Bitterblue

Graceling, Book 3

By: Kristin Cashore

Narrated by: Xanthe Elbrick

Length: 16 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

The long-awaited companion to New York Times best sellers Graceling and Fire.

Eight years after Graceling, Bitterblue is now queen of Monsea. But the influence of her father, a violent psychopath with mind-altering abilities, lives on. Her advisors, who have run things since Leck died, believe in a forward-thinking plan: Pardon all who committed terrible acts under Leck's reign, and forget anything bad ever happened. But when Bitterblue begins sneaking outside the castle - disguised and alone - to walk the streets of her own city, she starts realizing that the kingdom has been under the 35-year spell of a madman, and the only way to move forward is to revisit the past.

Two thieves, who only steal what has already been stolen, change her life forever. They hold a key to the truth of Leck's reign. And one of them, with an extreme skill called a Grace that he hasn't yet identified, holds a key to her heart.

©2012 Kristin Cashore (P)2012 Penguin

Critic reviews

A New York Times best seller

YALSA, Best Fiction for Young Adults

ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults

A New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Book

A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year

A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year

A Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year

The Bulletin Best Books of the Year

A BCCB Blue Ribbon Title

A New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association Book of the Year

"Some authors can tell a good story; some can write well. Cashore is one of the rare novelists who do both. Thrillingly imagined and beautifully executed, Bitterblue stands as a splendid contribution in a long literarly tradition." (The New York Times Book Review)

"Brilliantly detailed and brimming with vibrant and dynamic characters." (SLJ, starred review)

“A story that transcends the genre with its emotional and philosophical weight.” (BCCB, starred review)

Good book but jeez....

A great story but really, It just seemed to drag on and on! I got to a point where I had six and a half hours to go and was exhausted from listening. Skipped to the last four chapters and got what I needed. Great performance but changing the accents of Po and Katsa...a little disconcerting.

Excellent story, confusing accent choices

The story is great, I have read it before in print. The narration was fine except for the slightly confusing choices of which characters had Irish accents. Initially I thought the Irish accents were exclusive to Lienid characters, which would make sense to me. In fact one passage specifically refers to “Lienid accents”, leading the reader to believe that these characters have distinct accents. What I don’t understand is why the narrator also gave all Middluns characters Irish accents as well. The Middluns isn’t anywhere near Lienid (an isolated island nation) so it doesn’t make sense for only characters from those two regions to have Irish accents while characters from Monsea have British accents. Even more confusing Lord Giddon, a character from the Middluns, is the only character from that region with a British accent. The entire accent business made it difficult for me to to lose myself in the story.

experiencing is the best way to growing up

both success or failure, experience is the best way to grow up. 尝试生活艰辛，才能成为一个好的女王，做出有信心的决定. bitter blue

A Great Story!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would definitely recommend this audiobook. Kristin Cashore writes wonderful stories that are much more thoughtful and insightful than a lot of the young adult fiction out there. The issues being dealt with in this book are serious, but that is one of the things that I like about Cashore and other writers such as Melina Marchetta. These authors take events and issues from the real world, and write about them in a fantasy setting that makes the stories feel timely and even more worthwhile. There is a great deal of mystery in this book, which makes for an involved and lengthy story, but I thought the complexity was great, and kept me wanting to listen to a little more, and then a little more....

What about Xanthe Elbrick’s performance did you like?

Xanthe Elbrick is hands down one of the best narrators I have ever heard. She gives so much personality and life to each character, and differentiates them all to a remarkable degree. I loved Saf, but also loved Teddy and Katsa, and many others.

Undecided

Would you listen to Bitterblue again? Why?
I'm still up in the air, the performance was great but this is a long one and often time slow.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?
Stringing together Leck's web of lies and truths.

Which scene was your favorite?
I'm not going to give it away but it's the ending! Hands down!

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
Sometimes it's not what you hear but what you believe.

Any additional comments?
They say it's not the destination but the journey, but regarding this book I think it's the destination and not the journey. It was very dragged out, but not boring enough to put me off. I had expected something completely different than what I got. It was one mystery puzzle piece after another, and often an aggravating point (but such a emotions are what makes it a good read/listen when your ready to throw your hands up or want to ring the neck of a character or shout out a truth!) Oh, but the ending was well worth it I could not have imagined a better result. It made the long trek worth it! What a relief to see perseverance rewarded!

