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talonsontypewriters's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Classism, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Violence, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual assault, Torture, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Gore, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Pedophilia, Animal death, Rape, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Incest, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Self harm, Vomit, Xenophobia, Homophobia, and War
Human and animal experimentation. Strangulation/suffocation. Mind control, overriding/alteration of will (mostly discussed/aftermath). Abuse and sexual violence, including of children, are described frankly, but not extremely actively or graphically depicted on-page.espressoreader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Torture, Violence, Suicide, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Self harm, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Animal cruelty, Gaslighting, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, and Death of parent
bencaroline's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Suicide
Moderate: Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Murder, Violence, Abandonment, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Slavery, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, War, Self harm, Sexual assault, Trafficking, and Death of parent
Minor: Alcohol and Vomit
aseel_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Minor: Alcoholism, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Child abuse, Child death, Mental illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Torture, and Violence
emilylovesgoodbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Child abuse, Suicide, Self harm, and Violence
Minor: Animal cruelty, Torture, and Rape
livruther's review
4.0
Graphic: Rape, Gaslighting, Animal death, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Torture, Animal cruelty, Violence, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Death, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, and Child abuse
Moderate: Child death, Pregnancy, and Vomit
queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore is book 3 in the Graceling Realm series. As much as I liked this book, it was so much darker than the previous two books. Definitely check content warnings before reading. Cashore has a fantastic way of world building slowly through a story. The way she's able to expand and follow different timelines and keep everything straight is a feat unto itself.
We follow Bitterblue 8 years after the events of Graceling and almost 49 years after the events in Fire. Bitterblue is now Queen of Monsea, but is kept sheltered and ignorant about her subjects and her queendom. As she learns how much she doesn't know, she discovers the lingering pain of Leck's influence has caused someone to kill truthseekers who want to know what happened during Leck's reign. Bitterblue finds the task of remembering and honoring the past and moving forward so as not to trigger people unnecessarily, to be almost insurmountable.
There is a lot of plot that happens in this book, as well as plot set up for the other books. I love the characters that Cashore creates! I loved seeing Po and Katsa again along with some new names, like Giddon (what a softie), and Death (pronounced to rhyme with teeth) the librarian who our curmudgeonly librarian with a Grace I wouldn't mind having. So much happened in this book, that I can't talk about it all without spoilers.
I love that Cashore makes it explicit in her books that women have the choice to not bear children. In Graceling, Katsa takes medicine that makes it so she will never be pregnant, and Bitterblue takes herbs to prevent pregnancy. She also gives a background sapphic couple and Achillean couple. Cashore also casually includes background characters with disabilities. She does acknowledge at the end of the book that she made a mistake writing Po losing his sight at the end of book one. She admits that she wasn't thinking about disability politics at the time and wasn't aware she was stumbling into "curing" Po's visual disability with his Grace, and apologizes for it.
So excited to get to Winterkeep and where Cashore will take us next!
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Torture, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Medical trauma, and Violence
Minor: Self harm, Rape, Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, and Child abuse
rheinzr's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Moderate: Alcoholism, Torture, Death, Rape, Suicide, Self harm, and Violence
bookbrig's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Torture, Violence, Self harm, and Confinement
siglerbooknook's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Self harm, Suicide, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Rape, Violence, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Homophobia, Grief, and Gaslighting
Minor: Medical content, Child death, Blood, Medical trauma, Classism, Child abuse, Addiction, Pedophilia, Panic attacks/disorders, Outing, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, and Alcoholism