Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore: A Review

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore 

My Rating: 5 stars!!

Publisher: Dial

Published: May 1st, 2012 [side note: it has been 5 years since she has came out with a new novel 5 years!!! Needless to say, I’m reading Jane, Unlimitied as soon as it comes out!!!]

Recieved: I purchased this book at Barnes &a Nobel… I can’t even begin to describe how beautiful of a copy it is. I feel complete now that I own it and have read it. 

Purchase: Amazon

Synopsis: 

Enter the Graceling Realm and let it work its magic . . .
When Queen Bitterblue took the throne of Monsea, she was a child, and her advisers ran the kngdom for her. Now she is beginning to question their decisions, especially how they handle the legacy of her father Leck, who who ruled through his Grace—a special talent for mind-altering—and his taste for darkness and violence. Bitterblue needs to know Monsea’s past to lead it into the future, so she begins exploring the city sreets at night, disguised and alone. As she does, she meets two thieves, who hold a key to the truth of Leck’s reign. And one of them, with a Grace that he hasn’t yet identified, holds a key to her heart. 
Bitterblue is unforgettable—a gateway to the Graceling Realm that braids together magic, memory, and romance.

Musings: 

Where do I begin with this book??? There are so many things I could say. I feel like most of my 5 star reads of late have taken me a long time to read and this book was no exception. I never wanted to leave the world! 

Now I know where to start! The first thing I want to say is how refreshing it was to read about a female character whose strength was in her intellect. All the math, the cyphers, the way she noticed little things and pieced them together like little puzzles was so cool to read about! Don’t get me wrong I love to read about physically strong badass female characters, but Queen Bitterblue was a nice change of pace for me. 

Also this book is home to the most beautiful passage I have ever read and when I read it I was in tears. It had me floored and I read that passage so many times after that initial readthrough because I couldn’t give enough of it. (I will only tell you the page numbers 511-513) If any piece of writing could ever be seen as perfect in my eyes this passage would be it. I had chills down my arms when I first read it… I still get chills now thinking about it. It sucks not being able to say more about it because it is a huge spoiler, but for those of you who have read it… I hope you feel much the same. 

I also loved how much I felt Bitterblue grew as a person and as well as a Queen from beginning to end. I really felt as though I was watching someone mature and see life and people differently. In my opinion, I think that’s really difficult for a lot of authors to achieve and achieve well in a novel, but Cashore really pulled it off seemingly effortlessly. 

I also loved that this book was radically different from both Graceling and Fire. It felt like a totally different pace and type of action and really an artistic feel to this book that wasn’t present in either of the other two books. I also like that Bitterblue is so human even though she has her own sort of power and such a sharp mind. She isn’t a “monster” like Fire and she isn’t Graced like Katsa, but she definitely holds her own in a totally unique way. 

I loved how layered all the relationships were in this book. Every character breathed life into the world and never once came off as flat. The complexity of some of the terrors in this book and how they affected and corrupted different characters minds was fascinating and their actions made this book come alive. Especially when it comes to Bitterblue’s advisers. The way Cashore chose to write their story’s was absolutely brilliant and made for such a heart wrenching and fascinating story. 

I don’t want to say too much else about this book at the moment, because I don’t want to spoil anything and I feel like I’m going to be shoving this book in people’s faces and making them read it a lot now. 

All I can say now is READ IT! READ IT! READ IT!!!!!

-Till next time! 

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