Six of Crows Blog
Book review # 1
The novel six of crows written by Leigh Bardugo takes place in a fantasy world Loosely based on the Dutch Republic of the 17th century. Magic holders of this land are called Grisha, They are treated like servants and at the bottom of the social hierarchy. Grisha are typically divided into three divisions based on the power they possess, Corporalki can alter the human body. They are typically healers. The second is Eheralki or Squallers; they can manipulate the elements like turning water to ice or sending objects through the air. The final group is Materalki or fabricators; they control composite materials like metal or fabric; they can also create poisons.
The government of this world has found a drug named Jurda Parem Which greatly enhances Grisha's abilities It allows healers to control people's minds, essentially turning their brains to mush. Squallers can control earth and rock formations, fly through the air, and move through walls. And fabricators can turn metal to gold, or anything they wish.
At the start of the story in the city of Kennerdam we are introduced to some of our main characters, Kaz, Enej, and Jesper, members of a gang, as they fight “the back tips” of the rival gang in the city. It doesn't take long for the three of them to completely wipe out the threat proving just how powerful they are. Kaz is the leader of “the Dregs”, a prominent gang in the city of Kennerdam. At only 17 he is known to be ruthless and powerful beyond odds. Enej is the wraith of the group, she is known to move cat-like fast and silent, she kills people with the many knives she has stashed and moves without detection. Jesper is an arrogant member. He's the sharpshooter with a big head.
While they celebrate their win against the black tips Kaz is kidnapped by a squalor Grisha under the effects of Jeruda param, The man behind it all Van Eck is a merchant sent on behalf of the council of Ravka. He informs Kaz of the drug and employs him for a mission, the creator of the Jurda Parem, Bo Yul Bayur made it by accident and wished to seek asylum from the council but his country, Fjeda, imprisoned him in the ice court, an impenetrable fortress. They task Kaz in breaking him out before the recipe of Jurda Parem gets into the wrong hands.
The mission is destined to fail, no person has ever broken into the ice Court but Kaz is the best thief known, so they offer him 40 million dollars to assemble a team and complete the mission.
He gathers members of his gang, Enej, and Jesper who after hearing of the payment agree to join, he then convinces a Grisha member named Nina who is a Corporalki.
She only agrees because she wishes to kill Bo Yul Bayur for creating Jurda Parem, she believes his experiments on Grisha are disgusting. She also wishes to break her ex-lover Matthias out of prison with the help of Kaz, hoping that he will prove a valuable asset to the team. Together Kaz Enej and Nina work to break Matthias out of prison. When they find him they discover his time there was awful, he was badly beaten. Nina works to heal him but when he sees her he takes hold of her neck and tries to kill her. Kaz quickly sedates him and they break free.
We find out that Matthias was a Druskelle or a Grisha hunter, Druskella originates from Fjeda, they believe Grisha are unnatural and kill any they come across. Years before he had captured Nina from Ravka with a brigade of other hunters planning to sail to Fjeda but along the way the ship capsized leaving Nina and Matthias the only 2 survivors. As they made their way to civilization, saving each other's lives in the process many times, they gained trust and started to fall in love. When they finally got to civilization Matthias was prepared to leave the Druskelle for Nina and run away with her. But she went to a law informant officer and accused Mattias of slave trafficking, that's when he was arrested and put in prison. At this point in the book we still don't know why Nina did that to him, or why she felt so awful after.
Nevertheless, when Matthias wakes and is told of the mission he refuses, the ice court is in Fjera his home county, he feels like he already betrayed his country once by falling in love with Nina he cannot do it again by allowing this group of people to break in and steal one of their assets. Kaz convinces him, by securing a pardon from the prison Mattias was in and offers it to him only if he completes the mission without killing Nina.
Begrudgingly Mattias agrees if only to be out of prison and reunite with his people.
The last member of the team Kaz recruits is Wylan, An expert in explosives and the son of Van Eck. The other members of the team have their reservations about him due to his small appearance, but Kaz reassures them that Wylan Is the insurance that Van Eck goes through with the payment.
