By Kristin Cashore - Bitterblue (4.1.2012)

I preferred Graceling and Fire to this book. I feel like the action ran too slow for me, and Bitterblue herself was just so utterly clueless and lost, whereas in the other two books the female leads were so hardcore. I love the Graceling world, and Cashore's writing, but this book dragged a lot of the time for me.

Just like Graceling and Fire, I just loved this book. It's a bit different, as the main character doesn't have a grace, but the story is so good (and other characters still have graces). This book ties right in to the other two.

The last in the graceling series beloved books in our family. How to heal the world in the wake of in fathomable evil- a fictional work that well describes the complexities in the psyche of abuse survivors, but also offers a roadmap to healing and love.

This is third book by Kristin Cashore, an extension of the stories begun in Graceling and Fire. The greatest advantage of these three books is that they do not have to be read in order to be understood. However, reading them in order gives one a more detailed view of the antagonist in the story. I am a great fan of Cashore's work. I look forward to her next piece! I love that they may be read separately. Each of the books contain the characters in the preceding books but the story stands on its own well.

Love the character Bitterblue, but I believe my favorite character was Fire. No, I love all three equally! lol

I did not anticipate liking this novel as much as I did. The writing in tighter and the story is more mystery than Fantasy. The author does a great job of making you sympathize with the confusion of the main character. The main character is someone who does not have any superpowers but is surrounded by friends and enemies who do, adding to the tension and irony of her position as their ruler.

Although Graceling will always be my number one favorite of the series, Bitterblue is a captivating book that makes you realize just of far people may sometimes go to forget and the different ways we sometimes need to heal. There are many lessons one can learn and if we look close enough, we can find different ways to manage the situations. Bitterblue is a strong young woman who despite missing much in her life, she's determined to find the truth of her father's past and cherishes the ones who are closest to her heart. I recommend this to those who are of strong mind and mature enough to handle what comes towards the end of the book.

This is a good, escapist read. It could have been tightened up a little bit. It has marvelous passages and interesting characters, but I think it might have been rushed out, because overall, it is left with some rough edges. There are also some relatively implausible plot elements, but because the story is fun overall, I still enjoyed it. There were some things that should have been followed through on that were not--such as Po having accidentally revealed his mind-reading ability during Saf's trial. There were other things that went on too long and were repeated too often, so that in the last third of the book, I stopped reading every work and began to skim.

It walks a fine line, too, because the story background is so harsh and dark that it's difficult for it to keep from falling into a pit of despair. Yet somehow, the author does manage to keep it floating along with miring into the past's misery.

Despite these grumps, it's still a good story, and she knows how to write feelings!

I actually would like to have given it 4.5 instead of 4. It's not a 5 though. Yet, I liked it well enough that I am definitely planning to check out this authors previous books.

I really enjoyed this book. I preferred it to the second instalment, "Fire" but probably not quite as much as the first book "Graceling". Definitely worth reading and I'll keep my eye out for the next book by Kristen Cashore.

Came in excellent condition and on time.

As for the story itself, this turned out to be my least favorite in the series. It was much darker than the other two, as it delved more deeply into the evil mind of King Leck, but I still enjoyed it.

I was actually really disappointed with this third book in the Graceling series. They other two were full of action and complex characters and an intricate plot and mystery abound, but this one was just plain boring.

I felt like the author was trying to hard to live up to the success of the other two books, which is really a shame, because the others were great, and this was very blah and unexciting.

This book was so thought out, it held my interest perfectly. I didn't skip around or fast forward like I sometimes do but I did stay up very late reading then woke up very early so I could read for a while before I had to tend to my daily task. I would say the only thing missing is book number 4 .... hint hint ?

I've been reading this series since Graceling was new. I pre ordered this book and read it within days of receiving it. Such a spectacular book with amazing twists and turns. It's so dark compared to the other two but that is fitting considering the story. I loved this ending to the series and look forward to more books by this author.

Loved the first two in this series. This third, though, misses its audience: there's a lot of not-teen-appropriate content in here, like mind-control-induced murder and child rape. I get that the author wants to clearly demonstrate the bad guy is a bad guy, but this completely ruined the book for me--and tainted the whole series. Who could I recommend the first two to, knowing that they'd have to deal with this in the third? Simply inappropriate for the audience, and a real deal-breaker.

