Review: Bitterblue

Title: Bitterblue (Graceling Realm #3)

Author: Kristin Cashore
Publisher: Dial
Year published: 2012
How I got this book: Ordered it on BookDepository (affiliate link)
My rating: 4,5 stars

Goodreads synopsis:
Eight years have passed since the young Princess Bitterblue, and her country, were saved from the vicious King Leck. Now Bitterblue is the queen of Monsea, and her land is at peace.

But the influence of her father, a violent psychopath with mind-altering abilities, lives on. Her advisers, who have run the country on her behalf since Leck's death, believe in a forward-thinking plan: to pardon all those who committed terrible acts during Leck's reign; and to forget every dark event that ever happened. Monsea's past has become shrouded in mystery, and it's only when Bitterblue begins sneaking out of her castle - curious, disguised and alone - to walk the streets of her own city, that she begins to realise the truth. her kingdom has been under the thirty-five-year long spell of a madman, and now their only chance to move forward is to revisit the past.

Whatever that past holds.

Two thieves, who have sworn only to 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, who possesses and unidentified Grace, may also hold a key to her heart ...

My thoughts:
This is the last book in the Graceling companion series, and I really enjoyed it. As I said, it's a companion series, so you don't necessarily have to read them in the right order, but that's what I did, and I think it was the best for me. I would recommend reading Bitterblue last anyway, because it takes place after both Graceling and Fire, and contains spoilers for them. Fire takes place first if you want to read it chronologically, but it doesn't really matter if you read Graceling or Fire first, neither spoils the other. 

It took a couple of chapters before I really got into this book, but that's because it's been a while since I read Graceling and Fire, and I needed to get myself back into the story. 

We follow Bitterblue, the queen of Monsea, throughout this book. We first met her in Graceling, when she was a child, but this takes place eight years later. We see Po and Katsa in this book, but personally, I did not enjoy Katsa as much in this book. That may just be because it's been a while since I've read Graceling and connected with her. I did really like Po in this book, and how supportive he was of Bitterblue.

Bitterblue was such a great character in this book, and I connected a lot with her. She acted like a normal person, and some times that not really the case with book characters, unfortunately. Bitterblue is about my age in this book, and I can't imagine going through what she has, and having all that responsibility. 

There are SO many characters in this book, which is not necessarily bad. It did, however, meant that it took a while for me to understand who was who, and actually understand everything.

I did really enjoy this book, and flew through it. I wish we could have more series in this world, because I want to know more. I wish the ending felt a bit more like an actual ending, but it wasn't too bad. 

If you want to read this series, or are having doubts about it, I recommend giving it a shot. Start with either Graceling or Fire, depending on what order you want to read them in, and just start. This wasn't the best in the series, but I did still enjoy it a lot. 

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