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Bitterblue Graceling Kristin Cashore Ian Schoenherr Books

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Bitterblue Graceling Kristin Cashore Ian Schoenherr Books

Bitterblue is the best book in this series by far. After we left Princess Bitterblue in Graceling, I was curious to see how her future would turn out now that Leck isn't at the helm of her life. I'm glad she got her own story, and I can't believe I almost didn't read this book because I didn't love the last two. This book is worlds better than the other two, and Cashore's writing has significantly improved since book one. Although Bitterblue follows characters introduced in Graceling and features cameos from characters in Fire, I do think it could be read as a standalone, or as a sequel to Graceling, omitting Fire. I will say having the knowledge from Fire definitely added to my reading experience of this book, but it is not pertinent to read that book prior to Bitterblue.

I loved the characters in this story. Bitterblue is lovely (I actually like her more than Katsa), and it was so nice to see how she's matured since her childhood in Graceling. Moreso, I loved the evolution and progression of her character and strengths from the beginning of this book to the end. Cashore has a talent for writing really strong female leads that have great arcs of character development throughout the story, being tested in many ways but always emerging triumphant and stronger in the end. Of all the characters in this book, I think I liked Sapphire the most (and his name is pure gold). He was unpleasant at times, but I continued rooting for him and I loved when he showed up in scenes. He, too, goes through some nice moral changes as the story progresses.

My very favourite scene in this whole book is when Bitterblue walks into the courthouse while Saf is on trial. I listened to that part of the book on audio, and I was laughing so much at how ironically funny it was. Simply charming.

One thing I wish we were given more details about was the romance. Bitterblue and Sapphire had a kind of relationship that could have been more intimate than we saw it, but we don't know what happened to them after the story ended. Bitterblue also seemed fond of Giddon, but their relationship was always only platonic. I could see it turning into something more in the future, but we readers won't know what happens with Bitterblue's possible suitors because the story was left open-ended with this matter.

In Bitterblue, the use of ciphers and codes and secret messages is paramount to the story. I've always been interested in that kind of thing but never had an aptitude for it, so I enjoy reading about it in books from time to time, watching the characters figure out the puzzles piece by piece. Each new message that Bitterblue deciphers or each code that she had to break had me completely enthralled with how detailed they were, how complex they were to solve. And their prevalence goes to show that Bitterblue really couldn't trust anyone. Truly, I had no idea who was on her side and who was putting on a facade. People were changing their allegiances in the middle of the book, discovered to be an enemy but then ended up being an ally, and vice versa. That is one thing Cashore did really well in this book: she had me completely unable to trust any of the characters. Even the main characters that were most present in the story were under scrutiny from Bitterblue, and I can't imagine that strain on her as an emerging queen. Luckily, all answers were elucidated by the end of the book.

I did think it was weird, for how focused on characterization Cashore is in her writing, that we never got to meet the spies. Bitterblue mentions her spies quite a bit, and at first I thought that was a pretense for her guards, that her "spies" were actually herself and Saf and Teddy. But then I realized she actually does have spies, but we never got to meet them or know their names. I found that a bit strange with how much this book revolves around secrets and the acquisition of information.

I like that this book heavily relied on politics, but they didn't control the story like they did in Fire. In Fire, the politics were the story, and the plot became very dry and boring. But in Bitterblue, the politics enhanced the story, and that was so much more enjoyable to me. I think politics are crucial to any good fantasy that takes place in a medieval setting with castles and rulers, but I find that they can make or break my interest in the story.

Overall, Bitterblue was an excellent conclusion to an otherwise ordinary trilogy. Cashore's writing has developed greatly since her debut novel, and I believe she will continue to grow even stronger in that skill as time goes on. She writes great characters and interesting political plotlines with shocking revelations throughout. This story was long, but it didn't feel that long because every bit of it was entertaining. One neat thing about this book in particular is the considerable amount of bonus content at the end, which really enhances the reading experience. We have beautiful drawings of the three bridges in Bitterblue City, detailed maps of different parts of the castle and the land, a character list with helpful descriptions, and Cashore's writing process for Bitterblue, which was actually very eye-opening. She wrote two complete first drafts of the story over the course of many years to get all the details of the plot where she wanted them to be. While that would have been a grueling rewriting process, I know that Bitterblue was only better for it in the end.


