left something to chance.

Kaz Brekker always has a plan

Kaz Brekker is careful. He thinks of every possible interaction and result

For the most part

Jesper could see the stacks of bills in palest Kerch purple, emblazoned with the three flying fish, row after row of them

I forgot their money is purple in Ketterdam

Matthias thinks it’s odd too

Aaaaannd here comes the chaos—

Jesper reached for his revolvers. Hadn’t he wanted something to shoot at? I guess this place is good luck, he thought with a rush of anticipation. Looks like I’m about to get my wish.

Of course Jes would think of the coming fight as good luck