Bitterblue

Doesn't Bitterblue sound like one of those death songs from the 1950s and 60s?  Like Teen Angel or Last Kiss or Seasons in the Sun (well that was the 70s, but you get the idea).  I kept thinking of Poor Butterfly.  Or Wildfire.  Which is really terrible because the horse and the girl die.
Bitterblue is the third book in the Graceling Realm series, which I thought was called the Seven Kingdoms series, but it isn't.  I don't know if it ever was or if that was just something someone made up.
I loved Graceling.  And I loved Fire.
I don't know how I feel about Bitterblue, so that's why I am doing the whole "blog as I go" thing.  It is taking me a long time to get through it, but not because it is bad.  It isn't.  It is charming and funny so far.
There is a lot of humor in this book, showing what a great writer Ms. Cashore really is.  She can write it all.  I love the librarian, Death (pronounced like Teeth, but you get the idea and he fits it).
So now I have finished Bitterblue and I am so sad that it is over.  Opening this book was truly like escaping into the world of the Seven Kingdoms.  I could get totally lost in it, which is hard for me today because fantasy isn't really my thing.  So much to think about.  There is a lot of humor in this book, but it gets darker and darker as you read on.  The crimes of Leck are truly horrific.  There were times when I had to catch my breath.  This might be a little hard to get into, but man, it is so worth it.  I had to give it the 5 stars on goodreads.com.  Fantastic.

Romantic...but I don't HATE it!

I think something is wrong with me. I swear, I am enjoying a few books lately that have a bit of romance in them. This book has A LOT of romance...just like Graceling...but still...it has the evil villain and that action...so I guess it is okay. Fire is a prequel of sorts to Graceling. It gives the back story to the evil villain from Graceling. I thought maybe it would give insight as to how Lech became the unapologetic dirt bag, creeper he is in Graceling. I thought it might be a little like Rob Zombie's Halloween and actually make me feel a bit sorry for him. Yes, I felt sorry for Michael Myers and you will too, if you watch the movie and see how he grew up. Well it is hard to feel sorry for Lech once you learn about Little Lech. It seems like this guy was just born bad.
The main character, Fire, isn't as likable as Katsa from Graceling. But I think I might feel that way because of the way Fire treats the guy who loves her, Archer. I don't watch to say too much more about that.
Fire lives in a world where monsters terrorize a lot of people, but the thing is, she too is a half-monster, so she kind of knows the ins and outs of the whole monster thing.
She has the job of helping out the king and his brother as they try to resist the rebellion by some very bad people. Fire, because she is half monster, can control people's minds if she wants to. She's basically a pretty nice person, so she doesn't like to do that. The king and his brother really need to try hard to convince her to help them out with her magic monster power.
Again the book has big long names and weird fantasy-stuff going on and there is love. But still, this book is one that I couldn't put down.

A Graced Author

Man I loved this book! I didn't think I would. I needed something to listen to one lunch hour and I picked up the full-cast audio of Graceling to serve as background noise to Zuma on my cell phone and chicken nuggets in my tummy. At first it reminded me of all the reasons why I usually hate fantasy. Weird names, like the hero Katsa and her uncle King Randa. Places with equally weird names like, well I can't spell them. Freaky people who have gifts called "Graces" which allow them to be really good at one thing or another, but by the end of my french fries I was hooked. Katsa is a Graceling (they are easily spotted because they have two different colored eyes). Some Gracelings have the gift of baking bread or hunting, Katsa's grace is that she is a freakin' killing machine!
This book is super fantastic. Katsa is a very strong female character. I wondered...who would win in a fight, Katsa or Katniss from the Hunger Games.
Even though this book as a very loving and complicated romance/relationship, I still enjoyed it. It think that because the relationship is show in a realistic way (it causes a lot of pain) I was not annoyed.
Even if you hate fantasy and hate romance and can't stomach the idea of a combination of both, you just might really enjoy Graceling. It has enough action and a very evil villain to keep you in suspense nearly up until the end.