So now that the team is made, they plan their attack. Using Mattias’s knowledge of Fjeran Security protocols They plan to intentionally get arrested at the ice Court and then Escape with Bo Yul Bayur. As the time comes to sail to Fjera the team assembles on the dock in order to load into the boat, until it blows up. Every member is sent scattered, some more injured than others as the rival gang the black tips leads an assault on them for revenge.
Kaz then informs the group he knew it was a possibility and secured a second boat docked further away, in groups they make their way to the real boat while fighting off rival gang members.
Inej injured from the initial blow is attacked and badly wounded, she manages to kill the man attacking her but not before being stabbed in the stomach multiple times. She tries to get away but is too wounded so she succumbs to bleeding out. Until Kaz finds her and carries her to the boat, the two of them arrive and he forces Nina to heal her in a panic.
Jensper and Wyaln bring a captive onboard to question about the attack and the boat sets sail.
Kaz, still very shaken and mad from Inejs injuries, questions the man brutally until he reveals Pekka Rollins, Kaz's arch nemesis, ordered the attack. Kaz kills the man and the journey continues. It takes 5 days to sail to Fjera and Ineje heals from her injuries. The 6 of them continue on and devise a way to sneak into the prison and act like inmates. While doing so they are attacked by 2 Gresha under the influence of Jurda Parem, they now know other teams have been devised to break Bo Yul Bayur out of the ice court, if others have such powerful Grisha the six’s odds of completing the mission is slim to none.
They defeat the Grisha by killing them much to Nina's dismay, she loves her people more than anything, and she insists on barring them which Kaz Refuses, Causing tension in the group. Mattias slowly recovering his feelings for her agrees to help her bury them despite his hatred towards Grisha.
That concludes the first half of Six of crows.
The government of this world has found a drug named Jurda Parem Which greatly enhances Grisha's abilities It allows healers to control people's minds, essentially turning their brains to mush. Squallers can control earth and rock formations, fly through the air, and move through walls. And fabricators can turn metal to gold, or anything they wish.
At the start of the story in the city of Kennerdam we are introduced to some of our main characters, Kaz, Enej, and Jesper, members of a gang, as they fight “the back tips” of the rival gang in the city. It doesn't take long for the three of them to completely wipe out the threat proving just how powerful they are. Kaz is the leader of “the Dregs”, a prominent gang in the city of Kennerdam. At only 17 he is known to be ruthless and powerful beyond odds. Enej is the wraith of the group, she is known to move cat-like fast and silent, she kills people with the many knives she has stashed and moves without detection. Jesper is an arrogant member. He's the sharpshooter with a big head.
While they celebrate their win against the black tips Kaz is kidnapped by a squalor Grisha under the effects of Jeruda param, The man behind it all Van Eck is a merchant sent on behalf of the council of Ravka. He informs Kaz of the drug and employs him for a mission, the creator of the Jurda Parem, Bo Yul Bayur made it by accident and wished to seek asylum from the council but his country, Fjeda, imprisoned him in the ice court, an impenetrable fortress. They task Kaz in breaking him out before the recipe of Jurda Parem gets into the wrong hands.
The mission is destined to fail, no person has ever broken into the ice Court but Kaz is the best thief known, so they offer him 40 million dollars to assemble a team and complete the mission.
He gathers members of his gang, Enej, and Jesper who after hearing of the payment agree to join, he then convinces a Grisha member named Nina who is a Corporalki.
She only agrees because she wishes to kill Bo Yul Bayur for creating Jurda Parem, she believes his experiments on Grisha are disgusting. She also wishes to break her ex-lover Matthias out of prison with the help of Kaz, hoping that he will prove a valuable asset to the team. Together Kaz Enej and Nina work to break Matthias out of prison. When they find him they discover his time there was awful, he was badly beaten. Nina works to heal him but when he sees her he takes hold of her neck and tries to kill her. Kaz quickly sedates him and they break free.
