Eight years after Graceling, Bitterblue is now queen of Monsea. But the influence of her father, a violent psychopath with mind-altering abilities,...
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reviews
Oct 07, 2011
/still to read
I am so surprised by the tremendous backlash against this series' arguably non-traditional romantic direction. And yet the backlash is fascinating. I see Katsa painted by some reviewers as 'man hating' because she doesn't want to get married or to have children, which is an interpretation that never dawned on me when I read the book, and I see backlash very vocally continuing with Fire, and this because while Fire wanted to have children desperately, she decided the lineage of More...
I am so surprised by the tremendous backlash against this series' arguably non-traditional romantic direction. And yet the backlash is fascinating. I see Katsa painted by some reviewers as 'man hating' because she doesn't want to get married or to have children, which is an interpretation that never dawned on me when I read the book, and I see backlash very vocally continuing with Fire, and this because while Fire wanted to have children desperately, she decided the lineage of More...
19 comments
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(172 people liked it)
Jan 28, 2012
Seriously, what is it with YA readers? Is it a prerequisite to be unable to understand how rating systems work? Has someone swapped your cocktail of Ritalin and Prozac for a Stephenie Meyer-flavoured drain cleaner Mojito? You rate a book once you have read it when you then have the opportunity to evaluate it. Once you have read the book you have the right to give it any damn rating you please because you have earned it. It's idiotic to give a book 5 stars before you've read it simply because it
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22 comments
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(76 people liked it)
Feb 14, 2012
Tatiana
rated it: 
As seen on The Readventurer
It's with a heavy heart that I'm giving Bitterblue only 2 stars. This book was one of the most anticipated reads of the year for me and will go down my personal history as one of the most massive disappointments. It has to be acknowledged, though, that most of the reviews of Bitterblue so far have been very positive and contained words like "genius" and "masterpiece" in them. My opinion appears to be out of norm.
After recentl More...
It's with a heavy heart that I'm giving Bitterblue only 2 stars. This book was one of the most anticipated reads of the year for me and will go down my personal history as one of the most massive disappointments. It has to be acknowledged, though, that most of the reviews of Bitterblue so far have been very positive and contained words like "genius" and "masterpiece" in them. My opinion appears to be out of norm.
After recentl More...
41 comments
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(45 people liked it)
Oct 07, 2011
For those who don't know. This takes place 6 years AFTER Graceling's time. And Bitterblue was 10 or 11 then, so she's date-able age now. I betcha there will be romance. And just to throw this out there, because I JUST finished Graceling and the feeling is still strong. I HATE THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not really, it was fantastically written. I just wish the author would continue on with Katsa and Po, the fact she's leaving us hanging over a freaking c More...
Not really, it was fantastically written. I just wish the author would continue on with Katsa and Po, the fact she's leaving us hanging over a freaking c More...
44 comments
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(35 people liked it)
Jan 18, 2012
I cannot wait for this book to come out! Contrary to popular feeling, I am happy Fire and Graceling ended the way they did; it leaves readers with the satisfaction that the romance wasn't for nothing and the character's feelings were real, and a sense of reality, of not know how each ended. Most of the reviews I've read that have been against Bitterblue being the main character, I have found that almost all of the readers feel this way because they want to know how Po and Katsa ended. Newsflash:
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2 comments
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(27 people liked it)
Oct 07, 2011
I am so insanely excited for this book!
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Okay, breathe Erica. September, it's not that far away, right? It's not that much farther than April when this books was SUPPOSED to come out. Just, like, fiveish months. No big deal. It's not like you've been waiting for this book, for like, ever!, and anxiously awaiting April when it would FINALLY come out. But no, they had to go and change the release date. I hope this means that this book will be even more amazing, because Kristin More...
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Okay, breathe Erica. September, it's not that far away, right? It's not that much farther than April when this books was SUPPOSED to come out. Just, like, fiveish months. No big deal. It's not like you've been waiting for this book, for like, ever!, and anxiously awaiting April when it would FINALLY come out. But no, they had to go and change the release date. I hope this means that this book will be even more amazing, because Kristin More...
22 comments
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(20 people liked it)
Oct 07, 2011
I can't wait to read this!! I just hope that Cashore doesn't go overboard again with all the man hating, and no babies stuff. I am already fairly in love Bitterblue's charactor and if she does that agian, I'm afriad it will ruin the whole book for me (as it did with Fire).
