Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

From the website:

Eight years after Graceling, Bitterblue is queen of a kingdom that was under the spell of a madman for thirty-five years. At eighteen, Bitterblue is still learning how to rule the kingdom. The influence of Leck-a violent psychopath with mind-altering abilities-lives on. When Bitterblue begins sneaking outside the cast;e to walk the streets of her own city, she meets two thieves who hold a key to the truth of Leck's reign. And one of them, with an extreme skill called a Grace, holds the key to her heart.


I loved this book. I've always loved Kristin's books, but this one has made me love them even more. I started with her first book, Graceling, and then read Fire, and now Bitterblue. This book was actually a lot bigger than I thought. At 563 pages, it is the largest book in the series. I didn't mind this since I find that usually the larger the book, the better it is (in my opinion). The beginning was really well done and set the scene. Kristin set up Bitterblue City really well as well as the state of Monsea. This certainly took a fair bit of time but, again, I didn't mind. I've read Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and no one can out describe him. While everything was being described, events were happening that were pushing the plot forward so that it never really stood still. Bitterblue was a wonderful character. Seeing how she had changed from the ten-year-old in Graceling to the queen she is in this novel was exciting. She had matured, and she showed it. I also liked that she questioned things; she didn't just sit around and accept things. I think those are the best characters, the ones that don't take anything for granted. That is an especially good characteristic in a ruler, I think. The love story was cute. I was expecting it (since there is a love story in all of Kristin's books) and it happened gradually, just like all the other love stories. I was not expecting to see characters from Fire (I won't name who) and that was a pleasant surprise. It was also good to see characters from Graceling again and where they were in their lives. The plot twist at the end was very unexpected. Looking back on it, there were clues throughout the story and if you picked up on it then you could see it coming. After the death of one character I definitely became suspicious of all the royal authorities. I liked how the story ended. It was very nice and had good closure. The end of the love story was nice too (although I'm sure it didn't actually end, if you know what I mean). Everything came to an end, there were no loose ends, and as the reader gained closure, so too did Bitterblue. The pace of this book was great. It wasn't super fast, but it wasn't slow either, which is always a problem with larger books. Characters were well fleshed and rounded, I found no plot holes, and it all seemed very realistic (minus the whole Graceling thing, and seven kingdoms, and monsters, and . . . I think you get it). This will definitely be a re-read sometime in the future.

Quote of the day: Bacon improved things dramatically. - Kristin Cashore, Bitterblue


P.S. Don't forget to enter my giveaway! I'm giving away Graceling, the first book in this series, along with a few other things. 

Random Act of Kindness GIVEAWAY

Hello everyone! If you read my blog regularly, you will have read yesterday's post about J. R. R. Tolkien and Kristin Cashore. It was my Random Act of Kindness post started by Becca and Angela at The Bookshelf Muse. Today I would like to take that ROAK farther and am giving away a copy of The Hobbit and Graceling. There will be two winners, one for The Hobbit and one for Graceling. If you have decided to take part in the ROAK Blitz, you do not have to do this. I just wanted to introduce these books to anyone who may not have read them before or who has but does not necessarily own them. These books are so good I just wanted to share them with all of you! I also received four bookmarks for The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression. Again, there will be four winners for this, one for each bookmarks.

In total, there will be six winners: one for The Hobbit, one for Graceling, and one for each bookmark. If you win for more than one thing you will have to choose one over the other. I don't want anyone to miss out on winning something. :)

Of course, there must be rules for something like this.

All you have to do to enter is comment below saying you name, email address, and whether you would like to be entered for The Hobbit or Graceling. You can enter for both, but if you win it will only be for one of these books, so make sure you know for sure which one you want. In order to win a bookmark, state what your favourite thing to do while editing is. I will be using Random.org in order to choose the winner so it won't be based on my favourite answer or anything like that. The winner for The Hobbit and Graceling will also be chosen using Random.org. Unfortunately, since I am a student and postage is expensive, this giveaway is only open to Canadian and USA residents. You may only enter once. In that one comment you can say you want to be entered for both books, but it MUST be in the same comment. In that same comment you can also enter for the bookmarks if you choose. Any more than one comment (other than general comments on writing, blogging, etc) will disqualify you.

The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien

From the back: Smaug certainly looked fast asleep, when Bilbo peeped once more from the entrance. He was just about to step out on to the floor when he caught a sudden thin ray from under the drooping lid of Smaug's left eye. He was only pretending to be asleep! He was watching the tunnel entrance . . .  Whisked away from his comfortable, unambitious life in his hobbit-hole in Bag End by Gandalf the wizard and a company of dwarves, Bilbo Baggins finds himself caught up in a plot to raid the treasure hoard of Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon . . .

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

From the back: Deadly Grace
Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight - she's a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king's thug. When she first meets Prince Po, Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change. She never expects to become Po's friend. She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace - or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away . . .







Bookmarks

There's a surprise on the back!

Good luck! This giveaway will be open until May 30 11:59 EST

Quote of the day: There is no mistaking a real book when one meets it. It is like falling in love. - Christopher Morley

Random Act of Kindness BLITZ!

Happy monday everyone. Each day people interact with us, help, and make our day a bit brighter and full. This is especially true in the Writing Community. Take a second to think about writers you know, like the critique partner who works with you to improve your manuscript. The writing friend who listens, supports and keeps you strong when times are tough. The author who generously offers council, advice and inspiration when asked. So many people take the time to make us feel special, don't they? They comment on our blogs, re-tweet our posts, chat with us on forums and wish us Happy Birthday on Facebook.

Kindness ROCKS!
To commemorate the release of their book The Emotion Thesaurus, Becca and Angela at The Bookshelf Muse are hosting a TITANIC Random Act Of Kindness BLITZ. And because I think KINDNESS is contagious, I'm participating too!

I am Blitzing TWO authors because they both have had a huge impact on my writing: J. R. R. Tolkien and Kristin Cashore. Although Tolkien has passed on he has still had a huge influence on the writerly world and an ENORMOUS impact on my writing. The way he wrote The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and the various themes are important to me. I'm happy to know that there are novels out there that aren't solely dedicated to love. There are books about friendship, struggle, generic good vs. evil. They may be simple themes, but I find they are the easiest to relate to. Tolkien, for my ROAK gift, I'm offering to review not just The Hobbit in time for the movie being released this December, but also both Hobbit movies in relation to the novel. I really appreciate his writing and although there is no Tolkien blog that is non-fan based, there is a website here. If you have a minute, stop by and look around! There are so many books he wrote that have gone completely unnoticed because of his Lord of the Rings legacy. Kristin Cashore is very much alive. I love how her novels are about powerful women who don't depend on men and are not stereotypical at all. It's refreshing to read about women who don't need a man to be happy. Kristin, for my RAOK gift, I'm offering to review Bitterblue for you and/or critique any future work! I really appreciate Kristin's work, who does have a blog here. I would greatly appreciate it if you could stop in and tell her how awesome she is!

Do you know someone special that you'd like to randomly acknowledge? Don't be shy--come join us and celebrate! Send them an email, give them a shout out, or show your appreciation in another way. Kindness makes the world go round. :)
Becca and Angela have a special RAOK gift waiting for you as well, so hop on over to The Bookshelf Muse to pick it up.

Have you ever participated in or been the recipient of a Random Act Of Kindness?  Let me know in the comments!