Bitterblue

Title: Bitterblue
Author: Kristin Cashore
Year: 2012
Series?: Graceling Realm #3
Format: Hardcover (Library checkout)
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Mystery

What's it about?:  Eight years after Bitterblue becomes Queen of Monsea, she is still fighting Leck's influence in her city and fighting unknown forces that seem to want to ruin it. With the help of her friends, Bitterblue fights to hold everything together and to unravel the mysteries surrounding her.

My opinion: Some spoilers ahead if you have not read Graceling and Fire!!

If Kristin Cashore never writes another book it would be a devastating tragedy.

As much as I love this series, I am very glad I waited until now to read them, as Bitterblue took three years to be released after Fire and I don't think I could have handled the wait. Unlike the two books in the realm before it, Bitterblue is slower paced and more of a political mystery book than an action or adventure novel. With this book Cashore has proven yet again that she is one of the most intelligent fantasy and young adult authors out there. Many people have complained that this book wasn't as good as the others, and while I agree some to that point, I'm glad Cashore did something different with her books; she easily could have churned out the same thing but she went outside her boundaries and made something different and far more clever than what she's produced before. So in this case I don't understand the reader backlash because this book was so intricately done, I can see why Cashore put so much time into it. While not everything tied perfectly together at the end, I still thoroughly enjoyed reading about characters I loved in Graceling and I'm glad I got the opportunity to see where their lives led; many other authors wouldn't give their fans the satisfaction Cashore gave hers, so stop whining! The pacing was a bit slow as the reader is working out the mysteries surrounding the plot as Bitterblue herself figures them out. I like that the more I read Bitterblue, the more I understood about the other two novels in the series. I commend Cashore for tying things together and to continue to develop on what she already made great.

Eight years after defeating King Leck, his daughter Bitterblue is now queen and continues to clean up the mess her father left behind in her kingdom. This is an extreme ordeal for her because she became queen at the age of ten, and even being wiser beyond her years, there is still a lot she does not know about everything around her. I could feel her frustration over trying to put her kingdom back together and just hitting walls at every chance. When it was revealed what Leck had really been doing to all of his victims over the thirty-five years he reigned, my heart broke. I knew it would be bad but it was more twisted than I guessed it would be; it never crossed my mind some of the things he had done, but it made sense once revealed based on characters' actions throughout the book. Leck is one of the most intriguing and disturbed villains I have ever read in a series. His taint spread so far and damaged so many people it was sickening. The mystery is what made this book and I love that everything unfolded the further you read, instead of all of the pieces of the puzzle being handed to you at the beginning to sort through.

I love, love, loved the character development in this book, especially of more minor characters in previous books that got a chance to shine in this one. It was nice to see that Katsa and Po were still together, I love that we learned what became of the characters in Fire. Bitterblue found her own ways to be strong and to fight, by using her mind and wits to fix everything around her instead of physical action and war. Friendship was a giant theme in this book, Bitterblue never could have done the things she did without the loyalty and love of those she kept and loved around her. Trust your friends and treat them well was a huge message throughout the book.

 My favorite relationship was the one that built between Lord Giddon and Bitterblue, it was one I never expected but I can only dream it will go further. Cashore herself says she loves when readers create their own assumptions and subtext and my guess (or hope) is that there is a future romance between Giddon and Bitterblue. They remained friends in this book, but they supported each other through every hardship and knew how to comfort the other without asking. On that note, I was a bit disappointed that there was less romance in this book than the others. Saf and Bitterblue started out strong and then sort of faded until the last 1/4 of the book. I felt Bitterblue's relationship with Saf was more of a learning experience than something meant to be; they didn't seem to understand each other and they didn't work hard enough to overlook their differences to be together.

To me, Bitterblue was a giant promise of what is to come, whether or not Cashore writes any more books, she left the reader with enough to imagine their own endings in any way they wish. An author that makes the reader think? Blasphemy!!! (**giggles**). I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars, how could I give it anything else?