Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
LMAO. Uhhh. Where to start. The mood is very, “Well. We certainly tried that.”
The bad first, because it’s loudest in my brain:
I’m not convinced Cashore should write multiple POVs. At least not with characters who existed prior to this story; I feel like this would be a much stronger book without the Monseans. The tone skews younger more often than not, which I think makes sense for the telepathic fauna and for Lovisa, who’s a wee babe, but much less so for the grown characters.
With Giddon in particular, I found it downright ridiculous. It doesn’t feel out of place to me at the beginning when he’s having his petty thoughts about Bitterblue’s lovers, especially given what a jealous dick he is in Graceling. But as the book goes on I feel like Cashore just gives up on differentiating between the kids and the adults. (You’re nervous about “sex-touching,” Giddon? You are THIRTY-ONE.)
Giddon’s a bit of a problem for me in general, because he’s only ever been sketched in previous books and I needed him to finally be fleshed out in this one. Especially if he’s going to end up with our girl.
With the narrative splintered into so many different POVs, however, I feel like I still just get… whoever the story needs him to be. He needed to be a dick in book 1, so he was a dick. He needed to be a tired but reliable friend in book 3, so he was that. He needed to be a simp who only thinks of Bitterblue in this book, and boy, was he. Which I say with some fondness! Love a wife guy!
But I don’t feel like he’s a person here so much as a collection of attributes, like someone jotted down a list, fed it into the Dream Boyfriend Machine, and then out he popped on the conveyer belt. How did we get from the jealous hotheaded boy in Graceling who considered an injury to Katsa an injury to himself because he considered her his property, to this? I need more receipts. Definitely possible for someone to mellow with age but this feels to me like an entire personality transplant.
Above all, I don’t know what makes him tick outside of his role as a love interest, which was never a problem I had with Po, Brigan, or even Saf, and I wasn’t in their heads.
And I went into this book actively wanting to like the ship, and him! I like the bones of it, but the execution, especially after they reunite… kind of cringe?? Primarily the way they speak to each other (hold that thought re: modern language in a formerly medievalish fantasy series). We don’t even get to see him propose to her, or her returning the small envelope of notes to him. These are things I’d like to see after they spent the majority of the book apart!!
I feel as though — much as it pains me to say it — Cashore did the one thing I’d always praised her for NOT doing.
She took shortcuts.
In delving deeper into world expansion, new characters, and a plottier premise, I think she counted on existing fondness for the old characters to do the heavy lifting rather than meaningfully developing them or showing evidence of growth alongside the newer, shinier stuff.
How has Bitterblue settled into her role as a leader? Does she get out of the castle and walk among her people more often? Aside from banging hot lords, what’s her relationship with the aristocracy? Is she being mythologized in ways she finds humbling? Wearying? Guess we’ll never know.
The evolution of Bitterblue and Giddon’s dynamic over time? Vibes. Lost between books. All we get are references to their confiding in one another and rare, brief flashes of memory. It’s roughly the level of what Cashore did for Archer in Fire’s book and before my reread, I FULLY FORGOT HE EXISTED.
I’m bummed. Mainly because Cashore herself set such a high bar for romance in this series. I’m not saying I didn’t feel anything, just that I expected more.
Bringing me to my next ????? point, which is: the use of modern language from our world. Dialogue or slang that feels wildly out of place in a fictional context is definitely a pet peeve. A baffling complaint to write here because I’ve always thought (and still think!) the voice in the first three books is so immersive and consistent between prose and dialogue. The whiplash of being distracted here by the writing on a line edit level. In a Kristin Cashore book???
It started fine with the occasional use of a filler word (e.g. teens and Bitterblue using “like” the valley girl way), but by the end we got a full “catty-corner”; “list of top ten favorite(s)”; “Ok. Wait, what?”; “Do you know how hard I’m going to lean on you?”; “Extra points, and rewards” (are they going to Costco, wtf); “I’m going to be your person” (which Grey’s Anatomy did first, and infinitely better).
The instances started coming so fast and so frequently in the last part of the book that I actually felt my teeth grinding together. (I’m still clenching them now.)
This after Cashore had a full note at the beginning of the book explaining her anachronistic use of the Gregorian calendar! MA’AM. I care less about there being no Roman emperors to name months after than my spirit evacuating my body when Lovisa comes perilously close to saying she needs to speak her truth. WOOF.
Anyway. All of this sounds like I hated the book, and I did not! I love the whimsy of the silbercows and the lonely kraken and the foxes! I love little mysteries that build up to big secrets and political intrigue! I dig basically all stories that involve the sea and opportunities to gaze at it while pondering life!
