Review: Bitterblue

*3rd book in the Graceling series*

Eight years after Katsa and Po rescued Bitterblue, she's now ruling her kingdom. However, she begins to think her advisers aren't always telling her the truth. She's so lost, she begins wandering her city at night in an attempt to escape her troubled mind.

Bitterblue meets two boys who challenge her knowledge of her own city. Teddy and Saf share their knowledge with her, without knowing her true identity. In time the three become fast friends. Bitterblue uses their information to try to combat her advisers into making the city a better place.

She's fighting a losing battle most days, still trying to recover from her father's reign. Still, Bitterblue isn't giving up the fight. She wants her kingdom to heal and with the help of her friends, she's going to make sure it happens. To heal the kingdom, she'll have to fight the horrors from the past. Not everyone wants those secrets to resurface, especially the people trying to silence those who ask questions, even Bitterblue.

My Thoughts: I've been waiting for this book ever since I finished Graceling. It took me a little while to get into the book and I think that's because I didn't re-read Graceling and Fire. I wish I had because there were pieces that I know I didn't fully appreciated without that extra knowledge.  


There were several illustrations in the back of the book, which were great. However, it would have been nice to see those either at the front of the book or interspersed within the chapters themselves. Most of the illustrations were maps of complicated rooms/areas, which were hard to picture while reading.


I loved Bitterblue's midnight walks. I liked how she saw the real city and not the city everyone tried to make her see. I loved her relationships with Teddy and Saf. I liked the game of truths she shared with Saf. They had a great way of bantering back and forth. I enjoyed seeing Katsa and Po again. 


While this book dealt with a lot of pain, most of the pain came from the past. It's still hard to relive it, but it made it easier as a reader to not read about the horrific things as they were happening. 


Bitterblue is a massive book filled with adventure, friendship, political issues, and a touch of romance. Cashore write amazingly detailed descriptions with intertwining characters from the previous books.  I really hope this isn't the end of this series.


Cover Thoughts: Interesting, but not my favorite cover.


Source: My Library