**** Warning: review may contain spoilers. ****
I love this cover! It is just as beautiful as the covers for Graceling and Fire. Cashore’s cover artist did a wonderful job with this one, making it similar but slightly different and unique to Bitterblue’s story.
As for the story itself, here is the Amazon summary:
Eight years after Graceling, Bitterblue is now queen of Monsea. But the influence of her father, a violent psychopath with mind-altering abilities, lives on. Her advisors, who have run things since Leck died, believe in a forward-thinking plan: Pardon all who committed terrible acts under Leck’s reign, and forget anything bad ever happened. But when Bitterblue begins sneaking outside the castle–disguised and alone–to walk the streets of her own city, she starts realizing that the kingdom has been under the thirty-five-year spell of a madman, and the only way to move forward is to revisit the past.
Two thieves, who only steal what has already been stolen, change her life forever. They hold a key to the truth of Leck’s reign. And one of them, with an extreme skill called a Grace that he hasn’t yet identified, holds a key to her heart.
First off, I have to say that I love Cashore’s writing. It gets better with every book. Her diction is elegant and she really articulates well. Secondly, the story itself wasn’t too boring for me. At first, it was a little slow but as soon as Bitterblue began sneaking out of the castle at night, then it became very interesting. I read on some of the reviews that this book was boring. I didn’t find it so at all. On the contrary, it had an extremely complex plot and the story behind Leck’s mad reign was fascinating, if a bit disturbing.
It was great that Cashore kept me guessing. I love puzzles. As Bitterblue discovered more and more about her kingdom (or I should say queendom) she kept asking questions about odd things she noticed. This is what had me turning the pages and slowly, piece by piece, I began to put the puzzle together just as Bitterblue did. I felt like I was there with her, discovering the horrible truths that had been kept hidden for so long and feeling the heartbreak and shame just as she did.
I loved the fact that we got to see more of Katsa and Po and their relationship with Bitterblue. I also loved seeing Fire again. Cashore really demonstrated her brilliance as she weaved the threads of the main characters from the other two books into this one, creating one coherent story. And it wasn’t just the threads of these characters that kept the story mysterious and suspenseful. It was also the new characters she introduced that played a key part in the plot and added an extra dimension that I wasn’t anticipating at all.
Overall, the only thing I didn’t like about this book was that it had to end. I was sad because I wanted to know more. What happens with Sky, Fire, and Saph when they travel back to the Dells? What happens between Bitterblue and Giddon? Do they ever become more than friends? What about Katsa and Po? How does their story turn out? And does Sky ever forgive Po? Cashore left so many things unanswered that I am really hoping she writes another book in this series.
Please, Kristin Cashore! Please write another book! =o)
Happy Reading!
~ Melissa
