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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
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
I enjoyed this, even the telepathic animals (which I hated in Jane) were fine, and even maybe offered some good nuance. Lots of politics and machinations and a fairly classic unlikable heroine who I quite liked.
This is sex positive but also there is a really startling amount of sex, some of it very detailed and specific. (So the readers who discover Graceling in 6th grade may need to age up to this one — it’s full of trauma too, although also happy bits. It’s generally a more adult story on content of not in tone, which veers sometimes into weirdly cheesy in a way I associate with MG fantasy.) There’s a lot of sex just for... fun? Investigation? I found it irritating but I never want sex scenes so. I did also find myself irritated by the fact that all this plentiful sex appears to be possible thanks to magic herbs that must be brewed into tea — for the female characters. Apparently even in this all brown-skinned, racism m-free, super sexually enlightened world, birth control is still a burden only women have to carry.
Cashore’s world building might always irritate me (Bitterblue City!) but she’s come a long way — also Torla is like... 300 years more technologically advanced, so that maybe helped? It’s a much more realized world than the original kingdoms were, even if it’s still doubling down on all this magic that somehow exists according to human borders — why do telepathic animals never cross the sea to the Lingian-speaking nations, why are monsters only in the Dells, why don’t people with graces get born in Torla? At least her talking animals are less twee here, although there are definitely some MESSAGES floating around and occasionally hitting the reader over the head full force. Still, all in all I was in — gulped down 400+ pages in two days — and would read another book set in Torla (but enough already with graces and now that Bitterblue is finally emotionally settled I am ready to move on from her).
This is sex positive but also there is a really startling amount of sex, some of it very detailed and specific. (So the readers who discover Graceling in 6th grade may need to age up to this one — it’s full of trauma too, although also happy bits. It’s generally a more adult story on content of not in tone, which veers sometimes into weirdly cheesy in a way I associate with MG fantasy.) There’s a lot of sex just for... fun? Investigation? I found it irritating but I never want sex scenes so. I did also find myself irritated by the fact that all this plentiful sex appears to be possible thanks to magic herbs that must be brewed into tea — for the female characters. Apparently even in this all brown-skinned, racism m-free, super sexually enlightened world, birth control is still a burden only women have to carry.
Cashore’s world building might always irritate me (Bitterblue City!) but she’s come a long way — also Torla is like... 300 years more technologically advanced, so that maybe helped? It’s a much more realized world than the original kingdoms were, even if it’s still doubling down on all this magic that somehow exists according to human borders — why do telepathic animals never cross the sea to the Lingian-speaking nations, why are monsters only in the Dells, why don’t people with graces get born in Torla? At least her talking animals are less twee here, although there are definitely some MESSAGES floating around and occasionally hitting the reader over the head full force. Still, all in all I was in — gulped down 400+ pages in two days — and would read another book set in Torla (but enough already with graces and now that Bitterblue is finally emotionally settled I am ready to move on from her).
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Audio
Ah Bitterblue, I missed you.
Also, Giddon is less of an ass now, so that's good!
Ah Bitterblue, I missed you.
Also, Giddon is less of an ass now, so that's good!
hopeful
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Just not as good as the first 3 imo! Waaayy too many character perspectives to try and keep track of, and I didn’t love either of Bitterblue’s romances.
Pretty much a stand alone book four in the Graceling Realm series, but some favorite characters in the series are only referenced. Bitterblue. Giddon, and Hava get to show their stuff as did a new cast of characters, including Lovisa, from Winterkeep. A good story with twists, blue foxes that weren't really blue, but that did bond and communicate telepathically with a human, and marine creatures that also communicate with humans and help save the day many times. There is an interesting underlying discussion about political power, wise use of natural resources, and protection of the environment that is stated clearly in the end as Lovisa contemplates her future. Although the ending was satisfying, there were plenty of threads to follow for a fifth book, perhaps featuring Lovisa.
So many things to complain about. Semi-entertaining. Disappointing compared to 1-3 (especially 1&2)
I received an eARC of this book from the publisher.
When I started this, I had in my memory that I really liked the first two books (Graceling and Fire) in the series, but didn't like Bitterblue very much. After reading this book, I went back and saw that I had rated Bitterblue 4 stars, so I must have liked it a lot more than I remember. It was 8 years ago when I read it, though, so I really can't remember much, if anything, about it at all.
I quite enjoyed Winterkeep. I liked that there were telepathic animals and big sea creatures. That was possibly my favorite part of the book. I liked the different perspectives, and I really liked seeing Lovisa grow throughout the book. She wasn't always likable, and sometimes it's hard to root for her, but she has a good character arc, for the most part.
There are a couple of things that took this book down a notch for me. One is that Kristin Cashore feels very strongly about certain topics. You can tell because she hits you over the head with them over and over. A little bit goes a long way, and it starts to feel unnatural when you talk about things too much. I mean, some of these characters talk about sex so much, I know their every thought and feeling about it ad nauseum.
The other thing that I didn't love is I felt the book was a bit longer than it needed to be. We had the climax of the story, and then it was about 100 pages of aftermath. I got to the point where I just wanted to be done reading, and that shouldn't happen with a story. All the wrap up could have been done in half (or less) the time, and been perfectly satisfactory. All that said, I liked Winterkeep quite a lot; it made me want to go back and re-read the rest of the series.
When I started this, I had in my memory that I really liked the first two books (Graceling and Fire) in the series, but didn't like Bitterblue very much. After reading this book, I went back and saw that I had rated Bitterblue 4 stars, so I must have liked it a lot more than I remember. It was 8 years ago when I read it, though, so I really can't remember much, if anything, about it at all.
I quite enjoyed Winterkeep. I liked that there were telepathic animals and big sea creatures. That was possibly my favorite part of the book. I liked the different perspectives, and I really liked seeing Lovisa grow throughout the book. She wasn't always likable, and sometimes it's hard to root for her, but she has a good character arc, for the most part.
There are a couple of things that took this book down a notch for me. One is that Kristin Cashore feels very strongly about certain topics. You can tell because she hits you over the head with them over and over. A little bit goes a long way, and it starts to feel unnatural when you talk about things too much. I mean, some of these characters talk about sex so much, I know their every thought and feeling about it ad nauseum.
The other thing that I didn't love is I felt the book was a bit longer than it needed to be. We had the climax of the story, and then it was about 100 pages of aftermath. I got to the point where I just wanted to be done reading, and that shouldn't happen with a story. All the wrap up could have been done in half (or less) the time, and been perfectly satisfactory. All that said, I liked Winterkeep quite a lot; it made me want to go back and re-read the rest of the series.