sacajaguido 's review for:

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

5.0

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This is book is the third book in a series (the first is Graceling and the second is Fire) that takes place in a world called the seven kingdoms. In this world there are people who are ‘graced’ and they each have an exceptional skill at something. Those that are graced have two different colored eyes that set them apart from those around them. This book picks up ten years after Graceling with Queen Bitterblue (the daughter of the King Leck). Bitterblue is trying to rule her kingdom and heal all the scars that were left behind by her father, but things aren’t going well. She wants to understand the horrors that occurred by King Leck, but she can’t get anyone to talk about them. She decided to venture out in the city by herself in order to find out more about her people. She soon meets a thief named Saf and his friend Teddy, who make their living trying to find the truth. These “truthseekers” are in danger, though, because someone is trying their hardest to keep the past buried. Bitterblue needs to connect the dots from her past, but the truth isn’t what she expects. Any fans of fantasy will love this book because the world of the seven kingdoms is complex and intriguing. Bitterblue is also a compelling character because she is both strong and weak; she is confused and scared by everything that she keeps uncovering, but she continues to search for the truth. This is definitely a book for older teens because a lot of the memories from Leck’s time deal with murder and torture. Nothing is explicit, but it’s there.