8 comments
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(10 people liked it)
Oct 07, 2011
Caitlin
rated it: 
I just finished Graceling minutes ago, and in a mad dash, I scrambled onto the internet to see if I could find a sequel to it. And here I end up with Bitterblue. I was fuming, absolutley furious that Katsa and Po were minor characters in this. I've always thought that the two were destined to be together, especially after they re-united in Graceling. But no! And in this sequel, they're not main characters? Their relationship isn't a main point in the story? Is Kristin Cashore TRYING to stop me f
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(10 people liked it)
Oct 07, 2011
I don't get why everyone is so angry Bitterblue will be the main protagonist. I'm actually really excited, I loved Bitterblue's character in Graceling and I'm definitly excited in reading about Po and Katsa from her point of view. Even though I know many of you aren't.
At first I was like most of you after reading Graceling, I wanted to know what would happen to Katsa and Po so badly. But now that I've read it again I can honestly say, I'm satisfied with the way it ended. I mean it's n More...
At first I was like most of you after reading Graceling, I wanted to know what would happen to Katsa and Po so badly. But now that I've read it again I can honestly say, I'm satisfied with the way it ended. I mean it's n More...
Feb 06, 2012
Reading
rated it:
I've been waiting forever!
I read Graceling and Fire before I ever started blogging. I fell in love with the world that Kristin Cashore created. Graceling and Fire are two of the very few books that I've ever read more than once. That list consists of Harry Potter, Twilight, Wicked Lovely, Graceling and Fire. That's how much I loved them. So, as you can imagine, I had high expectations for Bitterblue.
Bitterblue was a much different book than the other two. While Gra More...
I read Graceling and Fire before I ever started blogging. I fell in love with the world that Kristin Cashore created. Graceling and Fire are two of the very few books that I've ever read more than once. That list consists of Harry Potter, Twilight, Wicked Lovely, Graceling and Fire. That's how much I loved them. So, as you can imagine, I had high expectations for Bitterblue.
Bitterblue was a much different book than the other two. While Gra More...
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(3 people liked it)
Jan 30, 2012
You all have no idea how much I want to get my hands on this book.
It is #1 on my to-read list.
Which makes it pretty dang epic!
But, if this book turns out to be horribly awful, I'll lock myself in my room and cry until this book gets a re-write. You know, no big deal.
Write faster Cashore!!! I need Bitterblue now!
Update:
It has a cover!!! Oh it has a cover! That's one step closer to the book actually coming out and my reading it.
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It is #1 on my to-read list.
Which makes it pretty dang epic!
But, if this book turns out to be horribly awful, I'll lock myself in my room and cry until this book gets a re-write. You know, no big deal.
Write faster Cashore!!! I need Bitterblue now!
Update:
It has a cover!!! Oh it has a cover! That's one step closer to the book actually coming out and my reading it.
More...
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(2 people liked it)
Jan 29, 2012
Victoria
rated it:
I am lucky to have a good friend who is a bookseller who received an advance reader's copy of Bitterblue and gave it to me.
Graceling was really good. Fire was magical and still my favorite. But Bitterblue...Bitterblue is practically transcendant. I wish I could find the words to describe how it really made me feel. Cashore has developed into an author who is able to imbue so much character, feeling, and personality into her characters that I felt I was experiencing what Bitterbl More...
Graceling was really good. Fire was magical and still my favorite. But Bitterblue...Bitterblue is practically transcendant. I wish I could find the words to describe how it really made me feel. Cashore has developed into an author who is able to imbue so much character, feeling, and personality into her characters that I felt I was experiencing what Bitterbl More...
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(6 people liked it)
Feb 04, 2012
Heather
rated it:
I won't give anything away here, but this was an awesome book! It was satisfying and beautifully written. Very pretty language usage and storybuilding throughout.
It has been a long time since "Graceling" and I admit that I had forgotten some things about the Seven Kingdoms. If you have a chance, you may want to revisit Graceling before picking up this book. (And lucky you-there is plenty of time. This book comes out in May 2012 (thanks to Penguin who included this book (an More...
It has been a long time since "Graceling" and I admit that I had forgotten some things about the Seven Kingdoms. If you have a chance, you may want to revisit Graceling before picking up this book. (And lucky you-there is plenty of time. This book comes out in May 2012 (thanks to Penguin who included this book (an More...