We find out that Matthias was a Druskelle or a Grisha hunter, Druskella originates from Fjeda, they believe Grisha are unnatural and kill any they come across. Years before he had captured Nina from Ravka with a brigade of other hunters planning to sail to Fjeda but along the way the ship capsized leaving Nina and Matthias the only 2 survivors. As they made their way to civilization, saving each other's lives in the process many times, they gained trust and started to fall in love. When they finally got to civilization Matthias was prepared to leave the Druskelle for Nina and run away with her. But she went to a law informant officer and accused Mattias of slave trafficking, that's when he was arrested and put in prison. At this point in the book we still don't know why Nina did that to him, or why she felt so awful after.
Nevertheless, when Matthias wakes and is told of the mission he refuses, the ice court is in Fjera his home county, he feels like he already betrayed his country once by falling in love with Nina he cannot do it again by allowing this group of people to break in and steal one of their assets. Kaz convinces him, by securing a pardon from the prison Mattias was in and offers it to him only if he completes the mission without killing Nina.
Begrudgingly Mattias agrees if only to be out of prison and reunite with his people.
The last member of the team Kaz recruits is Wylan, An expert in explosives and the son of Van Eck. The other members of the team have their reservations about him due to his small appearance, but Kaz reassures them that Wylan Is the insurance that Van Eck goes through with the payment.
So now that the team is made, they plan their attack. Using Mattias’s knowledge of Fjeran Security protocols They plan to intentionally get arrested at the ice Court and then Escape with Bo Yul Bayur. As the time comes to sail to Fjera the team assembles on the dock in order to load into the boat, until it blows up. Every member is sent scattered, some more injured than others as the rival gang the black tips leads an assault on them for revenge.
Kaz then informs the group he knew it was a possibility and secured a second boat docked further away, in groups they make their way to the real boat while fighting off rival gang members.
Inej injured from the initial blow is attacked and badly wounded, she manages to kill the man attacking her but not before being stabbed in the stomach multiple times. She tries to get away but is too wounded so she succumbs to bleeding out. Until Kaz finds her and carries her to the boat, the two of them arrive and he forces Nina to heal her in a panic.
Jensper and Wyaln bring a captive onboard to question about the attack and the boat sets sail.
Kaz, still very shaken and mad from Inejs injuries, questions the man brutally until he reveals Pekka Rollins, Kaz's arch nemesis, ordered the attack. Kaz kills the man and the journey continues. It takes 5 days to sail to Fjera and Ineje heals from her injuries. The 6 of them continue on and devise a way to sneak into the prison and act like inmates. While doing so they are attacked by 2 Gresha under the influence of Jurda Parem, they now know other teams have been devised to break Bo Yul Bayur out of the ice court, if others have such powerful Grisha the six’s odds of completing the mission is slim to none.
They defeat the Grisha by killing them much to Nina's dismay, she loves her people more than anything, and she insists on barring them which Kaz Refuses, Causing tension in the group. Mattias slowly recovering his feelings for her agrees to help her bury them despite his hatred towards Grisha.
That concludes the first half of Six of crows.
Book review # 2
Soon the team makes their way to the Ice court border. As the story unfolds, we learn about each character's backstory and motivations. Kaz's desire for revenge against Pekka Rollins, in Ketterdam is a driving force behind his actions because when he was a child Pekka scammed his family out of their savings leading to their homelessness and eventual death, he survived and ruthlessly became the leader he is due to the trauma. We find that Inej seeks freedom from her traumatic past. She was a slave In a pleasure house until Kaz found her and bought her contract from the leader of the home. Through the story she struggles with what this means for her relationship with Kaz as well as her own Identity. Nina struggles with her loyalty to the Grisha and her plan to kill Bo Yul Bayur while balancing with her newfound affection for Matthias, her former enemy.
The heist itself is very complex, they stick to the plan by disguising themselves as prisoners so they can sneak into the prison unnoticed. After doing that successfully they are split by gender so the group is no longer together. Matthias struggles being back in his home country he still feels loyalty to the drüskelle but also to his new found crew. As night falls they are locked into cells and Kaz uses his lock picking skills to free the men, he goes to the women's prison to free Inej and Nina while Wylan, Matthias, and, Jesper go to the basement to prepare the incinerator shaft for Inej to climb to give them access to the roof.