I really liked this though i would say that Bitterblue came out a little to naive for a Queen regardless of her age, that being said, she seemed to spend way to much time running around in circles. Bitterblue never Set her prioritys and ran with them. Overall story it was good. tied up the complete story series

I was very cautious of purchasing this book because Fire was a slow and uneventful book. But Bitterblue ties a lot of the characters in Graceling and Fire together in this one. I was afraid to read this third book in fear that I would be as disappointed as I was with Fire, but I'm glad I read it.

There are some slower parts where I skimmed it, but this book isn't all about Bitterblue signing papers all day, it's filled with love, betrayel, mysteries, and hope. You learn a lot about King Leck during his reign, and his people.

I'd definitely recommend this book. I'm just sad that I won't have any more books to read about Katsa and Po.

Great story about Bitterblue recovering and helping her country recover from Leck's abuses. She learns, has some romance and in the end, the key players from the first two books come together in the last part of the book.

Very well written and quickly captivating, pulling the reader adult or young adult, in to the story-world right along with the characters. I read this and the other three in a matter of days, wishing there were more of the story to absorb

Bitterblue was a little slow to start for me, but really redeemed itself towards the end. It seemed a little bit of a departure from the previous 2 books, but the "puzzles" and thought process that were displayed were refreshing. the only negative thing I can say is that I wish it didn't take so long to pull me into the story.

I love Graceling and ended up reading this second instead of Fire. I loved that it included some of the same characters (Katsa, Bitterblue and Po) It was a different feel though. I little more complicated, complex and intellectual and a little less action and adventure. Although there was plenty of that. It took a little longer to read as it didn't have the 'can't put it down' feel that Graceling had. Overall I really enjoyed the book!

This book was 2 things for me. Delightful in some parts, but on the whole a little bit disappointing. Bitterblue just seemed to be running around during the whole book, doing things for sure, but at the same time she seemed so...blah. Like she didn't have a fleshed out personality. For me, she didn't coincide with the calm little girl I read about in Graceling. That calm little girl had so much potential to me. All Bitterblue (the girl) seemed about was wanting to be kissed and not being able to make connections between the things happening around her. I guess if i were to summarize my disappointment with her character--she fell short of Katsa and Fire to me. She was just there, and there was a plot, but I didn't care much for it. I only cared for the older characters, and Death. The delight I'll spare in this review as it's a spoiler.

Now we can all sit back enjoy how vague this review was, and how it's a good thing I don't write reviews for a living.

While I greatly enjoyed Graceling, it's a quasi formula story with a strong fighting lead female, Bitterblue, is a fascinating tale of a young Queen learning how to be a queen. Absolutely, grounded in falacies of simple yet complex humans.

This was a great book! I loved reading it, although I read it before Fire. The order of the book is kind of confusing, but I still enjoyed this book. The writing is engaging and this book was thoroughly enjoyable.

I loved this series of books.Graceling however is my favourite . The world and characters are rich, there is horror, romance, adventure and mystery. I think you have to read them in order. Katana is my favourite then blue bird as and fire.

I have read all three books of the Graceling series. The common disappointment i have with all three is that the rising action never really comes to a head. In Bitter blue its hard to even identify the actual main antagonist, there is no great resolution, and it leaves you wishing that something could have been revealed or that there could have been more closure. The book is an easy read and i enjoyed it for the most part, it was interesting to see the characters interplay nine years later, however at the end as with all the Graceling series i was disappointed because of the lack of finality or resolution of a conflict in a true climatic sense. It was a good book to pass the time but was not as good as i thought it should have been with the world we were given and the possibilities that were created for us.

I LOVE this series and especially this book. Bitterblue is the last book of the series so far, and it is full of twists, turns, mysteries, suspense, puzzles, romance and more. It was really difficult to put this book down at night, and I lost a lot of sleep staying up to read! It was well worth it :)

Rich story great characters found myself lost in the 2nd half of the book and unable to put it down. First half dragged a bit but loved how elements of the first two books weaved a backdrop and intertwined with this beautiful story.