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A review by oddio
Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore
1.0
Bitterblue was actually one of my most anticipated books of 2012. I liked [b:Graceling|3236307|Graceling (Graceling Realm, #1)|Kristin Cashore|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1331548394s/3236307.jpg|3270810] and [b:Fire|6137154|Fire (Graceling Realm, #2)|Kristin Cashore|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1331535456s/6137154.jpg|6128277]. Not only were they beautifully written, but they were entertaining and set up worlds that I could become engrossed in. Bitterblue just ruined it all for me. Thanks very much Kristin Cashore.
This book is the reason I made an entire Goodreads shelf for boring books. This book's plot is ultimately pointless. I thought it would be a good idea to expand the Graceling universe beyond one book, and as soon as I heard this book was centered around Bitterblue I immediately got hyped. The sad thing was, this book was just a massive missed opportunity. Also, this review may or may not be packed with spoilers, but I hid the review anyway.
The book centers around queen Bitterblue, her troubles running a kingdom, her finding out about her father and her nightly outgoings out of the castle. Of course, these stop when Sapphire finds out Bitterblue is the queen about halfway through, and about 95% of the book afterwards is centered around the castle. FUN. That's pretty much it. Although we do learn more about Leck's rule and Fire's part of the "world", that's it. The plot is basically...
Bitterblue sneaks out of the castle and makes it a regular thing.
She finds books and stuff that reveal more about her parent's past.
She falls for Sapphire.
Political stuff happens that I don't care about.
More backstory.
Bitterblue is confused.
More backstory...
MORE BACKSTORY....
Normally, I don't mind when characters have mysterious pasts, but this is just overdoing it. Oh yeah, other characters make appearances, but was it just me, or did Katsa and Po seem really off-character? Like, their characters are extremely exaggerated. Maybe it was just me, but Katsa seemed much peppier than normal. : / This has to be one of the most slow-moving books I've ever read, and for what? seriously, the whole book is 563 PAGES LONG. Ihe author probably made made the plot as lengthy as possible on purpose, but this is going to far.
Also, something that bothered me. The whole book takes place in Bitterblue City (very creative there.) I have an idea Cashore, maybe Bitterblue could actually LEAVE her kingdom, or run away for some reason, and learn more about her parents on her journey as well as meet Fire while travelling. I don't see why'd she would leave her kingdom, but the plot would be much more entertaining that way.
Also, that way you could actually get Bitterblue to do something. She seems like a pretty smart queen, but she spends the whole book contemplating. There's only one scene in the whole 563 page book where she actually is involved in action, and she's just kind of boring.
As with Sapphire, I felt like he was only tacked onto the book to add some romance to the already lengthy plot. I mean, come on. Why else would he be dumped by the main character? He felt really pointless, but I guess his relationship with Bitterblue added some suspense to the plot. By "suspense", I mean very little. It's a sad thing when your romantic interest is very obviously added in to make your book more entertaining.
Positives? Kristen Cashore is no doubt a lovely writer, she just needs a more coherent plot to write. The pictures and cover were gorgeous. I also liked the character descriptions "written by Death" at the end and how ink "was conveniently knocked over by Lovejoy" where Madlen lived. Very subtle there Cashore. Seriously, with characters as forgettable and numerous as this I'm not afraid to admit I had to look at it several times while reading the book.
This book is the reason I made an entire Goodreads shelf for boring books. This book's plot is ultimately pointless. I thought it would be a good idea to expand the Graceling universe beyond one book, and as soon as I heard this book was centered around Bitterblue I immediately got hyped. The sad thing was, this book was just a massive missed opportunity. Also, this review may or may not be packed with spoilers, but I hid the review anyway.
The book centers around queen Bitterblue, her troubles running a kingdom, her finding out about her father and her nightly outgoings out of the castle. Of course, these stop when Sapphire finds out Bitterblue is the queen about halfway through, and about 95% of the book afterwards is centered around the castle. FUN. That's pretty much it. Although we do learn more about Leck's rule and Fire's part of the "world", that's it. The plot is basically...
Bitterblue sneaks out of the castle and makes it a regular thing.
She finds books and stuff that reveal more about her parent's past.
She falls for Sapphire.
Political stuff happens that I don't care about.
More backstory.
Bitterblue is confused.
More backstory...
MORE BACKSTORY....
Normally, I don't mind when characters have mysterious pasts, but this is just overdoing it. Oh yeah, other characters make appearances, but was it just me, or did Katsa and Po seem really off-character? Like, their characters are extremely exaggerated. Maybe it was just me, but Katsa seemed much peppier than normal. : / This has to be one of the most slow-moving books I've ever read, and for what? seriously, the whole book is 563 PAGES LONG. Ihe author probably made made the plot as lengthy as possible on purpose, but this is going to far.
Also, something that bothered me. The whole book takes place in Bitterblue City (very creative there.) I have an idea Cashore, maybe Bitterblue could actually LEAVE her kingdom, or run away for some reason, and learn more about her parents on her journey as well as meet Fire while travelling. I don't see why'd she would leave her kingdom, but the plot would be much more entertaining that way.
Also, that way you could actually get Bitterblue to do something. She seems like a pretty smart queen, but she spends the whole book contemplating. There's only one scene in the whole 563 page book where she actually is involved in action, and she's just kind of boring.
As with Sapphire, I felt like he was only tacked onto the book to add some romance to the already lengthy plot. I mean, come on. Why else would he be dumped by the main character? He felt really pointless, but I guess his relationship with Bitterblue added some suspense to the plot. By "suspense", I mean very little. It's a sad thing when your romantic interest is very obviously added in to make your book more entertaining.
Positives? Kristen Cashore is no doubt a lovely writer, she just needs a more coherent plot to write. The pictures and cover were gorgeous. I also liked the character descriptions "written by Death" at the end and how ink "was conveniently knocked over by Lovejoy" where Madlen lived. Very subtle there Cashore. Seriously, with characters as forgettable and numerous as this I'm not afraid to admit I had to look at it several times while reading the book.