After Kaz frees the women he and Nina go searching the rest of the prison cells in case Bo Yul Bayur was there. Secretly Kaz is looking for Pekka Rollins, he knows Peeka is completing the same mission he is and is likely in the same position. He plans to kill the man for revenge.
Nina searches the 3rd floor prison while Kaz searches the 4th and 5th, Nina not knowing the search was for Pekka grows suspicious. She decides to search for Kaz but runs into some of the prison guards alerting them to the invasion.
The crew's cover is blown and Nina runs to the basement to meet with the rest of the team, Kaz finds Pekka in a cell but it's not revealed what he does, we assume kaz killed the man before meeting with the rest of the crew.
All together again and hidden in the basement Inej tries to climb the incinerator shaft but while she's a few floors up it unexpectedly turns on. Her hands and feet immediately burn, she thinks she is going to die. But continues to climb despite the pain all while thinking about her loyalty to Kaz. Shockingly she makes it up the shaft onto the roof and throws down a rope for the rest of the team.
They regroup on the roof and debate what to do now their cover is blown. They can't explore the prison searching for Bo Yul Bayur if security is on high alert. Some think they should call it quits and leave but Kaz refuses.
In the center of the ice court there was a party being held, Inej volunteers to act as a pleasure house slave and sneak in so the rest of the team can gather intel. Nina joins her and together they disguise themselves and sneak in. Their assumption being Bo Yul Bayur would be held somewhere in the center heavily guarded.
Kaz and Matthias steal guard uniforms and also sneak into the party while Jesper and Wylan secure an escape method.
Inej is recognized by her old owner and they fight, Inej wanting justice for the abuse she endured. Nina is now alone looking for Bo Yul Bayur, shockingly she finds Jarl Brum the drüskelle leader, in the crowd. He was the man who originally captured her before their boat capsized, she had assumed he was dead. She knew he would know where Bo Yul Bayur was kept so she approached him under the cover of a pleasure house slave. She flirted with the man until he took her away from the party. She expressed interest in learning about grisha from the man, playing dumb.
He takes her to a vault in the very center of the ice court, the inside was changed into a prison holding grisha under the influence of Jurda Parem. Nina cringes but keeps her cool trying to get as much information as possible, Jarl Brum shows her how they have changed the drug from a powder to a gas making its effects more powerful. He then leads her into a room, and drops the act. He knew the whole time who she was and lured her into a cell. Terrified she begs to be let out but Matthias shows up in front of her, he gave away her ruse to Jarl Brum before they ran into each other, he claims he always planned to betray her and would never give up loyalty to his country, (i was on the floor sobbing, flabbergasted, shocked)
He and Jarl walk away from Nina and Jarl tells Matthias he will get him pardoned and reinstate him as a drüskelle. Matthias hugs him and knocks him out while apologizing. He loved Nina and was willing to give up his country, his title, and his loyalty to be with her. He freed her and together they searched the vault and found the scientist.
Only it's not Bo Yul Bayur, it's his son Kuwei Yul-Bo, he reveals his father made the drug by accident and died in the process. He was locked up and was attempting to recreate the recipe.
Nina debates killing him, Bo Yul Bayur is dead so the likeness of getting a full playout was already gone. But Kuwei Yul-Bo still knew the recipe and could still harm the grisha, Nina tries and fails to kill him her consciousness won't allow her. So she and Matthias take him with them as they meet back up with Kaz.
Jesper and Wylan met with Inej after her fight and the three of them steal a fully armored tank (this happened in like 2 pages so you just gotta roll with it) They pick up Kaz, Matthias, Nina, and Kuwei and the 7 of them speed to the dock wear their ship is stashed.
When they get there, there are hundreds of ice court soldiers blocking their path. They think it's the end and they have no weare to go. Until Nina reveals her trump card. She stole a dose of Jurda Parem, Matthias begs her not to take it because once she does she will die without it. She sacrifices herself and takes the drug. The effects hit and she's able to wipe out the whole army.