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(2 people liked it)
Oct 07, 2011
Don't get mad at Cashore for taking so long, she's already pressured enough as it is to finish this book. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely CANNOT WAIT for this to come out—I just think you shouldn't get so frustrated and annoyed about it. The release date keeps changing because the book isn't ready, and I don't know about you, but I'd rather wait a little longer to read an amazing book than have it come out sooner and be disappointed by it. I have faith in Cashore; I know she'll do whatever it t
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(2 people liked it)
Feb 21, 2012
Jennifer
rated it: 
Like many other readers, I was anxious to read the third book in the Graceling trilogy. Enough so, that I waited in a 20 minute line with a hundred bag-toting librarians at ALA. Understand, I never wait in line at ALA...I believe in the serendipity of the conference floor and I figure that eventually I will get to read the book (I also remember the pile of ARCS I still have at home, long since published, still waiting to be devoured). So, it says something that I wanted to wait in line.
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Feb 14, 2012
Sarah
rated it:
It's rare for a fantasy series to keep my interest into the third book, and even more rare for me to think that the third book is just as good, if not better, then the earlier ones. To say that Bitterblue exceeded my expectations is an understatement. It blew them completely out of the water. I finished the whole thing in two days, which is amazing considering that this tome weighs in at an impressive 545 pages!
Everything about this character and her story is deftly and subtly ha More...
Everything about this character and her story is deftly and subtly ha More...
Jan 28, 2012
Alexandra
rated it:
We've been waiting a long time for this book, and you know what? The wait was entirely worth it. Good lord, but this book is awesome.
Bitterblue picks up eight years after Katsa stuck a dagger through Leck's lying mouth and ended his reign of terror - but the memory of Leck's atrocities is still there simmering under the surface. Bitterblue, now queen, wants to make things right, but how can she make restitutions if her advisers can't tell her what happened, and she's too busy being qu More...
Bitterblue picks up eight years after Katsa stuck a dagger through Leck's lying mouth and ended his reign of terror - but the memory of Leck's atrocities is still there simmering under the surface. Bitterblue, now queen, wants to make things right, but how can she make restitutions if her advisers can't tell her what happened, and she's too busy being qu More...
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Jan 25, 2012
Jake
rated it:
There are some books that I don't want to review because my grasp of language doesn't seem adequate. After reading a book like Bitterblue, in which every sentence is constructed so beautifully, I don't feel like I can do the story justice. But I'll try.
I went into Bitterblue with some anxiety: what if Katsa and Po weren't in it enough? What if they'd broken up, or gotten married, or some other unexpected turn of events? What if Bitterblue turned evil in the eight years since we saw h More...
I went into Bitterblue with some anxiety: what if Katsa and Po weren't in it enough? What if they'd broken up, or gotten married, or some other unexpected turn of events? What if Bitterblue turned evil in the eight years since we saw h More...
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(3 people liked it)
Jan 08, 2012
Laura
rated it:
It's not just that these books about the Seven Kingdoms are a great read, it's that each book builds on the last without being a real sequel. Characters from the first two books appear here but the focus is Princess, later Queen, Bitterblue of Monsea.
Bitterblue is the daughter of King Leck and Queen Ashen - Leck is a Graceling with a sociopath's interest in others, Ashen is desperate to save their daughter from his clutches. At age eight, things come to a head and Princess Bitterbl More...
Bitterblue is the daughter of King Leck and Queen Ashen - Leck is a Graceling with a sociopath's interest in others, Ashen is desperate to save their daughter from his clutches. At age eight, things come to a head and Princess Bitterbl More...
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(1 person liked it)
Feb 21, 2012
Tonya
rated it:
I should have done my reviews for Graceling and Fire right after finishing them, because now all I can think to write about them is I LOVE THEM SO MUCH, and WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO BITTERBLUE?
Bitterblue picks up (after a very creepy prologue) ten years after Graceling, when Bitterblue is 18 and fully stationed as queen of Monsea, struggling to find her place amid a kingdom just waking up from a 35-year sleep under Leck's rule. She is trapped under mountains of paper and the thumb of More...
Bitterblue picks up (after a very creepy prologue) ten years after Graceling, when Bitterblue is 18 and fully stationed as queen of Monsea, struggling to find her place amid a kingdom just waking up from a 35-year sleep under Leck's rule. She is trapped under mountains of paper and the thumb of More...
