The more I see and hear, the more I realize how much I don't know. I want to know everything.
Bitterblue
by Kristin Cashore
Genre: YA Fantasy
About: Bitterblue is queen on Monsea, but her rule comes after decades of her father's abuses that her people are still struggling to heal from. While one half of her kingdom want to forget and move on, the other half are desperately seeking to bring out the truth of those dark times. And those truthseekers are being killed for it. To protect her people, Bitterblue will have to go against her advisors and delve deep into the past...
The Good
Kristin Cashore is great at writing characters. This is book three of her Graceling trilogy and each one puts you so thoroughly into the mindset of the main character. I really enjoyed Bitterblue's POV here and I loved seeing characters we'd come to know from the previous books make appearances, as well as the introduction of some great new characters. Knowing these characters and this world so well, the story felt strangely comforting to read. The writing style is easy to read and full of fantastic detail.
The Bad
This really didn't need to be a 500+ page novel. I also didn't think it should have been the third book. The premise is a mystery in essence but if you've read Fire (book two) then you come into the story knowing more than the characters and that takes away from some of the mystery. Leck's legacy is the crux of the mystery but I think Fire made this totally redundant. We learn very little new about Leck. Bitterblue discovers plenty, but the reader has a lot of this information from book two. If this story had come straight after Graceling I think it would have been a more exciting read. Additionally, it would have made the journey into The Dells in Fire less disjointed and instead anticipated.
I also thought it was far too slow paced. I'd worked out all of the twists before the characters simply because I was given so much time to do so. Some of the subplots were drawn out so unnecessarily - for example, the stolen crown. It was suppose to create danger for a character (it didn't really) and be a blackmailing tool, but this subplot was dragged out for so long with us constantly being reminded to worry about this potential crisis that it was disappointing when Bitterblue actually worked out and apprehended the blackmailer before they did any blackmailing.
The Somewhat Iffy
The timeline was a little confused to me. Supposedly Monsea had been under observation from the Dellians for fifteen years, but Bitterblue's rule has only been eight years. Which meant they decided not to act against Leck even that surely Fire would have been more than a match to end his rule? Another example of her passivity, or me misunderstanding the order of events?
Overall
If you enjoyed Graceling and Fire, then you'll certainly enjoy this. Easy and comforting to read, even if underwhelming in scope.
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