Safely on the ship sailing back to kenderdam Nina starts going through withdrawals, she will die soon without another dose, she's now a slave to the drug but refuses to take another. She doesn't want to live addicted to it. Matthias has to grieve the life he gave up for her, while she's dying right in front of him. (really sad)
Switching perspectives, Kaz and Inej conversate about what they will do with the money they receive. Inej tells Kaz of her dreams to sail the world. She wants to go back home to the family she was kidnapped from and fight the slave traders. Kaz supports her dream but also wishes she would stay, over the course of the mission he realizes his feelings for her. She tells him she loves him back but he makes it impossible. She says she will stay only if he can't love her unconditionally. Kaz knowing he cant doesnt respond (i died dead)
They make it back to kenderdam and Nina is barely hanging on but she's alive. She and “Waylan” stay on the ship while the rest of the team meets with Van Eck to get their payment.
He arrives and hands Kaz a trunk filled with money. They trade Kuwei Yul-Bo, but as the team goes to leave drugged grisha appear and start fighting them. Van Eck wasnt with the council anymore and never intended to pay them for the mission, he wanted the recipe to himself. Kaz had a feeling this would happen, he was already prepared for the possibility. The Kuwei Yul-Bo in trade was not actually him. It was Waylen in disguise.
Van Eck, faced with his cast out son, feels nothing but anger over the trick, he orders the grisha to capture the team. They start to close in and Kaz looks at Inej in fear. Van Eck sees this and changes his orders. He forces the grisha to capture just Inej, Kaz’s weakness. Van Eck tells Kaz and the team that if they don't deliver Kuwei Yul-Bo to him within the week he will kill Inej then the rest of them. He then leaves the stunned team.
In the epilogue it's revealed that in the ice court Kaz didn't kill Pekka Rollins he let him free in exchange for a favor, knowing he would get his revenge eventually. The book ends with Kaz trading Pekka Rollins some of his gang operations for 100,000 dollars. He plans to take down Van Eck and get his girl back.
Throughout the book, themes of friendship, loyalty, redemption, and the impact of one's past choices are explored. Each character undergoes significant development, with themselves and their relationships as they confront their inner demons. This is a story of unlikely heroes coming together to achieve the impossible. Overall I liked the book, it was long and very very confusing. I didn't know what was going on half the time but did my best to keep up. The ending pissed me off, I’m not huge on fantasy and I probably never will be this book being a perfect example as of why. I loved the story and adored the characters but the world building and overly convoluted twisted damppond the story. Also it was close to 600 pages and still left on a cliffhanger which left a bitter taste in my mouth. I think this will help me write my own story because the complex characters are a great example of good writing. Their relationships and subtle emotions will be a good place to base my own characters on.
The heist itself is very complex, they stick to the plan by disguising themselves as prisoners so they can sneak into the prison unnoticed. After doing that successfully they are split by gender so the group is no longer together. Matthias struggles being back in his home country he still feels loyalty to the drüskelle but also to his new found crew. As night falls they are locked into cells and Kaz uses his lock picking skills to free the men, he goes to the women's prison to free Inej and Nina while Wylan, Matthias, and, Jesper go to the basement to prepare the incinerator shaft for Inej to climb to give them access to the roof.
After Kaz frees the women he and Nina go searching the rest of the prison cells in case Bo Yul Bayur was there. Secretly Kaz is looking for Pekka Rollins, he knows Peeka is completing the same mission he is and is likely in the same position. He plans to kill the man for revenge.
Nina searches the 3rd floor prison while Kaz searches the 4th and 5th, Nina not knowing the search was for Pekka grows suspicious. She decides to search for Kaz but runs into some of the prison guards alerting them to the invasion.
The crew's cover is blown and Nina runs to the basement to meet with the rest of the team, Kaz finds Pekka in a cell but it's not revealed what he does, we assume kaz killed the man before meeting with the rest of the crew.
All together again and hidden in the basement Inej tries to climb the incinerator shaft but while she's a few floors up it unexpectedly turns on. Her hands and feet immediately burn, she thinks she is going to die. But continues to climb despite the pain all while thinking about her loyalty to Kaz. Shockingly she makes it up the shaft onto the roof and throws down a rope for the rest of the team.
They regroup on the roof and debate what to do now their cover is blown. They can't explore the prison searching for Bo Yul Bayur if security is on high alert. Some think they should call it quits and leave but Kaz refuses.
