#natisreading

[vole-mon-amour]

“You’re stupid about a lot of things, Wylan, but you are not stupid. And if I ever hear you call yourself a moron again, I’m going to tell Matthias you tried to kiss Nina. With tongue.” Wylan wiped his nose on his sleeve. “He’ll never believe it.” “Then I’ll tell Nina you tried to kiss Matthias. With tongue.”

Damn, I love Jesper. (Also, what an image. lol I wonder what Nina would do.)

Jesper gave his shoulder another little shake. "Well, how about this? Kaz is going to tear your father's damn life apart." Wylan was about to say that didn't help either, but he hesitated. Kaz Brekker was the most brutal, vengeful creature Wylan had ever encountered--and he'd sworn he was going to destroy Jan Van Eck. The thought felt like cool water cascading over the hot, shameful feeling of helplessness he'd been carrying with him for so long. Nothing could make this right, ever. But Kaz could make his father's life very wrong.

Also, I love Kaz.

Wylan rose, suddenly eager to return to the city, to help bring Kaz’s plan to life. He’d gone to the Ice Court reluctantly. He’d aided Kaz grudgingly. Because through all of it, he’d believed that he deserved his father’s contempt, and now he could admit that somewhere, in some buried place, he’d hoped there might still be a way back to his father’s good favor. Well, his father could keep that good favor and see what it bought him when Kaz Brekker was finished. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s go steal all my dad’s money.” “Isn’t it your money?” “Okay, let’s go steal it back.”

Wylan van sunshine <3

[vole-mon-amour]

"A part of her wanted to tell Nina everything. If she didn't go back to Ravka, a heartrender would make an excellent addition to her crew."

Hello? Ninej is so tasty. <3

[vole-mon-amour]

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.

&

Rollins watched Brekker and his crew moving through the crowded gambling hall. They opened the doors to the street, and for a brief moment, they were silhouetted against the lamplight in their masks and capes—a cripple trailed by a bunch of kids in costumes. Some gang. Brekker was a wily thief and tough enough, Pekka supposed, inventive, too. But unlike those poor stooges at the Ice Court, Van Eck would be ready for Brekker. The boy was going into a real battle. He didn’t stand a chance. 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 bitch,” 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. “He picked your pocket?” Doughty asked incredulously.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.”

👏👏👏

Reading all of this, knowing what's coming for both Van Eck and Rollins is an absolute masterpiece of an experience. Delightful.

[vole-mon-amour]

"Nina kissed Inej's cheek."

Okay, they make me kind of feral. THEY SHOULD HAVE KISSED. I don't care about your shitty forced kanej, give me ninej IMMEDIATELY.

Oh god, and Nine buried her nose into Inej's coat? And Inej wants to have coffee, an omelet, a bath (a couple of them) and it all so fits Nina.

Leigh, the ship was RIGHT. THERE.

Oh my god. 🫠😩

[vole-mon-amour]

Matthias about Nina in chapter 21:

"She's too much." (Too loud, etc.)

Inej: "Maybe you're just not enough."

Considering how well Nina and Inej get along, if they were a canonical romance, it would have been amazing. Alas. (Good thing we have fanfiction.)

[vole-mon-amour]

Nina looked Muzzen up and down. “This is going to hurt just as much as if you’d been in the fight yourself,” she warned. He scrunched up his face, bracing for the pain. “I can take it.” She rolled her eyes, then lifted her hands, concentrating. With a sharp slice of her right hand over her left, she snapped Muzzen’s ribs. He let out a grunt and doubled over. “That’s a good boy,” said Kaz. “Taking it like a champion. Knuckles next, then face.”

— Sic Of Crows: Chapter 6

Hey.

Hey, was someone going to remind me Kaz CANONICALLY praises another boy for enduring the pain so well or did I have to re-learn that myself during a re-read?

Which is incredible on its own, but then we know how dependent Jesper is on Kaz and praising. And Kaz seems to be really good at it, sooo. 👀👌

[vole-mon-amour]

"Or maybe Jesper wanted more than forgiveness from Kaz?"

Wylan is so on point. Also, Jesper is so desperate to please Kaz because he's loyal. Because he loves Kaz. It's as easy as that.

[vole-mon-amour]

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? He looked at Kaz Brekker, a boy whose only cause was himself. Still, he was a survivor, and his own kind of soldier. He had honored his bargain with Matthias. At any point, he might have decided that Matthias had served his purpose—once he’d helped them draw up the plans, once they’d gotten past the holding cells, once Matthias had revealed the secret bridge. And whoever he’d become, Matthias was not going to shoot someone unarmed. He’d not yet sunk so far.

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 raised 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." "You want to know the secret to gambling, Helvar?" Kaz brought his good foot down on the butt of the soldier's rifle. It flipped up. Kaz had it in his hands pointed at Matthias in the space of a breath. "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." We'll see what this night brings, Matthias thought as he bent to the task. Trickery is not my native tongue, but I may learn to speak it yet.

— Chapter 29.

That was a beautiful moment. And, honestly, THIS is the found family trope at its finest. The Crows are it.

And it's especially wonderful how Matthias is forced to re-evaluate everything he knows, everything he's been growing up with. And still choose to do the right thing (and for the right thing itself to change for him).

I also love how Matthias still calls Kaz the demon, even though he fully recognizes that "your tricks are human".

The characters in this book are so <3.