I remember a saying that things get better with time. Or maybe that was just a reference to wine and people that in general we kinda get better or wiser or whatever the hell it is with time.
I read all three books by Kristin Cashore although they weren't in the order that they were meant to be. Should have been Graceling followed by Fire and then finished off with Bitterblue. As it stood, I read Graceling, then Bitterblue and finally Fire. Though it doesn't really matter because Cashore did a pretty good job with the two books after Graceling where even if you mixed up Bitterblue and Fire, you still understand what's going on.
It did help that Bitterblue was very much in line with the events that transpired in Graceling and thus when I read it, I didn't feel as if I had fallen far off track and was missing out on key events or pivotal moments. Fire did seem like it was a filler or one of those complementary stories to help flesh up Graceling a little bit more.
So anyway, this review is about Bitterblue. I did think it was the best out of the three and it did a great job in showing Cashore's growth as a writer - the evolution of the characters in terms of their personalities and individuality, the flow of events. There were some parts that I did find lacking but it didn't destroy the overall experience I had with the book, which was generally good.
Without further ado, I present my short review that was up on Goodreads (because I hate rehashing unless I find that there's more that I should be adding because I forgot it the first time round).
I read Graceling and then Bitterblue. I should have read FIre right after Graceling but silly me was too stupid to bother taking note of the numbers on the book.
I don't think they were very obvious... were they?
In anycase, whilst I found Graceling a little flat, probably because it was the introductory story and laid the foundation to the whole concept and storyline, I absolutely adored Bitterblue.
It's hard to imagine having lived a life with an insane delusional father. And that you were drawn and made to believe that his delusions were true because of his gift (I'd rather put it as curse). The struggles she faces seems obscenely unreal especially for someone of her standing and age. But hey, that makes for good drama. I did find that the love romance thread between her and Sage was a little lacking. Maybe expected more fire and passion because this is young love we're talking about!
Katsa and Po has more fire than their young love and possibly adulthood love will ever have. Tis sad. But I guess it's just Katsa's and Po's thing.
I thoroughly enjoyed the plot twists and turns. At one point I was expecting the shapeshifting girl to be the culprit, the true thief mastermind but instead, it was that seemingly innocent servant girl with that fearless grace.
Loved the pace of the book, had quite a number of feels at certain points of the story. I do believe that maybe because this was the last in the series and Cashore had a better grasp of her characters and her ability to evoke emotion in her readers and get them to empathise with the characters, even be pulled into the drama and action of it all.
I came reading this with little and no expectation and was very much pleased at the end of it. Of all three books. It's one of those things that gets better with the sequel.
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