Predictably, I got emotional over Lovisa mustering courage for her little brothers’ sake, as well as realizing that her father was complicit in her mother’s abusive parenting even as he sought to cast himself as the good guy.
I even had a small cry when Bitterblue wept and confessed to Giddon that she’s scared of losing him, and he assured her that she won’t. She deserves that, whether or not I think the moment was earned.
Cashore still has a marvelous imagination and keen instincts for writing younger, more unsure characters, as well as their first forays into adult life experiences. And it’s nice that this book is more of a romp after the grief parade of the original trilogy lmao.
Hava’s definitely one of the brighter points for me (love her commitment to being capital-d Difficult and her rapport with Giddon, which helped endear him to me), and I think having the next book be from her POV is a smart choice. We’ll see how the rest goes.
The bad first, because it’s loudest in my brain:
I’m not convinced Cashore should write multiple POVs. At least not with characters who existed prior to this story; I feel like this would be a much stronger book without the Monseans. The tone skews younger more often than not, which I think makes sense for the telepathic fauna and for Lovisa, who’s a wee babe, but much less so for the grown characters.
With Giddon in particular, I found it downright ridiculous. It doesn’t feel out of place to me at the beginning when he’s having his petty thoughts about Bitterblue’s lovers, especially given what a jealous dick he is in Graceling. But as the book goes on I feel like Cashore just gives up on differentiating between the kids and the adults. (You’re nervous about “sex-touching,” Giddon? You are THIRTY-ONE.)
Giddon’s a bit of a problem for me in general, because he’s only ever been sketched in previous books and I needed him to finally be fleshed out in this one. Especially if he’s going to end up with our girl.
With the narrative splintered into so many different POVs, however, I feel like I still just get… whoever the story needs him to be. He needed to be a dick in book 1, so he was a dick. He needed to be a tired but reliable friend in book 3, so he was that. He needed to be a simp who only thinks of Bitterblue in this book, and boy, was he. Which I say with some fondness! Love a wife guy!
But I don’t feel like he’s a person here so much as a collection of attributes, like someone jotted down a list, fed it into the Dream Boyfriend Machine, and then out he popped on the conveyer belt. How did we get from the jealous hotheaded boy in Graceling who considered an injury to Katsa an injury to himself because he considered her his property, to this? I need more receipts. Definitely possible for someone to mellow with age but this feels to me like an entire personality transplant.
Above all, I don’t know what makes him tick outside of his role as a love interest, which was never a problem I had with Po, Brigan, or even Saf, and I wasn’t in their heads.
And I went into this book actively wanting to like the ship, and him! I like the bones of it, but the execution, especially after they reunite… kind of cringe?? Primarily the way they speak to each other (hold that thought re: modern language in a formerly medievalish fantasy series). We don’t even get to see him propose to her, or her returning the small envelope of notes to him. These are things I’d like to see after they spent the majority of the book apart!!
I feel as though — much as it pains me to say it — Cashore did the one thing I’d always praised her for NOT doing.
She took shortcuts.
In delving deeper into world expansion, new characters, and a plottier premise, I think she counted on existing fondness for the old characters to do the heavy lifting rather than meaningfully developing them or showing evidence of growth alongside the newer, shinier stuff.
How has Bitterblue settled into her role as a leader? Does she get out of the castle and walk among her people more often? Aside from banging hot lords, what’s her relationship with the aristocracy? Is she being mythologized in ways she finds humbling? Wearying? Guess we’ll never know.
The evolution of Bitterblue and Giddon’s dynamic over time? Vibes. Lost between books. All we get are references to their confiding in one another and rare, brief flashes of memory. It’s roughly the level of what Cashore did for Archer in Fire’s book and before my reread, I FULLY FORGOT HE EXISTED.
I’m bummed. Mainly because Cashore herself set such a high bar for romance in this series. I’m not saying I didn’t feel anything, just that I expected more.
Bringing me to my next ????? point, which is: the use of modern language from our world. Dialogue or slang that feels wildly out of place in a fictional context is definitely a pet peeve. A baffling complaint to write here because I’ve always thought (and still think!) the voice in the first three books is so immersive and consistent between prose and dialogue. The whiplash of being distracted here by the writing on a line edit level. In a Kristin Cashore book???
It started fine with the occasional use of a filler word (e.g. teens and Bitterblue using “like” the valley girl way), but by the end we got a full “catty-corner”; “list of top ten favorite(s)”; “Ok. Wait, what?”; “Do you know how hard I’m going to lean on you?”; “Extra points, and rewards” (are they going to Costco, wtf); “I’m going to be your person” (which Grey’s Anatomy did first, and infinitely better).
