Why I don't Understand Inej and Kanej Pt 5 and probably the last one unless something new strikes me
Relationship with Kaz
(yes, the biggest and most icky issue)
In the beginning of the book, we get the sense she's loyal only to Kaz, not the Dregs' and soon enough, we find out it's because he saved her. Fair enough, checks out. But then she starts acting like she's doing this boy a favour by… doing her job. In the book she says that he ‘owes her his best imitation of a human being’, but the ‘offensive’ thing he said was… ‘I need your skills, not you.’ He's her boss. People say worse things to each other in middle school group projects. Even if we say they're the best of friends… dude, it isn't the end of the world. Afterwards, we're meant to see her as this saviour of the group for killing five men. Honestly, I just felt bad for Jesper here, my man took out people in the double digits, there is no way the entire crew is sleeping on that. We're also meant to see Inej as the victim when Kaz doesn't speak to her, and feel bad for her. But this honestly doesn't make any sense, I get her being upset, but the man saved her life and clearly this isn't new or specific to Inej.
Onto one of the biggest issues in their relationship, which was pretty much the last straw and the official crash and burn for me. The “I will have you without armour” scene. The entire thing was absolutely disgusting. This boy has been traumatized beyond comprehension and is trying as hard as he can without straight up having a panic attack and her response is to make an ultimatum which he is physically incapable of doing. Some people have said that she didn't want to wait for someone whose feelings she didn't know. I think him asking her to stay in Ketterdam with him is clear. And it was clear to her, because she asked, "and how would you have me? gloves on, face turned so our lips may never touch?" This was 100% about physical touch, and she knows he can't do it. And we're supposed to be proud of her? She doesn't know if she herself is capable of what she's demanding, but she doesn't have an ounce of shame in demanding it from someone who would, in the real world, need years and years of therapy to overcome the level of trauma they have. You would think that she would understand that he isn't capable of doing so when she claims to be in the same boat herself, and yet, she seems to hold Kaz to much higher standards than she holds herself. The level of hypocrisy to want someone to be able to do whatever you want while claiming that you have the right to withhold the exact same thing is flooring. And yet, after that, she consistently has the audacity to act like he is the one making the possibility of their relationship difficult. And the very popular 'she didn't know' line of defence, she did know later, and not ONCE did she think to apologise. She didn't even feel a flicker of guilt, let alone remorse. Can you honestly tell yourself that is even close to loving someone? Could you do that to your bf or even your friends?
Moving on, yes, Kaz would give her everything, but why in the world does this girl let him? There is a power vacuum in Ketterdam after they topple Rollins, so why would she let him flush money that he needs and men he depends on down the drain because… what? She doesn't want to use her own? Even if her own profits aren't enough to buy a ship, throughout the duology, it is hinted clearly that her cut was enough to buy off her indenture. Yet, Kaz does it, putting himself in an absolutely TERRIBLE position for such an unstable city and more enemies than he can count. And not once do we see her comment or worry about it. Even if he wanted to give it to her, even if it was his decision and he's smart enough to handle himself, any half decent love interest or even friend would refuse and tell him not to put himself in that position because the fundemental basis of love is not only trust, but taking care of one another, and that is clearly a one way street in this relationship. For someone who supposedly loves this boy, she really doesn't care about him at all.