In the center of the ice court there was a party being held, Inej volunteers to act as a pleasure house slave and sneak in so the rest of the team can gather intel. Nina joins her and together they disguise themselves and sneak in. Their assumption being Bo Yul Bayur would be held somewhere in the center heavily guarded.
Kaz and Matthias steal guard uniforms and also sneak into the party while Jesper and Wylan secure an escape method.
Inej is recognized by her old owner and they fight, Inej wanting justice for the abuse she endured. Nina is now alone looking for Bo Yul Bayur, shockingly she finds Jarl Brum the drüskelle leader, in the crowd. He was the man who originally captured her before their boat capsized, she had assumed he was dead. She knew he would know where Bo Yul Bayur was kept so she approached him under the cover of a pleasure house slave. She flirted with the man until he took her away from the party. She expressed interest in learning about grisha from the man, playing dumb.
He takes her to a vault in the very center of the ice court, the inside was changed into a prison holding grisha under the influence of Jurda Parem. Nina cringes but keeps her cool trying to get as much information as possible, Jarl Brum shows her how they have changed the drug from a powder to a gas making its effects more powerful. He then leads her into a room, and drops the act. He knew the whole time who she was and lured her into a cell. Terrified she begs to be let out but Matthias shows up in front of her, he gave away her ruse to Jarl Brum before they ran into each other, he claims he always planned to betray her and would never give up loyalty to his country, (i was on the floor sobbing, flabbergasted, shocked)
He and Jarl walk away from Nina and Jarl tells Matthias he will get him pardoned and reinstate him as a drüskelle. Matthias hugs him and knocks him out while apologizing. He loved Nina and was willing to give up his country, his title, and his loyalty to be with her. He freed her and together they searched the vault and found the scientist.
Only it's not Bo Yul Bayur, it's his son Kuwei Yul-Bo, he reveals his father made the drug by accident and died in the process. He was locked up and was attempting to recreate the recipe.
Nina debates killing him, Bo Yul Bayur is dead so the likeness of getting a full playout was already gone. But Kuwei Yul-Bo still knew the recipe and could still harm the grisha, Nina tries and fails to kill him her consciousness won't allow her. So she and Matthias take him with them as they meet back up with Kaz.
Jesper and Wylan met with Inej after her fight and the three of them steal a fully armored tank (this happened in like 2 pages so you just gotta roll with it) They pick up Kaz, Matthias, Nina, and Kuwei and the 7 of them speed to the dock wear their ship is stashed.
When they get there, there are hundreds of ice court soldiers blocking their path. They think it's the end and they have no weare to go. Until Nina reveals her trump card. She stole a dose of Jurda Parem, Matthias begs her not to take it because once she does she will die without it. She sacrifices herself and takes the drug. The effects hit and she's able to wipe out the whole army.
Safely on the ship sailing back to kenderdam Nina starts going through withdrawals, she will die soon without another dose, she's now a slave to the drug but refuses to take another. She doesn't want to live addicted to it. Matthias has to grieve the life he gave up for her, while she's dying right in front of him. (really sad)
Switching perspectives, Kaz and Inej conversate about what they will do with the money they receive. Inej tells Kaz of her dreams to sail the world. She wants to go back home to the family she was kidnapped from and fight the slave traders. Kaz supports her dream but also wishes she would stay, over the course of the mission he realizes his feelings for her. She tells him she loves him back but he makes it impossible. She says she will stay only if he can't love her unconditionally. Kaz knowing he cant doesnt respond (i died dead)
They make it back to kenderdam and Nina is barely hanging on but she's alive. She and “Waylan” stay on the ship while the rest of the team meets with Van Eck to get their payment.
He arrives and hands Kaz a trunk filled with money. They trade Kuwei Yul-Bo, but as the team goes to leave drugged grisha appear and start fighting them. Van Eck wasnt with the council anymore and never intended to pay them for the mission, he wanted the recipe to himself. Kaz had a feeling this would happen, he was already prepared for the possibility. The Kuwei Yul-Bo in trade was not actually him. It was Waylen in disguise.
