The wonderful Leigh Bardugo has a hugely anticipated novel coming out soon: Crooked Kingdom. It’s the sequel to what many consider one of last year’s very best novels, Six of Crows. Again, Game of Thrones will meet Ocean’s Eleven as the six characters we know and love attempt to survive their success and make their way in Ketterdam’s new world order.
Here’s the blurb:
Kaz Brekker and his crew have just pulled off a heist in the notorious Ice Court so daring even they didn’t think they’d survive. But instead of divvying up a fat reward, they’re right back to fighting for their lives.
Double-crossed and left crippled by a kidnapping, the crew is low on resources, allies, and hope. Powerful forces from around the world descend on Ketterdam to root out the secrets of the dangerous drug known as jurda parem, old rivals and new enemies emerge to challenge Kaz’s cunning and test the team’s fragile loyalties.
A war will be waged on the city’s dark and twisting streets – a battle for revenge and redemption that will decide the fate of the Grisha world.
So, just how excited are you now?
Well, in addition to the official blurb, Leigh, herself, has been in touch to tell us about one of our favourite characters – ever – Jesper. She wanted to tell us a little something we may not already know about him. So, here we go:
“I didn’t know much about Jesper when I started writing Six of Crows, only that he was a sharpshooter. His friendship with Inej, his flirtation with Wylan, and his complicated relationship with Kaz were all things that evolved in the telling of the story. But I think his character really began with the line:
“Jesper always felt better when people were shooting at him.”
Anddddd, as if that isn’t enough, we’ve picked our six favourite scenes (three real, three maybe not, but so easily could be…) that Jesper was involved in and that made us laugh out loud too.
– – –
Jesper knocked his head against the hull and cast his eyes heavenward. “Fine. But if Pekka Rollins kills us all, I’m going to get Wylan’s ghost to teach my ghost how to play the flute just so that I can annoy the hell out of your ghost.”
– – –
“Kaz leaned back. “What’s the easiest way to steal a man’s wallet?”
“Knife to the throat?” asked Inej.
“Gun to the back?” said Jesper.
“Poison in his cup?” suggested Nina.
“You’re all horrible,” said Matthias.
– – –
“Take good care of my babies,” Jesper said as he handed them over to Dirix. “If I see a single scratch or nick on those, I’ll spell forgive me on your chest in bullet holes.”
– – –
Inej and Nina are like the sisters I never had. Because the sisters I do have are normal and not terrifying.
– – –
Jesper: In twenty years, I guarantee I’ll be Wylan’s second husband.
Wylan: What happened to my first husband?
Jesper: Nothing you can prove.
– – –
Wylan: Please tell me you’re still alive.
Jesper: I’m texting you from beyond the grave.
Wylan: I can’t tell if you’re serious or not. Zombies can text.
– – –
From September 21st – 26th, bloggers (like us!) in the US and UK will be paired up to share the secrets of Kaz’s crew as we count down to publication of Crooked Kingdom.
Sounds good, right? Free content! But wait! There’s more! You could win yourself a Crooked Kingdom prize pack full of US AND UK swag (including the coveted Crooked Kingdom socks) by commenting on all twelve blog posts by 11:59pm EST Monday, October 3, 2016.
So, go find those already posted and keep an eye-out for those coming up!
Julia Kitvaria Sarene
Jesper as Wylan’s second husband made me laugh so much
hahahahhaha the last three crack me up 😀 so excited for CK
Eagerly awaiting the release of Crooked Kingdom, in the mean time re-reading The Six of Crows with Goodreads.
I’ve read Six of crows six times by now, lol, and every time that I read the line “Jesper always felt better when people were shooting at him.“, I imagined it was a character defining sentence. I just love it,
Also, those 3 not-so-real Wesper quotes are unbelievably cute.
I’m counting the minutes until CK!
I love the banter
I loved reading Six of Crows, and now Crooked Kingdom is coming out. I’m so excited!
I adore Jasper so much. Mostly because he loves guns. I like guns. I feel it’s a win win. Lol
Such cool ideas about Jesper!!! I’m so excited for the book and I love the concept of his character as a sharp shooter ? Amazing!
Great post. I love those Jesper moments. 🙂
I love Jesper <3
Those blurbs are absolutely perfect in portraying Jesper!!! Couldn’t be better
SIX DAYS UNTIL JESPER AND WYLAN KISS.
