Scan barcode
el_wheel'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
4.75
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Grief, Murder, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Violence, Mental illness, Death, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Torture, Rape, and Pedophilia
strubbries's review against another edition
Now, i skipped pages to get the info i wanted on my kindle, and i ended up reading like 50 pages toward the very end. and oh my goodness, the ongoing trauma that Bitterblue experiences, wow. she did not catch a break at all. it was like boom boom boom
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Animal death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Child death, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Rape, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, and Torture
Minor: Vomit, Medical content, and Fire/Fire injury
bri_reads9's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Suicide, Medical content, Death, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Torture, Murder, and Rape
Minor: Animal cruelty
emilycfox'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? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Rape, Animal cruelty, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Torture
Extremely abusive father, extreme gaslightingcaitander's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Pedophilia, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Self harm, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Murder, Suicide, Violence, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Rape, Domestic abuse, and Animal death
qrschulte'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
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Classism, Murder, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Medical content, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Suicide, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Alcoholism, Dysphoria, Blood, Child death, Animal death, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, and Gore
Minor: Pregnancy, Vomit, War, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicidal thoughts
imds's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.25
Graphic: Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Ableism, Body horror, Classism, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, Self harm, Suicide, Trafficking, Violence, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Alcoholism, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Confinement, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture
shinysylveon's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
The entire premise of this book is Bitterblue navigating being Queen in the aftermath of her father’s tyrannical reign. How do you rule a kingdom where everyone is suffering from PTSD?
On paper, the concept seems cool. Instead of just a paragraph or a few pages summarizing “what happened after”, you get a full book. The problem with that is it’s boring. It felt like there was too much happening and therefore nothing got the focus it really deserved. But on that same note, it also felt like nothing was really happening? It’s very bizarre to describe.
It just didn’t feel like Bitterblue’s book, or her story. It felt like an epilogue to Katsa’s and Leck’s story. It felt like a side character fumbling around trying to figure out how to be a main character, while the actual main character is off having another adventure. Bitterblue was more intriguing as a child in Graceling, and even in the flashbacks than she is in present day.
Po was still fun in this for the most part. Katsa, however, was extremely annoying and immature. Though to be fair, immaturity is part of her character, it is just more acutely apparent without the aid of her internal monologue cushioning it. It also didn’t help that the Audiobook narrator gave her this weird Scottish accent that no one else has and that Katsa didn’t have in the original audiobook.
This was definitely riding off the coattails of the other two books. The parts about Leck and discovering all the horrible things he did were extremely interesting. Everything else? Meh. My original rating of 3 stars was super generous, changing it to 2 (which is still generous). Here’s hoping the next one is better.
Minor: Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Self harm, Torture, and Suicide
thoseoldcrows23'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: Animal cruelty, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Suicide attempt, Violence, Mental illness, Murder, Suicide, Blood, Classism, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual violence
Minor: Homophobia and Sexual content
jordyn_alexx'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
This was longer than I remembered, but that was welcome. It was certainly familiar, but there were also less finer details that I remembered than I would’ve thought. I’m happy I reread it.
I’d forgotten how endearing Death was and how nice it was to witness the start of Bitterblue and Giddon’s friendship. I found myself not quite frustrated, but wishing Bitterblue did certain things differently.
Edit: Reread April 2021
With this reread I think I was seeing things from new perspective. It's hard to understand how things have progressed within the timeframe, but at the same time, I imagine it's realistic. After reading Winterkeep, it's nice to be reminded of how things developed in this book.
~
This was not my favorite of the Graceling books, but I still loved it. I connected really well with the characters and I was left wishing she'd write more.
Graphic: Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Torture, Death of parent, Trafficking, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence
Minor: Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Violence, Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Sexual assault, Animal death, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, and Physical abuse