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, the queen of Monsea and daughter of the evil and now deceased King Leck, is now all grown up and is ready to know more about what really goes on in her kingdom, and the truth of what her father actually did to those unfortunate enough to cross his path. So, she does what any ordinary teenager would do and sneaks out at night to see the city's nightlife. While on her adventures she becomes friends with two young rebels, Teddy and Saf (specifically Saf), who are on their own secret missions. With their help and the help of a few friends, Bitterblue realizes that the horrors from her father's time are nowhere near gone and she tries to mend her country and her people of all he did, while facing some mysterious opposition and questionable help from the four men who are supposed to be her trusted advisers. Or do they have something else up their sleeves?
I like a book where the plot progresses steadily and not all jaggedy. Bitterblue was more of a straight line with a lot of little notches in it rather than a normal curve. Although I didn't mind it, I can understand why someone would rather it follow a traditional formula. And even though there was no major climactic happening, there were several almost climactic happenings and a lot of foreshadowing to further grand revealings, which I always appreciate. And just so you know-I totally knew what Saf's grace would be.
As a big fan of Graceling, I was disappointed by Katsa's few appearances in "Bitterblue." Po was exactly like he was in Graceling, which pleased the fangirl in me, but Katsa did not have as much presence as I would have liked and could have been more awesome in the time she had. Instead, she seemed like one of those personality-less supporting characters who only have one important action or line. Where was the butt-kicking girl from Graceling?
Bitterblue, on the other hand, did not disappoint. She actually seemed like the grown up version of the abused orphan princess she was in Graceling. However, my favorite character was Death. His name alone is awesome-any time it said that "Death entered the room" or something like that, I'd freak out wondering who died before reminding myself two seconds later that it's the grumpy old librarian. His grace is also the best and worst grace in Bitterblue and Graceling. He has a magic photographic memory of words. His head is a library. I want that head. Back to the name though, it also fits his personality perfectly. Death is both good and bad, as is the character (although it's pronounced "Deeth"). He is both the grumpy old mean librarian and the lonely man who suffered for years under an evil king who made him destroy books and is eager to serve his queen and help her help the nation recover. I love Death. Wow, that sounds wrong.
5 stars
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