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Bitterblue Graceling Kristin Cashore Ian Schoenherr Books Reviews

This is the best YA fantasy I've ever read about the Rwandan genocide.

It's a story about Queen Bitterblue, who came abruptly to her throne at age 10. She is now 18 and still trying to deal with the toxic fallout of her father's reign. Her father Leck was a twisted, evil, sociopath who could literally convince anyone of anything. That pain was pleasure. That love was pity. Anything, and he used this power to try to rebuild his fantasy world, without, of course, counting the cost to anyone. Hundreds died.

Her advisors have convinced Bitterblue that the only way for the kingdom to get past this horror is to issue a blanket amnesty for everything that happened in Leck's time, and try to forget it, as a country.

The problem is that the country can't forget, and the people who committed atrocities are terrified that the information will come out, and the people who were victims can't just get over it without acknowledgement. Bitterblue is helped by more experienced characters from the previous books, but mostly, she is successful because of her dogged determination to do the right thing, and her skills at making friends. She has a whopping case of imposter syndrome, which is understandable. "They understood the world and how to mold it. If she could keep them near, one day she'd wake up and discover that she'd become strong that way too." A budding monarch could do worse.

She is forced to understand that the damage done to the country and the people can't be ignored out of existence, and the most important person in the kingdom may be the librarian. Eventually, through heartbreak and peril, she emerges with a new understanding of her own privilege and the perils of being isolated from many viewpoints.

In the end, she decides that education and knowledge preservation are important, and then she founds the first royal institute of peace and reconciliation. That's not quite what it's called, but the concept is the same. It's hard to work together as a country if no one has ever acknowledged that they were the perpetrators and/or the victims. I think about Rwanda, and Serbia, and South Africa, and I think about how Leck could make good people do terrible things. I think about the way so few genocidal outbursts involve people making a deliberate decision to massacre their neighbors, but something flips in their mind and a voice comes on the radio and it's all machetes and fear and death.

My favorite quote from this book "Bacon improved things dramatically." Because no matter how terrible your night has been, the addition of calories and protein will probably help you deal with it. My favorite Grace is the ability to direct someone else's dreams.

Read if You are interested in the aftermath of bad government, you love ciphers and hidden languages and spunky queens.

Skip if You are looking for something totally escapist. You have issues with people not taking responsibility for your actions. You can't read about past torture.
I’ve been waiting forever to buy myself and read this book after adoring Graceling and Fire. I’ve read some conflicting reviews on Goodreads about a convoluted plot or unnecessary subplots. I didn’t see those, though. I saw a slow, but well-paced mystery behind mind-control that Bitterblue must deal with, as well as her own romantic feelings, her friends on their Council missions, and her struggling as a young woman in an isolating position of power. By the end of the novel, all the plots were tied up neatly and came together nicely. The mysteries are all solved, all questions answered, and I was left with a third incredible novel by Cashore.

The characters are yet again incredible and well-developed but what I liked the most was how Bitterblue is a very different character from Katsa and Fire, the main protagonists of the first two novels. Katsa and Fire are warriors with a lot more freedom than Bitterblue who is a leader of a kingdom of people in a state of confusion. Bitterblue is just as fierce and strong, but she deals with different issues for herself and her surroundings which was a nice change. There are cameos of many characters from Graceling and Fire and it was wonderful to see their character growth throughout these novels without those characters being the focus.

