Book: Bitterblue (Graceling Realm, #3)
Author: Kristin Cashore
Blog: http://kristincashore.blogspot.com/
Category: Young Adult - Fantasy
Note: If you haven't read the previous two books, you might not want to read this review.
My thoughts ...
Short summary: This takes place 8 years after Graceling and Bitterblue is now the queen of Monsea. However, her advisors are making it very hard for her to rule. They keep her busy within the confines of the castle and want to forget the terrible legacy left by her father. Then Bitterblue starts sneaking outside the castle and realizes that the best thing for her kingdom is to face the past.
The good: The author brings back characters from the previous books (which I was very happy about), introduces some new ones (my favorite being Death the librarian) and let's the reader see the person Bitterblue has grown up to be. Certain parts of the story are also interesting (not even sure if that's the right word) to read about - like discovering the depth of her father's evil and how to be a good queen. But that's as good as it gets in my opinion.
The bad: Honestly, I was really disappointed in this book. In a lot of ways, Bitterblue's story reminded me of Fire's (the second book) but for some reason, I didn't find her journey to be nearly as compelling. It felt like much of the story took place in her head, with very little action. Even the romance didn't appeal to me and I love a good romance! But I guess that's the problem - it wasn't very good. Sapphire was a jerk and I couldn't understand his appeal. I thought she had more chemistry with Lord Giddon (a character from the first book) and he was twice her age. I also felt that her father's evilness had already been explored. Even though I knew it was important to Bitterblue (as a queen and a person wanting to know her roots), some of the "new" details felt unnecessary and only thrown in for shock value. But it didn't make me FEEL anything. Instead the moments that felt more emotional to me were the tiny details, like her relationships with Death, Lord Giddon and other characters from the first book.
Do I recommend?: Well.. if you've never read any of the books in the series, I recommend reading the first two. But this one? Not so much.
Happy reading!
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