Lovely post. I’m so excited for Crooked Kingdom! Aren’t Jesper and Wylan so cute together? <3
Ah, Jesper. I can always count on Jesper to cheer me up! (Also I really hope he gets his gambling problems sorted, ASAP). The first time I read Six of Crows I didn’t LOVE Jesper, but the second time I read it I was completely enamored by him! He is just too awesome not to love, tbh. <3
Haha omg for a second there, I was like ‘WAIT I don’t remember some of those scenes! HOW DID I MISS THAT?!’ and then realized that 3 of them are not real haha… though I could totally see it happen 😉
I love Jesper! I cannot wait for Crooked Kingdom! Also time for another Six Of Crows re read!
hahahahaah “What happened to my first husband?”
“Nothing you can prove.”
I’m dying of laughter! Also at the texting beyond the grave one! Those are so funny and cute. I love every character in these books and I can’t wait to find out what happens in Crooked Kingdom! I’m going to Target the minute it opens so that I can grab a copy for me and my sister!
Those quotes are perfect! I cannot wait for Crooked Kingdom!
“Jesper always felt better when people were shooting at him.” Love that one. 🙂
So excited for Crooked Kingdom!! It’s really hard not to love all these characters!! Jesper is great!!
These mini (maybe) scenes are jus so cute!!!! I love the sisters one and being Wylan’s second husband hahahahaha! Thanks for the awesome share!!!!!
Ahhh I love Jesper!
Jesper knocked his head against the hull and cast his eyes heavenward. “Fine. But if Pekka Rollins kills us all, I’m going to get Wylan’s ghost to teach my ghost how to play the flute just so that I can annoy the hell out of your ghost.”
This is my favorite quote! *v*
Awesome quote choices! So fun!!! Thanks for the blog stop!
Ah Jesper! Love him though I love Wylan more! <#
Hahaha this was great! I’m probably being basic when I admit that Kaz and Inej are my favorites but I really do love Jesper and Wylan too!! Bardugo’s wit and humor in her books never ceases to impress me.
I love Jesper?? He’s so funny!!
oh criminy please let me survive this next book xoxo
To repeat what everyone else has said, I love Jesper! I cannot wait for Crooked Kingdom!
OMG the second passage that you featured is one of my favorites! I love it! There is a rhythmic quality to each response, if you say them in your head. 😀
I can’t wait to read this book!
Aww, your Jesper recounts made me nostalgic. I miss the crew! I need CK so bad. This is the longest week of my life.
So excited to read Six of Crows (I have a copy on the way) and Crooked Kingdom so I can finally meet Jesper. He sounds like a fun guy!
My love for Jesper is too much <3
MY SON!!!!!!! MY CLEVER SON WHO MAKES QUESTIONABLE CHOICES WITH HIS LIFE!!!!!!!! I LOVE HIM!!!!!!!!
Jesper’s wit is one of the best things in the whole book, he made me laugh in almost every scene he was in 🙂
I am so ready to get to know more about Jesper and his family in Crooked Kingdom!! ?
I am so ready to get to know more about Jesper and his family in Crooked Kingdom!! ?
I love the quote about Inej and Nina not being like her sisters. Can’t wait to find out what happens to Inej! I <3 the Wraith!
Can’t wait for crooked kingdom! Love the bit about Jesper being Wylan’s second husband!!
Hahah, Jesper’s card is adorable! Ahhh, I’m so excited for this book! <3
The Jesper art on the poster is the closest to how I imagined him when I first read the books. I seriously love it. Jesper is zee best.I am in love with each and every inch of Jesper. I have never read about a character who is so easy to love, he is extremely likeable. His personality , his humour , just everything about him is swoon-worthy.While I was reading the Jesper POVs in the book , I kept thinking that I desperately want a friend like Jesper. He is unbelievably awesome.
The made up scenes are great! Jesper and Wylan married though is the best ?
I love Jesper! Can’t wait to read Crooked Kingdom.
I can’t wait to get back to Inej, Kaz & Nina’s lives!!!
“Zombies can text” that’s hilarious.
The release is so close and I’m so excited! 😀
Jesper, in my opinion, is the shadiest dreg. I feel like I know more about Matthias and he doesn’t even have a POV in Six of Crows. Excited to know more !!
*Wylan not Matthias omg i hate myself HAHAHAHA
Jesper is my second favorite male character in the series. Just reading those Jesper scenes makes me want to re-read Six of Crows right now!
This is getting me so excited for Crooked Kingdom!
Omg, Wylan’s second husband! ?
Im soo excited for this! Jesper is my favourite!!!! The character art for him is gorgeous tf. It was just exactly the way I imagined him and it gave be stupidly high expectations of all the other characters??
I want to see more Jesper. I love the card!
So glad I preordered CK on audio. 😀
Super excited for Crooked kingdom! Only a day and a half left 😀
I didn’t realize how long a day could be until today. Only one more day until I can get my hands on Crooked Kingdom!
