A review by theevilcactus1
Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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

4.5

Not quite as perfect as Fire, but still a solid addition to the series. Bitterblue feels like a very distinct character from Fire and, although politics and mind control are major themes in both books, they are explored in very different ways here, and I appreciated that they felt like very different stories (while still belonging in the same universe).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Suicide

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child death, Self harm, Torture, and Medical trauma

The main character’s father, who is already deceased prior to the start of the book, was a psychopath with mind control abilities who hurt a lot of people in a lot of ways, including sexually abusing both adults and children, and mind-controlling others into participating in this abuse. This is a major plot-point and we read several journal entries written by said psychopath about these abuses.