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(4 people liked it)
Feb 06, 2012
Alexandria
rated it:
I read and loved Graceling and was a bit loathe to read Fire before I could move on to Bitterblue's story.
While reading Bitterblue I loved every second of it. You get Cashore's writing style at her best with plenty of twists and adventures to keep you captivated. I loved how she brought worlds together and created an opening to a whole new kind of story. She wraps up the novel with everything neatly wrapped. I finished the book with a sigh that it would be years until I could enter the More...
While reading Bitterblue I loved every second of it. You get Cashore's writing style at her best with plenty of twists and adventures to keep you captivated. I loved how she brought worlds together and created an opening to a whole new kind of story. She wraps up the novel with everything neatly wrapped. I finished the book with a sigh that it would be years until I could enter the More...
Jan 14, 2012
Roxanne Hsu
rated it:
Finally finished it… and after 545 pages (in the ARC) I want it to keep going… so the wait begins, again, for the next installment.
How does an author touch one’s heart so profoundly? What did she do that’s just right? The pacing is perfect – without much battle or fight scenes. I knew the general direction that the story must follow and felt rewarded, rather than bored, when the story arc falls neatly where I anticipated — but, also surprised along the way with many little bits and pie More...
How does an author touch one’s heart so profoundly? What did she do that’s just right? The pacing is perfect – without much battle or fight scenes. I knew the general direction that the story must follow and felt rewarded, rather than bored, when the story arc falls neatly where I anticipated — but, also surprised along the way with many little bits and pie More...
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(1 person liked it)
Feb 17, 2012
Claudia
rated it: 
Confession: I read Graceling when it first came out and have NOT read Fire...so jumping back into this world was a bit difficult. But I was so fortunate to be able to borrow an advance reading copy that I was not going to waste a moment!
Bitterblue is older than when we last saw her...for eight years she's been struggling to grow up and to follow the directions of her trusted advisors who may or may not be leading her in the best manner. She escapes the castle (think Prince and the P More...
Bitterblue is older than when we last saw her...for eight years she's been struggling to grow up and to follow the directions of her trusted advisors who may or may not be leading her in the best manner. She escapes the castle (think Prince and the P More...
Oct 07, 2011
Karla
rated it:
I want to read this soo much! I want to know what happens with Po and Katsa. I know this book is about Bitterblue and now she has to be a bit older but, I know that she has to have contact with Katsa and Po they are family. Well she is part of Po's family any way. I want to know if they are marrie and have a family and if Bitterblue has a love intrest too.
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Feb 16, 2012
Erica
rated it:
Bitterblue is an excellent follow up to companion novels Graceling and Fire. Four stars because it can't stand alone. But. I read it, feverishly, over three days, all 600 + pages. I got a little tired of every character being attacked by unknown assassins literally every time they left the castle. And it sometimes felt like a Tamora Pierce/Robin McKinley/Ursula K LeGuin/other YA fantasy novel mashup. Which is actually okay. At times I felt bludgeoned with a overtly modern PC agenda, but won't re
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Feb 12, 2012
Rachel
rated it:
This may be a tip-toeing sort of review, written in fear of spoiling future readers, but I will try. I loved this book. At its heart, it is about learning how to forgive others their mistakes, but also yourself. It is about dealing with grief and guilt and inadequacy. It is about love and hate and trust and betrayal. And mostly it is about learning how to become something more than you are, how to become the thing you must, even when that seems impossible.
Cashore has a way of story te More...
Cashore has a way of story te More...
Oct 27, 2011
Wow! It has finlly come (well not exactly) but we finlly get to know the date it comes out, and see the cover. Sooo beautiful...CAUSE IT'S BLUE! Nothing at all what I expected it to look like, but i'm still happy with it. I keep reading different opinions about Graceling and how she hates babies and never wants to get married. For me, I really don't care! I think she is a brave, young woman that has incredible badass skills, and I would totally wish to be in her place. Graceling was the first bo
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Oct 07, 2011
I haven't read the book. yet! I read Graceling and Fire. Nearly died of awesomness. I made my favorite lit teacher read. She has recommended it for her classes. :) Whatever happens in Bitterblue it will be good. I really want summer to start and end so i can buy it already!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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