I love how Jesper started out as a character she didn’t know much about!! I love that aspect. So mysterious!
Omg feels
I love Jesper’s adrenaline junkie ways. So destructive, but so fun to read about. It will be interesting to read about his life on the farm, where I’m assuming no one shot at him.
I love Jesper flirting with Wylan. It’s so cute! I hope we get more in dept with his character in the next book!
Jesper is awesome! I liked his attitude so much!
I’m so excited to read Crooked Kingdom. 🙂
I had forgot how funny Jesper is until I started re-reading SoC. He is definetly like that active child that you have to keep an eye on, but he is such a fun character! I also loved your added scenes, lol! So Jesper!
I love the quote about Nina and Inej. The characters in this book have such a fun dynamic with each other!
Hahaha!!
Jesper is hysterical!!! And oh my goodness those last three…bwaha!!
Can’t wait to get my hands on the book already!!!!
Those scenes are quite possibly the best scenes I have ever read and it just made me love Jesper so much more.
And I love how Wylan just accepts that Jesper is going to be his husband. THEY’RE TOO CUTE.
I’m so scared for Jesper, I really hope he survives to happily marry Wylan!
I literally couldn’t be more excited
I literally couldn’t be more excited
LOL. Jesper and Wylan are both babies, and they need to be cared for!!!! Preferably by each other. XD JESPER MAH BOY U KEEP DOING YOU U BEAUTIFUL RAY OF SUNSHINE!!!
Jesper is such a great character, and has some of the best lines too!
Oh Jesper–he keeps us laughing, and I really want to know more about him in Crooked Kingdom.
It’s time for me to read the Grisha books. The more I learn about them the more excited I get. Added to TBR!
I need this new book! Jesper and Wylan are the best!! I forgive Jesper for accidentally betraying them! These were awesome quotes! I love how Wylan just accepts and goes along with Jespers crazy!
I think we can tell that Jesper has a good heart inside even though he’s made some bad decisions that could have cost the others their lives. He teases Wylan without bullying him, acts as a role model for the guys without being overbearing. He respects Inej and Nina, treats them fairly and equally. He trusts Kaz even if he become frustrated at times, he keeps his frustration in check. There aren’t scenes where Jesper is screaming at everyone, losing his cool, and this just makes him so likeable. It makes him easy to root for.
I wonder what is in the future with Jesper and Wylan! They have some really funny scenes together. But Jesper is awesome and I can’t wait to learn more about him in Crooked Kingdom.
I can’t wait to read this! I just read the Grisha series last month, and I am hooked. I am so excited to start Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom now.
I’m really looking forward to reading Crooked Kingdom!
I know the last three aren’t real, but I can totally see him saying 4 and 5. xD
“Zombies can text.” HA!
That is a very telling trait that Leigh mentions as well. I’ve been reading all these posts in reverse order, and on every single one, I think, “Oooh, maybe THIS Is my favorite character.” They are all so distinct and fun-yet-complex.
The first quote is one of my absolute favorite ones in Six of Crows, and the one with Wylan’s second husband should definitely be in one of the books!
Jesper! My love for Jesper is enormous! He is my ultimate favorite character. Inej is the one I fell in love with first and Jesper was the character, as soon as I closed Six of Crows, was like Yes, this is the one.
“Take good care of my babies,” Jesper said as he handed them over to Dirix. “If I see a single scratch or nick on those, I’ll spell forgive me on your chest in bullet holes.”
One of my favorite quotes! gotta love Jesper and his revolvers 🙂
They are all kings and queens! I love these books!
That smirk tho. 😉 I adore Jesper and I’m glad we find out more about him in Crooked Kingdom.
I adore Jesper so much, he was one of my favourite characters in six of crows and crooked kingdom he has such a great wit and I always enjoy the humour he brings to all of his scenes. I also think he and wylan are perfect for each other and they are so good together! I was pleasantly surprised with his chapters in crooked kingdom and found myself loving his back story so much, also his relationship with his father is super sweet!
I can’t wait to read CROOKED KINGDOM! I loved Jesper, and I can’t wait to see him in CK!
I’m so excited for Crooked Kingdom! I love those last 3 quotes, especially the last two. I am looking forward to seeing more of Jesper and Wylan in Crooked Kingdom!
Absolutely can’t wait for Crooked Kingdom!
I.. heh. I thought it said “Sex scenes with Jesper” and LOL! That would have been very different 😀 Anyway. Awesome blog tour post 😀 Loves the Jesper scenes. <3 He is an amazing character and I adore him oh so much.
Those first two scenes ? Jesper was one of the first characters I fell in love with, he made me laugh so much <3
Jesper and his wit. Gotta love him.
Jesper is definitely the best character of all time. WESPER