Nocturnal Book Reviews

Beautiful book. After so many disappointed reviews I was bracing myself for the worst, but Bitterblue was quirky, puzzling and utterly lovely.

I love Kristin Cashore, and I could see how meticulously she crafted this dreamy, confusing world where queen Bitterblue lives in her tower and tries to make sense of the kingdom after Leck. Leck, whose mostrous nature we've been following through Graceling and Fire.

You see, Bitterblue is a truthseeker, and while she doesn't realise it, her nature drives her to dig through the lies and silence her councellors surround and suffocate her with. So she sneaks out of the palace every night to listen to the stories people tell in taverns of her capital to get the truth of what's going on.

Monsea's descriptions are wonderful: weird bridges and bizarre architecture of the palace, crazy things that are happening to everyone around her and of course Bitterblue's wonderful friendship with Katsa and Po, and her attraction to a daring thief Saf.

There is so much going on in Bitterblue, you get exhausted in the end. Conspiracies that don't make sense, strange cover ups, spontaneous suicides and murders, ciphers and terrible truths, painful reconnection to Bitterblue's own memories... All as a legacy of Leck's terrible rule. And poor Bitterblue has to deal with it all.

I'm intentionally not giving away any spoilers because this book deserves to be savored, so the truth of it all will fit like a key into a puzzle and everything will start making sense again.



Wonderful story and wonderful experience, very much recommended.