Later this month, Leigh Bardugo’s Crooked Kingdom hits shelves. It will wrap up the story of the Dregs, a group of thieves and wraiths and Grisha who successfully pulled off one of the biggest heists in history – only to lose one of their own at the end. As we all eagerly count down the seconds until Crooked Kingdom is in our hands, I thought we could look back at some of my favorite moments in Six of Crows.
Six of Crows, set in the same world as Shadow and Bone, starts in Ketterdam, the hub of international trade in the Grisha world. Criminal Kaz Brekker knows that better than anybody. But to pull off a deadly heist, he needs help. A team of six outcasts come together to pull it off – but as it turns out, they might be the only thing that stand between the world and its destruction.
One of those he recruits to help with the heist is “The Wraith” Inej – and it turns out all my favorite quotes are either from Kaz or Inej. Who knew?
But Inej’s snarky wisdom is one of my favorite moments in the story. From the first moment we meet her, she charmed me into loving her.
“Shhh,” she whispered in Van Daal’s ear. She gave him a tiny jab in the side so that he could feel the point of her second dagger pressed against his kidney.
“Please,” he moaned, “I-”
“I like it when men beg,” she said, “But this isn’t the time for it.”
Both with her humor and her cryptic wisdom.
“Men mock the gods until they need them.”
Kaz, on the other hand, is a bit more of a ruthless monster – no gods for him. Just his cane, his smarts, and Inej protecting his back.
“When everyone knows you’re a monster, you needn’t waste time doing every monstrous thing.”
But as the story winds to a close, their relationship isn’t just two thieves working together – something’s blossomed and changed and shifted between them, and Inej demands more.
“How will you have me?” she repeated. “Fully clothed, gloves on, you head turned away so our lips can never touch.”
He released her hand, his shoulders bunching, his gaze angry and ashamed as he turned his face to the sea.
Maybe it was because his back was to her that she could finally speak the words. “I will have you without armor, Kaz Brekker. Or I will not have you at all.”
The question is: will she get it in Crooked Kingdom? Crooked Kingdom releases September 27. For more on Leigh Bardugo, visit her website or follow her on .