The instances started coming so fast and so frequently in the last part of the book that I actually felt my teeth grinding together. (I’m still clenching them now.)
This after Cashore had a full note at the beginning of the book explaining her anachronistic use of the Gregorian calendar! MA’AM. I care less about there being no Roman emperors to name months after than my spirit evacuating my body when Lovisa comes perilously close to saying she needs to speak her truth. WOOF.
Anyway. All of this sounds like I hated the book, and I did not! I love the whimsy of the silbercows and the lonely kraken and the foxes! I love little mysteries that build up to big secrets and political intrigue! I dig basically all stories that involve the sea and opportunities to gaze at it while pondering life!
Predictably, I got emotional over Lovisa mustering courage for her little brothers’ sake, as well as realizing that her father was complicit in her mother’s abusive parenting even as he sought to cast himself as the good guy.
I even had a small cry when Bitterblue wept and confessed to Giddon that she’s scared of losing him, and he assured her that she won’t. She deserves that, whether or not I think the moment was earned.
Cashore still has a marvelous imagination and keen instincts for writing younger, more unsure characters, as well as their first forays into adult life experiences. And it’s nice that this book is more of a romp after the grief parade of the original trilogy lmao.
Hava’s definitely one of the brighter points for me (love her commitment to being capital-d Difficult and her rapport with Giddon, which helped endear him to me), and I think having the next book be from her POV is a smart choice. We’ll see how the rest goes.
It was an absolute privilege to return to the world of Kristin Cashore over ten years after first reading Graceling, Fire, and Bitterblue. I had a great time reading about new and old characters in a new setting. Parliament! Foxes! The Keeper! I loved the world of Winterkeep, especially the animals.
I would have preferred to give this book a 4.5 star rating rather than a 4 star rating, but Goodreads won’t let me do that.
I would have preferred to give this book a 4.5 star rating rather than a 4 star rating, but Goodreads won’t let me do that.
I don't know that I have the ability to actually write a review for this book. It was so good that thinking about it just makes my brain do this high pitched "squee" noise. Graceling has always been one of my favorite YA novels but I decided since I didn't remember Fire or Bitterblue as well to do a reread of them before I started Winterkeep. I'm really glad I spent the last week back in the Graceling Realm. I'm not sure if some scenes would have touched me quite the same way without the refresher.
Winterkeep is a bit unique from the previous three books in that there are five unique points of view. Two are characters from the previous books, Bitterblue and Giddon, and three are all new characters. I loved that we got to spend more with Giddon and Bitterblue. I loved their relationship and the trust they built between each other in Bitterblue's novel. I will admit there was an aspect of their relationship in that book that I was a little sad not to see realized and boy does it finally get realized here! Giddon is such a precious pining fool and I love him so much. I also loved his relationship with Hava. It's been five years since the end of Bitterblue and Hava has really come out of her shell and developed such a fun slightly mean bit of banter with Giddon. One of the other points of view is Lovisa Cavenda, a student in Winterkeep and daughter of the President of Winterkeep. She tries her best to be a dutiful daughter and follow in the steps of her political parents. Indeed she is a bit of a schemer and is seen sneaking around for much of the book. I wasn't sure of Lovisa at first but she really grew on me and by the end of the book I was in love with her. Another point of view is that of Adventure Fox, one of the blue telepathic foxes that populates Winterkeep. He is bonded to Lovisa's mother and is struggling with some of the rules of foxkind. I was not expecting to love his POV chapters so much when I first heard a fox was going to be one of the POVs. He was such an interesting character and I'm so happy with how his story concluded in this book. The final point of view is that of a mysterious many-eyed thirteen tentacled sea monster known as the Keeper. I loved the Keeper, every thought from it was just such a mood. All the Keeper wants is to collect treasures at the bottom of the ocean, be left alone, and occasionally sing badly. Truly an icon.
The world of Winterkeep was fascinating. It's the first country we're seeing in the Graceling Realm that's a democratic republic and politics actually play a large role in the book. The two political parties The Scholars and The Industrialists are in the middle of a large debate on whether or not to legalize Zilfium a useful fuel that could push the country into a modern age but it would be at the cost of the environment. I liked the emphasis on the importance of education in Winterkeep. I also loved the telepathic foxes and another telepathic creature known as silbercows that I imagined as a sort of manatee. My love for this series was really reignited and I hope we get more Graceling Realm novels. I'm not even sure who I'd want to follow next there are so many options for new storylines after this book.
