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kaela35's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, and Torture
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Rape
el_wheel's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, and Torture
qrschulte's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Gore, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Dysphoria
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and War
imds's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.25
Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
kingorgan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, and Death of parent
Minor: Homophobia and Medical trauma
thoseoldcrows23's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Animal death, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Minor: Homophobia and Sexual content
jordyn_alexx's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This was longer than I remembered, but that was welcome. It was certainly familiar, but there were also less finer details that I remembered than I would’ve thought. I’m happy I reread it.
I’d forgotten how endearing Death was and how nice it was to witness the start of Bitterblue and Giddon’s friendship. I found myself not quite frustrated, but wishing Bitterblue did certain things differently.
Edit: Reread April 2021
With this reread I think I was seeing things from new perspective. It's hard to understand how things have progressed within the timeframe, but at the same time, I imagine it's realistic. After reading Winterkeep, it's nice to be reminded of how things developed in this book.
~
This was not my favorite of the Graceling books, but I still loved it. I connected really well with the characters and I was left wishing she'd write more.
Graphic: Suicide, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
readingrat's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Torture
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Trafficking
queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore is book 3 in the Graceling Realm series. As much as I liked this book, it was so much darker than the previous two books. Definitely check content warnings before reading. Cashore has a fantastic way of world building slowly through a story. The way she's able to expand and follow different timelines and keep everything straight is a feat unto itself.
We follow Bitterblue 8 years after the events of Graceling and almost 49 years after the events in Fire. Bitterblue is now Queen of Monsea, but is kept sheltered and ignorant about her subjects and her queendom. As she learns how much she doesn't know, she discovers the lingering pain of Leck's influence has caused someone to kill truthseekers who want to know what happened during Leck's reign. Bitterblue finds the task of remembering and honoring the past and moving forward so as not to trigger people unnecessarily, to be almost insurmountable.
There is a lot of plot that happens in this book, as well as plot set up for the other books. I love the characters that Cashore creates! I loved seeing Po and Katsa again along with some new names, like Giddon (what a softie), and Death (pronounced to rhyme with teeth) the librarian who our curmudgeonly librarian with a Grace I wouldn't mind having. So much happened in this book, that I can't talk about it all without spoilers.
I love that Cashore makes it explicit in her books that women have the choice to not bear children. In Graceling, Katsa takes medicine that makes it so she will never be pregnant, and Bitterblue takes herbs to prevent pregnancy. She also gives a background sapphic couple and Achillean couple. Cashore also casually includes background characters with disabilities. She does acknowledge at the end of the book that she made a mistake writing Po losing his sight at the end of book one. She admits that she wasn't thinking about disability politics at the time and wasn't aware she was stumbling into "curing" Po's visual disability with his Grace, and apologizes for it.
So excited to get to Winterkeep and where Cashore will take us next!
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Medical trauma, and Murder
Minor: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Rape, Self harm, and Sexual assault
siglerbooknook's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Rape, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Outing, and Classism