Van Eck, faced with his cast out son, feels nothing but anger over the trick, he orders the grisha to capture the team. They start to close in and Kaz looks at Inej in fear. Van Eck sees this and changes his orders. He forces the grisha to capture just Inej, Kaz’s weakness. Van Eck tells Kaz and the team that if they don't deliver Kuwei Yul-Bo to him within the week he will kill Inej then the rest of them. He then leaves the stunned team.
In the epilogue it's revealed that in the ice court Kaz didn't kill Pekka Rollins he let him free in exchange for a favor, knowing he would get his revenge eventually. The book ends with Kaz trading Pekka Rollins some of his gang operations for 100,000 dollars. He plans to take down Van Eck and get his girl back.
Throughout the book, themes of friendship, loyalty, redemption, and the impact of one's past choices are explored. Each character undergoes significant development, with themselves and their relationships as they confront their inner demons. This is a story of unlikely heroes coming together to achieve the impossible. Overall I liked the book, it was long and very very confusing. I didn't know what was going on half the time but did my best to keep up. The ending pissed me off, I’m not huge on fantasy and I probably never will be this book being a perfect example as of why. I loved the story and adored the characters but the world building and overly convoluted twisted damppond the story. Also it was close to 600 pages and still left on a cliffhanger which left a bitter taste in my mouth. I think this will help me write my own story because the complex characters are a great example of good writing. Their relationships and subtle emotions will be a good place to base my own characters on.
STORYBOARD for my own work
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creative writing
The snow melts red full story
For this assignment I was tasked to write a 15 page short story following any plot or idea I wanted. I decided to write "the snow melts red" this is been an idea of mine for quite a while now. In my free time I tend to write a lot of stories about investigation or murder mysteries because I find them very interesting. I also read a lot of romance novels so the romantic element was a no brainer.
When writing this story I was very inspired by the Taylor Swift song "no body no crime" the song is about a girl solving and getting revenge for her best friends murder. When writing the character of Rose I heavily wrote her after my best friend Ray. The love Layla has for Rose is very similar to my love for Ray. Writing there interactions was very enjoyable for me because it reminded me of her.
I found this assignment surprisingly difficult, As someone who writes a reads a lot I assumed this would have been fairly easy but with expectations and deadlines attached I found myself struggling at times. The ending was especially difficult for me due to the action sequence's. When preparing to write this story I read a fantasy novel to hopefully better my writing of action. I think the book I read originally helped a little bit but overall I found it hard to write action without it feeling lackluster.
When writing I tend to start things but never finish them, this class forced me to complete this story, had I written it out of my own volition it wound not have gone any farther then the first few pages. This class helped me prove to myself that I can finish stories if I keep trying. overall I'm proud of the work I completed and the story I wrote.
For this assignment I was tasked to write a 15 page short story following any plot or idea I wanted. I decided to write "the snow melts red" this is been an idea of mine for quite a while now. In my free time I tend to write a lot of stories about investigation or murder mysteries because I find them very interesting. I also read a lot of romance novels so the romantic element was a no brainer.
When writing this story I was very inspired by the Taylor Swift song "no body no crime" the song is about a girl solving and getting revenge for her best friends murder. When writing the character of Rose I heavily wrote her after my best friend Ray. The love Layla has for Rose is very similar to my love for Ray. Writing there interactions was very enjoyable for me because it reminded me of her.
I found this assignment surprisingly difficult, As someone who writes a reads a lot I assumed this would have been fairly easy but with expectations and deadlines attached I found myself struggling at times. The ending was especially difficult for me due to the action sequence's. When preparing to write this story I read a fantasy novel to hopefully better my writing of action. I think the book I read originally helped a little bit but overall I found it hard to write action without it feeling lackluster.
When writing I tend to start things but never finish them, this class forced me to complete this story, had I written it out of my own volition it wound not have gone any farther then the first few pages. This class helped me prove to myself that I can finish stories if I keep trying. overall I'm proud of the work I completed and the story I wrote.
This is how I pictured Laylas home
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This is how I imagined the stained glass at the funeral home during Roses funeral
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This is how I pictured Roses car crash
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