I read Graceling and Fire a few years ago, I
had never known then that how much I would have loved the series completely.
Bitterblue came out on the 1st of May this month, I had it in my
hands by the 2nd and done and completed by the 3th of May. As I always say, its hard to write about the
books that you love, and blogging about Bitterblue will be tough enough.
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| One of those really pretty covers! |
Bitterblue:
18 year old Bitterblue now the Queen of Monsea
faces the challenge of gluing back her kingdom her graced King father had
destroyed. The people of Monsea are still waking up from the past. They don’t
know their Queen and the Queen is unaware of her Kingdoms potential nevertheless
rules it by signing and looking after papers. The Queen is in for a surprise
when she realizes that her Advisers are hiding something from her and that there is more to her Kingdom then she thought there was.
Amazing Writing:
The above summary is pretty crappy. You see, I
don’t like summaries in general I like reading a book without reading its
back. This goes for Bitterblue as well, I didn't read the back so I really didn't know what it would be about. All I knew was that Bitterblue was in
Graceling (Kashore’s debut novel) as a ten year old princess.
Things I knew about Bitterblue beforehand:
- Katsa
and
- Bitterblue
would be 18 and obviously the Queen of Monsea
That’s it.
Unpredictable: This book has got to be the most
unpredictable books I have ever read. It would be extremely foolish to even try
because Cashore’s unexpected twists and new plots left be gripping the edge of
my bed!
Brilliant Hand: I wish I could write as
brilliantly as Cashore wrote this novel. I really liked her writing in
Graceling and in Fire but this was a completely new level. Amazing vocabulary
and use of metaphors! What I loved was the character development especially,
that of Bitterblue. Reading the first page I could not have ever imagined how
much changes she would have gone through. From completely being unaware of
anything to being the heart of her kingdom, the potential in her that budded and
blossomed during the ending was jaw breaking. I absolutely loved Bitterblue as a character,
completely stubborn and yet cautious of how her Kingdom would be affected, A
true Queen! The one thing that made me more attached to her as character was
the fact that she was a normal human who did not have any sort of grace (graces
can be distinguished due to different colors of eyes and people with graces
power that makes them different from normal people. Graces can be as simple as dancing
to fighting with swords).What touched me the most of the influence Leck(father
of Bitterblue) had even though he had been dead for eight years. Even though he
was no longer alive he was still in the villain of the story. He was still
powerful enough, his memories were not forgotten and the Kingdom had not gotten
over him. I never really got why Leck was considered that evil in Graceling in
the first place, this book gave me the reasons why. After reading this I have
more respect for Graceling as a novel as well. I love the way how all of the
three books connect (not giving away spoilers)
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| The Illustrations in this book were so pretty! The best part: there were MANY! |
Connections:
Kristin Cashore is a genius, that I have to
admit. The Seven Kingdom
1. The first one which was quite evident from the
first few pages it self was how The Council formed by Lady Katsa was trying to
over throw monarchies with Kings who were corrupt and unaware of their
Kingdom’s needs. Without a doubt, this one is obviously mentioning the Arab
Spring. Katsa and Po
are trying to over through the King of Estill because the public no longer
likes him. Most of the parts in which Po and Katsa as well as other Council Members are
present is spent on how to tackle that subject. During the Arab Spring, people
used technology as a way of communicating with each other. The Council uses
people instead They have people, from
inn keepers to the kings servants working for them to give them information on
the kings themselves. I really liked the way Cashore incorporated this in her
work. During the end of the book, one of the Kingdom’s had given up Monarchy
and were voting and becoming a democracy. Its fantastic to think that even
thought Bitterblue is a fantasy and will eventually end up being in NY Times
Bestsellers list, it relates to current affairs that are going through his
period. Unlike, other Young Adult novels, Cashore has more deep meaning to her
work.
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| The most prettiest covers in a series! |
2. Homosexuality: Cashore expresses her opinions on this matter quite openly. In Graceling and Fire both
of these topics were quite restricted and in fact not mentioned of at all.
Bitterblue opens up a lot! We have two couples and a man who confess their
sexuality preferences. This is one of the things that makes it one of the most unpredictable
books I have read. Cashore supports gay rights and we can see how much
she values their perspective of living. I read almost everyone of her blog
posts, so I do actually remember her posting about how happy she was New York
3. Importance
of Education: We all know that Education is important, every one knows it but that
does not mean that they get it. The same situation is happening in Bitterblue,
the people want to be educated but they don’t have enough support or
well-educated teachers who can teach the entire Kingdom who is illiterate. A
few characters outside the Palace do know how to read and a one of them is even
writing a dictionary.Its marvelous how Cashore inculcates this in her
book, its fantastic!
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| Her draft of Bitterblue, she writes by hand! |
Overall:
I have
gained so much respect for Kristin Cashore because of her last book in this
trilogy. Its good to know that Young Adult writers too these days add politics
into their books even if it’s a fantasy. I love books in which I can relate to
even thought if I’m in a separate world! This book is one hell of a ride,
Mystery, Thriller, Romance, Action, Politics. It has everything I could have
ever asked for. Brilliant, mind-blowing, puzzling and GENIUS! I ♥ YOU
KRISTIN CASHORE!
