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milointhewoods 's review for:
Winterkeep
by Kristin Cashore
i’ve been trying to work out what to say about this for a while now, and i think my main issue would lie in that the other novels take place over several months and this is done really well - this novel (i’m not sure how long it took place over, but it didn’t feel like the same time frame as the first three) didn’t have the same pacing, and seemed rushed even though it was quite long.
i really loved the introduction of the new nations, the expansion of the graceling universe and all the more steampunk things in winterkeep as opposed to the more traditional fantasy style of the stories on the royal continent. i also adored the foxes - i thought they were amazing.
i didn’t like bitterblue and giddon’s relationship - the age gap made it just too uncomfortable for me, especially because they had met when bitterblue was so young. i thought giddon seemed completely different in this novel than graceling and bitterblue, and this wasn’t really the direction i expected his story to take.
other than that, i really liked lovisa, i thought she was another of cashore’s amazing realistic teenage girl characters, with true flaws and an interesting plotline and character arc.
i loved the parts with nev, but i don’t really like how cashore represents queer couples - i don’t know how to explain it, but with this series removing much of the stigma around sex in YA and between teenagers, it just seems super focused on heterosexual sex. there are several instances of straight couples actively engaging in explicit sexual content, but the canon queer characters don’t share any kisses or sexual content on screen, and even though the main character is canonically bisexual - all the queer experiences are prior to the books beginning. hopefully we’ll get the nev and lovisa on screen kiss we deserve in the next book.
yeah. i don’t know if i articulated that quite right, but it’s how i feel. so it’s not that this was a meh book - which is often why i give three stars, i really enjoyed it but it had some issues for me. i’m definitely going to read any more in this universe though bc i adore cashores writing style and characters.
i really loved the introduction of the new nations, the expansion of the graceling universe and all the more steampunk things in winterkeep as opposed to the more traditional fantasy style of the stories on the royal continent. i also adored the foxes - i thought they were amazing.
i didn’t like bitterblue and giddon’s relationship - the age gap made it just too uncomfortable for me, especially because they had met when bitterblue was so young. i thought giddon seemed completely different in this novel than graceling and bitterblue, and this wasn’t really the direction i expected his story to take.
other than that, i really liked lovisa, i thought she was another of cashore’s amazing realistic teenage girl characters, with true flaws and an interesting plotline and character arc.
i loved the parts with nev, but i don’t really like how cashore represents queer couples - i don’t know how to explain it, but with this series removing much of the stigma around sex in YA and between teenagers, it just seems super focused on heterosexual sex. there are several instances of straight couples actively engaging in explicit sexual content, but the canon queer characters don’t share any kisses or sexual content on screen, and even though the main character is canonically bisexual - all the queer experiences are prior to the books beginning. hopefully we’ll get the nev and lovisa on screen kiss we deserve in the next book.
yeah. i don’t know if i articulated that quite right, but it’s how i feel. so it’s not that this was a meh book - which is often why i give three stars, i really enjoyed it but it had some issues for me. i’m definitely going to read any more in this universe though bc i adore cashores writing style and characters.