She doesn’t stay for the preaching because it’s about a different god, but she hides and listens to the music and worship as a way to reconnect to her faith. There’s one scene where she talks about how she loves going to a cathedral in the city. She does kill people, but only when absolutely necessary, and she takes it much harder than Kaz, Nina, or the others. It’s not that she just happens to be a more moral person, it’s that she believes in a higher code and personal repercussions in breaking that. Inej is also very concerned about doing the right thing- more so than the other Crows. She refers to her saints often, showing that her beliefs are an important part of her.

She prays to a multitude of saints, and named her knives after many of them to remind herself that they’re always with her and protecting her. Inej’s beliefs are even more central to her character.

Kaz and Inej, the best characters ever (in Inej’s case, it’s not even hyperbole)– art by Twitter user fictograph His faith isn’t looked down on or considered ‘false’ in his world instead, it’s treated as a valid path. He was also taught that the Grisha were evil, but decides that his country leaders had twisted the faith in their teachings. Instead of that lessening his faith, he accepts that his god still built it, but by working through human hands. Along the way, Matthias finds out that his country’s capital wasn’t ‘created’ by the deity he believes in, as he’d been taught, but built by Grisha. Kaz makes fun of Matthias for his beliefs and ‘superstition,’ but that’s just Kaz’s character- it wasn’t like the book mocked the idea of religion. But I rarely see religion as a part of a character.Īlthough most of the ‘Crows’ don’t think much about a higher power, both Inej and Matthias follow their own religions. After all, a lot of teens are religious and take it seriously.

Not a lot of young adult books incorporate religion, unless it’s to make a point about it- which seems unrealistic to me. There’s also Wylan, the runaway son of a rich Ketterdam merchant.

I noticed two specific areas where this happened, all of which were relevant to the story and true to the characters’ backgrounds.įor a reminder of who the main characters are, I wrote a list here. The Six of Crows cultures are only loosely based on real ones, but the characters’ backgrounds and childhood beliefs, many of which stem from the culture they grew up in, influence their choices and differ from each others’ without taking over the story. Great fanart of Matthias and Nina by Tumblr user yutaan

Six of crows duology