Kristin Cashore simply never misses. It floors how profoundly deep she is able to weave such complex themes within a young adult fantasy. This time it's memory, guilt, the function of a leader and how a nation moves on from a brutally fascist regime (absolutely no present day parallels come to mind for this). Its exciting, sad and incredibly satisfying. I could read 100 more tales of Bitterblue and her friends trying to create more fair kingdoms.