REVIEW: BITTERBLUE BY KRISTIN CASHORE.

Title: Bitterblue (Graceling Realm #3)
Author: Kristin Cashore
Edition: Paperback
Published: May 1, 2012
Publisher: Dial
Pages: 563
Source: Borrowed from Nicole of The Twins Read
Category: High fantasy, Romance
Trailer: Here.

Synopsis:

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.

Bitterblue is amazing!

Graceling is definitely one of my favorite high-fantasy books. It was just.. wow.. When I started reading Fire last month, I seriously had no idea that it wasn't a sequel but a companion. I was around a hundred and so page when I stopped reading it because it was just uber slow for my taste. But one of my co-Graceling fans and a book blogger friend who I wouldn't hide under the name of Nicole from The Twins Read lent me her Bitterblue, I had to prepare myself because it was a massive one. And am skeptical if it would turn out like what I felt for Fire.

The story took off 8 years after Graceling. It was when Bitterblue's at the right age and has been ruling Monsea after King Leck died. She has been struggling with the way her kingdom runs and she just can't sit and watch everything get destroyed by her father's ruling aftermath. She then decides to sneak out and disguise as a commoner to find out on her own what really happens inside and out of her castle and she isn't prepared to the revelations that awaits her and the strange yet compelling commoners she is yet to be friends with.

Initially, the rating I have for Bitterblue was five stars. As the days passed and I was able to give thoughts to it, I made it four, instead. I really loved Bitterblue but not as much as I adored Graceling. Maybe because I was waiting for skills display or fighting but yeah, nothing much happened. The novel was more of Bitterblue's Queen problems running a kingdom. I wasn't expecting much from the world building since I was kind of familiar with it, thanks to Graceling but I was still marbled by the secret passages in the castle and the bridges. Thankfully, there were awesome illustrations in the book! One of my favorite parts? Death's Grace!

What happened to the romance, though?

Bitterblue is an epic ending to the series! Questions are answered and consistency is so fluid. The secrets unveiled will keep you go on until you have unveiled them yourself! Such a nerve-wracking, blood-pumping story! I want more!

"...that's how memory works.. Things disappear without your permission, then come back again without your permission."

REVIEW: GRACELING BY KRISTIN CASHORE.

Title: Graceling
Author: Kristin Cashore
Series: Graceling Realm #1
Edition: Paperback
Publication: October 1st 2008 by Harcourt
Source: Bought
Pages: 471
Genre: High Fantasy, Romance

Synopsis:

His eyes, Katsa had never seen such eyes. One was silver, and the other, gold. They glowed in his sun-darkened face, uneven, and strange. She was surprised that they hadn't shone in the darkness of their first meeting. They didn't seem human.

Then he raised his eyebrows a hair, and his mouth shifted into the hint of a smirk. He nodded at her, just barely, and it released her from her spell.

Cocky, she thought. Cocky and arrogant, this one, and that was all there was to make of him. Whatever game he was playing, if he expected her to join him he would be disappointed.

In a world where people born with an extreme skill - called a Grace - are feared and exploited, Katsa carries the burden of the skill even she despises: the Grace of killing. She lives under the command of her uncle Randa, King of the Middluns, and is expected to execute his dirty work, punishing and torturing anyone who displeases him.

When she first meets Prince Po, who is Graces with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change.

She never expects to become Po's friend.

She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace - or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away...a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.

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Another book I had sitting on my shelf for months now that seriously took me time to find. I saw this book from some of my favorite author's book cases and when I checked the summary on GoodReads, I knew that I have to get it. Reviews and recommendations topped my high expectations and I am actually happy that the story did not disappoint me as finding it did.

I finished the story in 3 days. Not because I wasn't cutting it out but I savored every chapter there was to it. Lady Katsa, together with Lord Giddon and Oll, went to the dungeons of King Murgon of Sunder to save grandfather Tealiff of Lieden Kingdom from being held prisoner. He was kidnapped for some unknown reason and since Lady Katsa was gifted with the extreme ability to kill (that fighting an army would just be a piece of cake for her), she used her discomfort about it by starting an underground Council. On their way out of the dungeons, Po saw her and she froze when he stared into her eyes because no one ever dared stare at her and no one fought her the way he did. And that's when the story progressed to something full of action with a little bit of drama.

Kristin Cashore's debut novel left me in awe. I loved every little thing that revolved and evolved in this story. The pace might have been too slow and heavy for me, but it made me more eager to finish it. Setting it on a world peopled with kings and queens made me instantly picture the A Game of Thrones setup and it was just solely astonishing. My mind actually processed the lines of the characters with a different accent! The way I also learned about being Graced as I went deeper the story made this book completely 'unputdownable'.

When I think about it, the plot was just very simple. But what made it extraordinary I guess would be the way it was told, the mix of different personalities and the emotions each character brought. Anyone who has read this can say that Lady Katsa was one of the strongest protagonists ever written. She's self-suffient, short-tempered, rational and independent. Initially she had issues with trust but eventually loosen up with Prince Po's help. The romance wasn't too heavy because the main plot still remained afloat and I'm just glad that it balanced the story. Lady Katsa's strong personality and Prince Po gentleness/selflessness merged together so perfectly like a yin and a yang. I thought Katsa would be a difficult character but as it turned out, she progressed from being a cold-hearted Graced killer to a soft-hearted Graced princess and again, thanks to Po. Helda, Oll, Giddon, Raffin, Bitterblue, Ror, Skye and Lec were some of the characters that gave life to this amazing book and without their striking roles, the story would have been boring altogether. There were some chapters where my heart almost exploded with happiness and pain, surely satisfying for such high-praised story that left me craving for more.

Fire? Of course I will do my best to get a copy as soon as my Book Buying Ban is lifted. I would try not to set my expectations high because I would just like the book to surprise and captivate me just like Graceling did. Another series that will be added to my favorites!

"When a monster stopped behaving like a monster, did it stop being a monster? Did it become something else?"