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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, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
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, Self harm, Suicide, and Violence
Minor: Animal cruelty, Rape, and Torture
livruther's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Vomit, and Pregnancy
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, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Medical trauma, and Murder
Minor: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Rape, Self harm, and Sexual assault
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, Death, Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, and Violence
g_c_geeks'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? Yes
5.0
It was a really good continuation of Graceling and Fire and built upon what happened years later. I really enjoyed it.
I think about this world all the time and will have a place in my heart forever.
Keep in mind though that you find out some very dark and disturbing confirmation of what Leck has done.
I’m going to read Winterkeep (the fourth book in the series) for the first time and am very curious on what Cashore will continue to develop.
Graphic: Rape, Torture, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and War
siglerbooknook'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? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Rape, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Outing, and Classism
totallyshelfaware'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Rape, Self harm, and Fire/Fire injury
sonshinelibrarian's review against another edition
5.0
This is definitely one of those kinds of books that could be difficult and even triggering for some people to read, so while this is definitely my favorite of the three so far, take your own past experiences into consideration when deciding whether to read this book.
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal cruelty
roseofphantom'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? It's complicated
3.5
Much better than "Fire". While it still isn't up there with "Graceling", I definitely enjoyed the story and characterizations more. It was nice to return to beloved characters, to see Bitterblue grown up and having taken on Queenly duties. Seeing her after Po and Katsa essentially raised her was a delight and she's definitely become a wonderful Queen. Her relationship with Saf felt real and natural. I also enjoyed the little bit of mystery as she investigates her father's doing and tries to clean up her Kingdom after his terrors.
Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Suicide
Minor: Animal cruelty
child sexual assault