Winterkeep is a bit unique from the previous three books in that there are five unique points of view. Two are characters from the previous books, Bitterblue and Giddon, and three are all new characters. I loved that we got to spend more with Giddon and Bitterblue. I loved their relationship and the trust they built between each other in Bitterblue's novel. I will admit there was an aspect of their relationship in that book that I was a little sad not to see realized and boy does it finally get realized here! Giddon is such a precious pining fool and I love him so much. I also loved his relationship with Hava. It's been five years since the end of Bitterblue and Hava has really come out of her shell and developed such a fun slightly mean bit of banter with Giddon. One of the other points of view is Lovisa Cavenda, a student in Winterkeep and daughter of the President of Winterkeep. She tries her best to be a dutiful daughter and follow in the steps of her political parents. Indeed she is a bit of a schemer and is seen sneaking around for much of the book. I wasn't sure of Lovisa at first but she really grew on me and by the end of the book I was in love with her. Another point of view is that of Adventure Fox, one of the blue telepathic foxes that populates Winterkeep. He is bonded to Lovisa's mother and is struggling with some of the rules of foxkind. I was not expecting to love his POV chapters so much when I first heard a fox was going to be one of the POVs. He was such an interesting character and I'm so happy with how his story concluded in this book. The final point of view is that of a mysterious many-eyed thirteen tentacled sea monster known as the Keeper. I loved the Keeper, every thought from it was just such a mood. All the Keeper wants is to collect treasures at the bottom of the ocean, be left alone, and occasionally sing badly. Truly an icon.
The world of Winterkeep was fascinating. It's the first country we're seeing in the Graceling Realm that's a democratic republic and politics actually play a large role in the book. The two political parties The Scholars and The Industrialists are in the middle of a large debate on whether or not to legalize Zilfium a useful fuel that could push the country into a modern age but it would be at the cost of the environment. I liked the emphasis on the importance of education in Winterkeep. I also loved the telepathic foxes and another telepathic creature known as silbercows that I imagined as a sort of manatee. My love for this series was really reignited and I hope we get more Graceling Realm novels. I'm not even sure who I'd want to follow next there are so many options for new storylines after this book.
Fantasy är en genre som jag ofta väljer bort. Det är för tungrott, för mycket att lära sig. Världar, folkslag, religioner - allt är nytt och bara tanken på att gång på gång lära in nya världsbyggen, och dessutom ofta dussintals olika karaktärer, ger mig huvudvärk. Det är ytterst sällan jag vågar mig på renodlad fantasy - och än mer sällan jag tycker det är riktigt bra.
Men Winterkeep är som att komma hem. Jag återvänder in i The Graceling Realm direkt. Och ja, jag må ha varit här tre gånger förut, men dels är alla delar fristående, och dels var det väldigt många år sedan jag läste de tidigare böckerna i serien (den första läste jag 2014 om jag ska tro min läsejournal och recension på Goodreads). Med hjälp av ständiga påminnelser och små tillbakablickar fungerar det friktionsfritt, trots att det var så länge sedan jag lärde känna Katsa och Po i första boken.
Vad händer då i denna fjärde del? Världen i The Graceling Realm har utvidgats, en ny kontinent har upptäckts, där de - till skillnad från i The Seven Kingdoms - har demokrati. Här får vi dels lära känna presidentens dotter, Lovisa Cavenda, som smyger runt på sina föräldrars ägor och försöker luska ut vad det är för skumma affärer de har i görningen. Vi får också följa en delegation från Monsea med drottning Bitterblue i spetsen, som anländer till de nordligare länderna för att diskutera märkliga affärsavtal. Men under en stormig natt försvinner drottningen spårlöst, märkliga explosioner sker på havets botten och ett skepp med två monseiska rådgivare går i kvav. Är det tillfälligheter?
Boken är härlig, mysig och spännande och det är en fröjd att läsa den. Det må vara en av de svagare delarna i serien, så att den får en fyra säger mer om mina favoritdelar (1 & 3) än den här. Är fantasy alltid så här bra är det en ren sorg att jag inte läser det oftare.
Men Winterkeep är som att komma hem. Jag återvänder in i The Graceling Realm direkt. Och ja, jag må ha varit här tre gånger förut, men dels är alla delar fristående, och dels var det väldigt många år sedan jag läste de tidigare böckerna i serien (den första läste jag 2014 om jag ska tro min läsejournal och recension på Goodreads). Med hjälp av ständiga påminnelser och små tillbakablickar fungerar det friktionsfritt, trots att det var så länge sedan jag lärde känna Katsa och Po i första boken.
