Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore – a Review

Bitterblue is the third book of Kristin Cashore’s Graceling Realm series.  Bitterblue picks up 8 years after the death of her father, the evil King Leck. Bitterblue is now at 18, the Queen of Monsea.  Though 8 years have passed since her rise to the throne, the people of Monsea are still recovering from the evil Kings 35 year reign of terror and horrific torture.  The story starts off with Bitterblue bogged down in paperwork, given to her by her trusted advisors.  She is tired and bored, and she yearns to know more about her country and what happens outside of her castle. But no one listens to her, and she has to stay under the protection of her advisors and guards.

Bitterblue discovers the library, and begins to read cryptic books about her mother and father.  She begins to question her advisors, who though they have been with her all her life, they keep avoiding talking about those horrible days.  Bitterblue starts to have strange feelings that something is being hidden from her.  She decides to explore more on her own, and in disguise, she sneaks out many nights to see what is happening in the towns near her.  Bitterblue discovers a pub that has storytellers, and they do talk about sordid details of King Leck’s reign, which opens her eyes to things she was not aware of, or cannot remember. 

On one of the excursions, she meets two thieves, who in time become her friends, though they do not know she is the Queen of Monsea.  Saf, short for Sapphire, becomes more then just a friend, but he is reckless, and brings danger to her.  Listening to the stories about the bad days, and how they all perceive her as Queen, and learning things from her new friends, Bitterblue suspects that she is being lied to from her trusted advisors. 

Working with her librarian, Death (spoken as Deeth), they look at all the old books, many of which Death is resurrecting, as his Grace is remembering everything he reads. She also begins to discover so many hidden rooms in the catacombs of the castle, that her father used for his dastardly deeds.  The amazing thing about this story, is how Cashore brings in puzzles, and so many, in different ciphers, & languages,  and making it so believable, though complex. As she begins to learn the truth, Bitterblue’s life becomes threatened, and she has to rely on old friends to keep her safe.  This is some of the best parts of the book, that we get to see a lot of Katsa, Po, Raffin, Giddeon, and Fire nearer to the end.  We also meet so many new and interesting characters, both good and bad….Helga, Fox, Hava, Saf, just to name a few.

The last 1/3 of the book is filled with surprises, twists, and mostly betrayal, as Bitterblue begins to find out the truth, hidden behind so many lies, even if it was meant to protect her.  Bitterblue has to rise above the pain from those discoveries, and be the Queen who must bring Monsea back from those terrifying years.  You can’t help but feel sorry for Bitterblue, as one after another she suffers from the knowledge of how deep the betrayals her within her own castle. 

Overall, I thought Kristin Cashore wrote another great book in this series.  However, there was so much detail, complexity, not a lot of action, that I felt made this book, not quite as good as the first book Graceling, or even the prequel Fire.  But with that said, it is a writing of an excellent author. 

Reviewed by Barb