Excellent captivating story

A beautifully written story and an excellent reading. It's fantasy with a strong girl hero. Good for all ages of readers.

Kristin’s writing and world building

I liked it very much. Katsa’s accent changed which was a bit strange, but I suppose the lead character gets the primary female voice and accent.

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore - 4 Stars

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore is the conclusion to the Graceling trilogy and I’m definitely late to the game on this one ;-). I listened to the entire trilogy on audiobook though and do recommend them if you’re like me and still catching up on this awesome fantasy series! One of the big things to know about Bitterblue and the previous books, however, is that they are much more like companion novels than a continuous trilogy. Each book is about a different character and while Bitterblue relies on events that occurred previously, it’s set years in the future and so you probably could easily read it without having read the previous books. I listened to the previous two books over a year ago and only kind of remember them, so it worked out for me in any case ;-).

Strengths:
Bitterblue is a much different book than Fire and Graceling, which made me happy. I was impressed that Cashore was able to write such a character-driven book without her typical kick-butt heroine from the previous books.
I loved that Bitterblue brought the whole trilogy together even though it is set so apart from the other books. Katsa and Fire both play big roles and a lot of the questions we were left with about a certain evil mind-reader are pursued in Bitterblue.
I loooooved the mysteries of Bitterblue City and all of the strange things that Bitterblue keeps encountering and needs to figure out. Bitterblue the girl is also so like me in her need to make lists to figure out how everything fits together ;-). Lists are the best!
Bitterblue is pretty low on the romance but it was just the right amount for me. I enjoyed that Bitterblue had priorities other than a pretty boy given that she is a queen and all! That doesn’t mean that she doesn’t have feelings that she has to deal with on her down time though ;-).
Bitterblue has a great narrator who fit Bitterblue’s character quite well. While Graceling is full-cast audio, Bitterblue has just one narrator, which seems to be a bit more common.
Since the book is so character driven, it was pretty important for Bitterblue to be a strong character and I enjoyed her a lot! She is smart and strong, but very realistic in her difficulties of ruling a country that has been torn apart by the previous king, not to mention the horrors that she and her mother endured when her father was still ruling.
Weaknesses:
The plot is kind of all over the place given the character-driven nature of Bitterblue. I didn’t really know what the actual plot was going to end up being until half-way through I’d say. Things just kind of happen for a while.
After 2/3 of the book, Bitterblue gets SUPER TRIGGERY. Horrible things happened during Leck’s rule, including physical and sexual abuse to an absolutely terrifying degree. It was difficult to listen to sections where these things were revealed so be sure you are prepared.
The narrator’s voices for different characters were inconsistent, which disappointed me. I like it when I can realize which character is talking just by the voice, but that wasn’t the case with Bitterblue.
Despite my general approval of Bitterblue’s character, she can get a bit whiny at times. I just wanted her to toughen up a bit here and there, but I guess I wouldn’t have been much better given the situation >.>.
Summary:
Bitterblue is a very interesting conclusion to the Graceling trilogy. It’s quite different than the previous books, focusing on a character-driven plot with a very different heroine than Katsa and Fire. However, I still enjoyed Bitterblue for being different and for pulling the three books together in a rather fresh way. With the huge number of connected trilogies out there, it was fun to listen to three books that each stood on their own and were simply based in the same world. I wouldn’t say Bitterblue was my favorite of the three (Fire is for the record), but I’m very glad that I’ve finally finished these books!

Satisfying Read

What made the experience of listening to Bitterblue the most enjoyable?

The first half of the book is full of questions and although not all of the questions are answered the ones that are give a satisfying result.

What does Xanthe Elbrick bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

There are many characters in this book and it is helpful when listening to differentiate them through their accents or tone as opposed to keeping all of the names straight.

great series for all ages

Would you consider the audio edition of Bitterblue to be better than the print version?

I have only done the audio version

Who was your favorite character and why?

They were all entertaining

Which character – as performed by Xanthe Elbrick – was your favorite?

She does a great job for all

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I was very absorbed in the story and when it ended I wanted more by the same author

Any additional comments?

The whole series is very good, not quite along the lines of Hunger Games but still a great story.