Bitterblue has an incredibly intricate, enjoyable plot, wonderful, dynamic characters and is written in an engaging, elegant style I’ve come to expect from Cashore. This book is another perfect high fantasy novel in this series of books and it’s one of my absolutely favorite set of books. I highly recommend it for readers looking for high fantasy or strong female protagonists with great development.
Bitterblue is the best book in this series by far. After we left Princess Bitterblue in Graceling, I was curious to see how her future would turn out now that Leck isn't at the helm of her life. I'm glad she got her own story, and I can't believe I almost didn't read this book because I didn't love the last two. This book is worlds better than the other two, and Cashore's writing has significantly improved since book one. Although Bitterblue follows characters introduced in Graceling and features cameos from characters in Fire, I do think it could be read as a standalone, or as a sequel to Graceling, omitting Fire. I will say having the knowledge from Fire definitely added to my reading experience of this book, but it is not pertinent to read that book prior to Bitterblue.

I loved the characters in this story. Bitterblue is lovely (I actually like her more than Katsa), and it was so nice to see how she's matured since her childhood in Graceling. Moreso, I loved the evolution and progression of her character and strengths from the beginning of this book to the end. Cashore has a talent for writing really strong female leads that have great arcs of character development throughout the story, being tested in many ways but always emerging triumphant and stronger in the end. Of all the characters in this book, I think I liked Sapphire the most (and his name is pure gold). He was unpleasant at times, but I continued rooting for him and I loved when he showed up in scenes. He, too, goes through some nice moral changes as the story progresses.

My very favourite scene in this whole book is when Bitterblue walks into the courthouse while Saf is on trial. I listened to that part of the book on audio, and I was laughing so much at how ironically funny it was. Simply charming.

One thing I wish we were given more details about was the romance. Bitterblue and Sapphire had a kind of relationship that could have been more intimate than we saw it, but we don't know what happened to them after the story ended. Bitterblue also seemed fond of Giddon, but their relationship was always only platonic. I could see it turning into something more in the future, but we readers won't know what happens with Bitterblue's possible suitors because the story was left open-ended with this matter.

In Bitterblue, the use of ciphers and codes and secret messages is paramount to the story. I've always been interested in that kind of thing but never had an aptitude for it, so I enjoy reading about it in books from time to time, watching the characters figure out the puzzles piece by piece. Each new message that Bitterblue deciphers or each code that she had to break had me completely enthralled with how detailed they were, how complex they were to solve. And their prevalence goes to show that Bitterblue really couldn't trust anyone. Truly, I had no idea who was on her side and who was putting on a facade. People were changing their allegiances in the middle of the book, discovered to be an enemy but then ended up being an ally, and vice versa. That is one thing Cashore did really well in this book she had me completely unable to trust any of the characters. Even the main characters that were most present in the story were under scrutiny from Bitterblue, and I can't imagine that strain on her as an emerging queen. Luckily, all answers were elucidated by the end of the book.

I did think it was weird, for how focused on characterization Cashore is in her writing, that we never got to meet the spies. Bitterblue mentions her spies quite a bit, and at first I thought that was a pretense for her guards, that her "spies" were actually herself and Saf and Teddy. But then I realized she actually does have spies, but we never got to meet them or know their names. I found that a bit strange with how much this book revolves around secrets and the acquisition of information.

I like that this book heavily relied on politics, but they didn't control the story like they did in Fire. In Fire, the politics were the story, and the plot became very dry and boring. But in Bitterblue, the politics enhanced the story, and that was so much more enjoyable to me. I think politics are crucial to any good fantasy that takes place in a medieval setting with castles and rulers, but I find that they can make or break my interest in the story.

Overall, Bitterblue was an excellent conclusion to an otherwise ordinary trilogy. Cashore's writing has developed greatly since her debut novel, and I believe she will continue to grow even stronger in that skill as time goes on. She writes great characters and interesting political plotlines with shocking revelations throughout. This story was long, but it didn't feel that long because every bit of it was entertaining. One neat thing about this book in particular is the considerable amount of bonus content at the end, which really enhances the reading experience. We have beautiful drawings of the three bridges in Bitterblue City, detailed maps of different parts of the castle and the land, a character list with helpful descriptions, and Cashore's writing process for Bitterblue, which was actually very eye-opening. She wrote two complete first drafts of the story over the course of many years to get all the details of the plot where she wanted them to be. While that would have been a grueling rewriting process, I know that Bitterblue was only better for it in the end.