Crooked Kingdom: A Sequel to Six of Crows

The loyal, wise, and empathetic Inej serves as one of the novel’s six primary characters and viewpoints. Van Eck holds the 16-year-old prisoner at the beginning of the book, and she refuses to give him information on Kaz even after she loses hope that Kaz will rescue her. As a survivor of human trafficking, Inej possesses great compassion for others’ pain and fights to protect their freedom. She declines to participate in the silo plan until Kaz agrees to help all of the Grisha refugees in Ketterdam leave the city. Inej knows that the Grisha would likely be forced to take jurda parem and turned into living weapons if they were found, and she does not “want to see anyone else made a slave” (187).

Inej also plays the role of Kaz’s love interest. Both characters spend the bulk of the novel trying to resist their romantic attraction toward one another. Nonetheless, Kaz’s feelings for Inej and the wisdom that she shares with him play a pivotal role in his character development. By demonstrating empathy for Kaz and his brother as well as the people Kaz swindled, Inej guides Kaz to examine the ways that he is similar to his most hated enemy, Pekka Rollins. As a result of these conversations, Kaz starts to forgive himself for failing Jordie and, ultimately, to want more from life than vengeance.

Inej’s own story demonstrates The Struggle for Revenge and Redemption alike. She does not regret the lives she takes or the crimes she commits to keep herself and her friends alive, but she believes that she must answer for her actions. She plans to earn forgiveness by “hunting slavers” and “rooting out the merchers and Barrel bosses who profit off of them” (365). In this way, she would not only redeem herself from her wrongdoings but also avenge herself against the slavers who tore her from her home and family when she was only 14. At the end of the novel, Inej enlists Kaz’s help in eliminating the slave trade in Ketterdam, making him part of her mission of freedom and redemption. Inej begins the novel as a captive and ends it as a liberator.

Seventeen-year-old Jesper gives the novel another of its six most important characters and primary viewpoints. In Six of Crows, Jesper’s gambling addiction nearly cost Inej her life because he gave compromising information to the rival gang that held his debts. Jesper also gambled away the loan on his family’s farm. As a result, he spends much of Crooked Kingdom struggling to redeem himself in the eyes of his father and his fellow Dregs. The restless, risk-taking sharpshooter now realizes that these traits are symptoms of hidden pain and must find the courage to heal himself.

Grisha fall ill when they do not use their powers, and Jesper’s friends help him realize that his impulsivity is a “kind of sickness” (342). Jesper must therefore untangle his complicated relationship with his Grisha identity to heal and become his fullest self. His mother died using her Fabrikator powers to save a child’s life. Afterwards, his father taught Jesper to hide his own abilities because he feared that they were a curse that would kill Jesper too. Jesper’s budding relationship with Wylan helps him confront his internalized fear because the merchling “[understands before Jesper […] that the power inside him might be a blessing too” (471). Jesper uses his Fabrikator gift to help Kuwei fake his death, thus protecting all of the world’s Grisha from the threat of parem. His father also comes to accept Jesper’s identity and encourages his son to meet his “mother’s people” (512), the other Grisha in Novyi Zem.

Jesper demonstrates his commitment to change and earns Kaz’s forgiveness by having his share of the crew’s haul placed under his father’s name. At the end of the novel, Jesper finds positive outlets for his energy and fondness for risk by helping Wylan run his newly acquired business empire. The merchling calms the ever-seeking part of Jesper, but it is ultimately embracing his Grisha identity that allows Jesper to heal his relationships with his family, his friends, and himself.

Over the course of the novel, 16-year-old Wylan grows from a frightened boy into a brave young man who knows his own worth. Before the events of Six of Crows, Van Eck hires thugs to kill his son because Wylan cannot read. Wylan survives the murder attempt, but he spends much of the duology believing that his father was right to disown him and wishing that he could vanish. The timid boy feels like an imposter among the Dregs and repeatedly questions his decision to stay with them.

Over time, the Dregs help Wylan find his confidence by “valu[ing] the things he could do instead of punishing him for the things he couldn’t” (322). In particular, Wylan’s friends appreciate his brilliant, inventive mind. His explosives and chemical concoctions save the crew’s lives on multiple occasions, including the siege on Black Veil Island. Jesper adamantly declares that Wylan is “a genius” (222), and the sharpshooter’s affection gradually helps the merchling begin to value himself.

Accepting his inability to read and his feelings for Jesper frees Wylan from the weight of shame. He gains the strength to confront his father and free his mother. These achievements develop the themes of revenge and The Search for Home and Family, respectively. As part of the plan to ruin Van Eck, two disguised Dregs drag Wylan before his father and extract information from him. Even the cruel merchant acknowledges the “spine” Wylan shows by taking “quite a beating” before he divulges his friends’ schemes (445). Wylan endures the pain by remembering his goal of freeing his mother from the asylum. Wylan’s cleverness and resolve help to bring his father to justice.

At the end of the novel, Wylan and his mother reclaim their rightful place in the Van Eck mansion, a home they now share with Jesper. No longer desperate to hide his vulnerabilities, Wylan welcomes Jesper’s help running his new business empire. Wylan’s love for his friends, his mother, and Jesper empowers him to find his courage and self-worth, seize vengeance, and gain a home and family.

Seventeen-year-old Nina is both a playful, loving young woman and a fierce, steadfast fighter. She offers a distinctive viewpoint and rounds out the main cast. Nina helps hold the crew together as a family through her love for Matthias and her unwavering friendship with the other Dregs. In addition, Nina provides comic relief in a novel containing many tense and somber moments; she teases and flirts with the straitlaced Matthias as they prepare for the hostage exchange.

At the same time, Nina contends with grave problems. Her withdrawal from jurda parem raises the story’s stakes and makes global availability of the drug a more personal and compelling threat. Parem alters Nina’s Grisha powers, making her feel cut off from her home and from “the power of creation itself” (312). Nina overcomes her addiction when she embraces her altered abilities and makes a harmless but convincing contagion spread through Ketterdam. The false plague allows Nina and Kuwei to board a Ravkan ship, making the world a safer place for all Grisha and allowing Nina to return home.

The Nina who sails toward Ravka at the novel’s resolution is a different person from the young woman who left its shores. Falling in love with Matthias helps her recognize the humanity of the Fjerdan Grisha hunters she once saw as monsters. Together, she and Matthias dream of saving the other drüskelle from their fear and prejudice and fostering peace between Fjerda and Ravka. After Matthias is fatally shot, Nina carries on their dream for both of them. Just as Nina overcomes her addiction to find herself again, she vows to find Matthias in the next life.