Bitterblue

"It is a little boring compared to Graceling, but a great improvement from Fire. Honestly, I was worried I'd need to drop the series, but I'm pretty excited to see where this is going!"

"So fun to read!"

"Evil terrible king was fun to read about "

"Third book in the Graceling trilogy. It actually was the first thing to really get my interest in encryption and CS despite being a fantasy book! "

"3.75 star<br/><br/>To start I want to express how much I appreciate the lengths that Cashore went through for this story. You can see that a lot of time and research went into this. But for me it was too many pages which is funny seeing how it started out as 800. Though it could have also just been my anxiety level peaked out that caused this. On top of repairing an impossible city, the backstabbing, and all the crackpots, Bitterblue just couldn't catch a break so neither could I. On the brightside you definitely won't be guessing any endings here.<br/><br/>This book, even though a fantasy, can still resonate today. Imagine a Tyrant reining for 30 years, taking away your customs replacing your history. When he is gone how much destruction to you think he has rot? Things you could never image. Rare arts and books thrown in a fire erased forever. Ancient customs lost from memory. How do you know who you are if you don't know where you came from? Actually writing this down sadly reminds me of WWII.<br/><br/>Trigger warnings: I was very impressed with the way Cashore handled abuse, grief, depression, and self harm. These are very delicate emotions to convey. The author gave me many things to think about on how I can help others and myself. Often while reading my feelings were hot and cold for certain characters and later I just believed them all to be crackpots but people handle trama in different ways. Still though I found myself playing a scene over in my head from the 1993 Addams Family Values "HAS THE PLANET GONE MAD?" Now I hope to think more before judging someone.<br/><br/>LOVED LOVED LOVED seeing old friends and meeting new ones. Still Katsa and Po are my favorite, making me smile everytime they tackled one another *sigh*. And there was a surprise guest at the end that made all the puzzle pieces fall into place in my heart. Death, one of my favorites, was an utter ass who liked cats and I loved him even more for it. A Who's Who Of The World As We Know It (recorded by Death, the Royal Librarian of Monsea, who would merely like to not that he does not have time for this) was highly entertaining. The add-ons to this story (Illustrations, maps, statues, pictures of the writing process) just brought it all to life for me. It should be a rule now that all books shall be printed in this manner.<br/><br/><br/>"Is 'BALLS' a question, Lady Queen?"<br/><br/>"For now, Lady Queen," he said, "allow us to continue to obey. But give us honorable instructions, Lady Queen," he said, turning a flushed face to hers. "Ask us to do honorable things, so that way have the honor of obeying you."<br/><br/>"He was handsome," she said.<br/>Po moaned. "Was he beat-to-a-pulp handsome, or perhaps just push-down-a-flight-of-stairs handsome?"<br/>"I would not push a seventy-six-year-old man down a flight of stairs," said Katsa indignantly."

"I read this book as a kid. From what I can remember it was fun. "

"I’m not sure I’ve ever cried so much throughout a book. They were true tears of sorrow and heartache, which might make this book sound like a very unpleasant reading experience, but it wasn’t. Reading this book was a joy because as much as it was fantastical, it was also true and beautiful.<br/><br/>Kristin Cashore captures the complexity, absurdity, horror, and joyousness of being human in Bitterblue. The first two books in this series did the same, but this story, I think, is much sadder and also more triumphant.<br/><br/>Bitterblue is the story of a daughter who is now queen. A daughter whose father forced his people to do the most horrific things and forced them to believe they were enjoying it. A daughter whose mother gave her life to save her own, who is a constant source of comfort and grief.<br/><br/>This story is of a very young woman learning that almost everything she believed was lies and misinformation, but going through the most painful journey to uncover the truth in order to save her kingdom and her people. It’s the story of a young woman finding herself with so much help from<br/>Incredible friends and despite so many around her going to amazing lengths to keep her unknowing."

"Really great addition to the story!"

"I just finished this book and while I loved the first book in the series this is the one that blew me away. It’s not always easy to read as it deals with some dark themes, but I found it to be very powerful and insightful, following a young queen dealing with the aftermath of the horrific reign of her sadistic father while also grappling with her own trauma from that time and trying to discover the truth when so many around her are trying to keep the past in the past."

"I went into this expecting a similar formula to Graceling and Fire. And what I got was a story about trauma and what it means to know the truth. I’ll be thinking about this book for the rest of my life."