Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

Bitterblue (Graceling Realm, #3)

by Kristin Cashore

The long-awaited companion to New York Times bestsellers Graceling and Fire

Eight years after Graceling, Bitterblue is now queen of Monsea. But the influence of her father, a violent psychopath with mind-altering abilities, lives on. Her advisors, who have run things since Leck died, believe in a forward-thinking plan: Pardon all who committed terrible acts under Leck's reign, and forget anything bad ever happened. But when Bitterblue begins sneaking outside the castle--disguised and alone--to walk the streets of her own city, she starts realizing that the kingdom has been under the thirty-five-year spell of a madman, and the only way to move forward is to revisit the past.

Two thieves, who only steal what has already been stolen, change her life forever. They hold a key to the truth of Leck's reign. And one of them, with an extreme skill called a Grace that he hasn't yet identified, holds a key to her heart.

Reviewed by tweetybugshouse on

5 of 5 stars

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Oh, Bitterblue, what a jumbled mess you're farther left for you to pick apart and decipher. Leck had the grace of telling lies that could be believed, and with this grace, he destroyed a whole kingdom and life of Bitterblue's mother. In this third novel of the Graceling Realm, we dive into the very heart of Bitterblue's character and her empire. Bitterblue knows nothing of her castle, the people in her land, or just how deeply the roots of Leck's rottenness run. I love Bitterblue so much as a character and at times wished I could step in and open her eyes to what was lying underneath all that she was not seeing. There a lot to unpack in the 500 plus pages of this novel, and it worth every page and so glad that I read it when I did as the next novel is due out January 19, 2021, and I am so ready for it.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 11 January, 2021: Finished reading
  • 11 January, 2021: Reviewed