Bitterblue Review

I am happy to say that I have finally finished reading Bitterblue, the sequel to Graceling that I mentioned in my last column. Sorry it took so long! I think the first book was roughly 400 pages, and it didn't take quite so long to get through because it was more action-packed, but the sequel was 550 pages full of very little action so it took forever to get through. I've you've never read Graceling by Kristin Cashore, I definitely wouldn't recommend this book, but if you loved Graceling I would recommend reading it.

Bitterblue Summary:
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 thirty-five-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.

Bitterblue Review:
Overall, I would say that Bitterblue was good, it was just incredibly dragged out. The author definitely could have been heavily edited without the book losing much. It's sort of sad that after 550 pages I don't have a whole lot to say about the book. I really enjoyed Bitterblue as a character, she just didn't really do much. Her advisors keep her in the castle all day everyday and in 8 years she never ever leaves it...seems a little bit unrealistic if  you asked me. Then one day she just randomly decides to sneak out on her own in the middle of the night. Seems implausible.

Not to mention that throughout the entire book the author teases the reader with a potential love triangle, so for 500 pages you're waiting for something to happen, and then when something finally does happen it's completely unsatisfying and leads nowhere. I won't spoil the ending for any YA lovers out there considering reading this book, but I will say that the ending was altogether unsatisfying and depressing. The journey was slow, albeit somewhat interesting, but the end was totally not worth it.

At any rate, I'm onto bigger and better things (in the YA world at least), so hopefully my next review will be more positive. More to come!