Vad händer då i denna fjärde del? Världen i The Graceling Realm har utvidgats, en ny kontinent har upptäckts, där de - till skillnad från i The Seven Kingdoms - har demokrati. Här får vi dels lära känna presidentens dotter, Lovisa Cavenda, som smyger runt på sina föräldrars ägor och försöker luska ut vad det är för skumma affärer de har i görningen. Vi får också följa en delegation från Monsea med drottning Bitterblue i spetsen, som anländer till de nordligare länderna för att diskutera märkliga affärsavtal. Men under en stormig natt försvinner drottningen spårlöst, märkliga explosioner sker på havets botten och ett skepp med två monseiska rådgivare går i kvav. Är det tillfälligheter?
Boken är härlig, mysig och spännande och det är en fröjd att läsa den. Det må vara en av de svagare delarna i serien, så att den får en fyra säger mer om mina favoritdelar (1 & 3) än den här. Är fantasy alltid så här bra är det en ren sorg att jag inte läser det oftare.
It was a very strong book even if it wasn't 100% my cup of tea. I really liked the plotline and how Cashore has expanded her world. Seeing things from Giddon's perspective was also really nice. The book took an unexpected turn a little before halfway through and it threw me a little, and I think that maybe it took me out of the story a bit for that reason, because the tone of story changed quite a bit. My biggest thing as that I wanted just a bit more from the ending, simply because I love these characters so much and wouldn't have minded a cute moment or two after all they had to go through in this story.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
medium-paced
Ahoy there mateys! "Can’t Wait Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine. Each Wednesday ye get to highlight a book that ye be really looking forward to. I don't normally do memes here on me log, but I received this young adult fantasy eARC excerpt from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I loved it and am now looking forward to readin' the full version when it be published. The stats:
Title: winterkeep
Author: Kristin Cashore
Publisher: Dial Books
Publication Date: January 19, 2021 (hardback/ebook)
ISBN: 978-0803741508
Source: NetGalley
Well mateys. I loved the Graceling realm when I was younger. I reread those books over and over again. Me reread as an adult was surprisingly not as good but I can't help but be fascinated by the world. I was intrigued when I saw this new offering. I wasn't sure at first if I would read it but was too curious and so got the excerpt to see what was happening. I basically forgot it was an excerpt, got to the end, and was sad I didn't have more.
These books are said to be set up to be companion books that can be read in any order. I disagree. They build on each other. A lot of what I read in book four would make a person lost if they didn't know what came before. I did wish that this new book involved new characters but instead it deals with Bitterblue again. However, I quickly wanted to know more about the new lands and people and plots brewing. I will certainly be I certainly do want to know what happens next. Arrr!
So lastly . . .
Thank you Dial Books!
Title: winterkeep
Author: Kristin Cashore
Publisher: Dial Books
Publication Date: January 19, 2021 (hardback/ebook)
ISBN: 978-0803741508
Source: NetGalley
Well mateys. I loved the Graceling realm when I was younger. I reread those books over and over again. Me reread as an adult was surprisingly not as good but I can't help but be fascinated by the world. I was intrigued when I saw this new offering. I wasn't sure at first if I would read it but was too curious and so got the excerpt to see what was happening. I basically forgot it was an excerpt, got to the end, and was sad I didn't have more.
These books are said to be set up to be companion books that can be read in any order. I disagree. They build on each other. A lot of what I read in book four would make a person lost if they didn't know what came before. I did wish that this new book involved new characters but instead it deals with Bitterblue again. However, I quickly wanted to know more about the new lands and people and plots brewing. I will certainly be I certainly do want to know what happens next. Arrr!
So lastly . . .
Thank you Dial Books!
I'm a fan of the Graceling series and while this book is part of that series, it didn't feel like it was. There was a grand total of 2 gracelings the entire book. It felt like it strayed so far from the graceling world. And yes I know book 2 "Fire" didn't have many gracelings there were at least human monsters as opposed to these telepathic foxes that were essentially the monsters from book 2. The biggest problem was the writing was so different. The first 3 books you get the perspective of the main character the whole time. This one you jump between several character's POVs and I get that it helps the story. It was also very confusing and kind of took you out of it for a bit while you readjusted to this new person's POV almost every chapter. The story itself was good, a bit of a fun mystery. I just really didn't care for the writers' choices. It's very clear that Kristin Cashore wasn't in charge this time. I'm a little worried for book 5 now.