Bitterblue

Today's post is on 'Bitterblue' by Kristin Cashore. It is published by Dial an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. It is 547 pages long not including the maps at the end of the book. The story is told in five parts and over six months. This is the third in a series to really enjoy this book you need to read Graceling the first novel but the second is not necessary to understand what happens in the book. The intended reader is YA but an adult can enjoy this series as well.
The main character is Bitterblue the queen of Monsea and is 18 years old. When she was 10 her father was killed in front of her but that was a good thing because he was insane and powerful. In this fantasy world there are people born with special abilities called graces. Graces can be anything from never losing your balance to telling lies that will be believed as the truth no matter how bad the lie. That was the grace that Bitterblue's father Leck had. He was destroying the kingdom with his lies and manipulation. Now he had been dead for 10 years and Bitterblue's people are not healing. She is allowed to leave her castle so she sneaks out to see her city for herself. I don't want to ruin the plot because it kept me guessing but Bitterblue is surrounded by lies, lairs, thieves and traitors. Who she can trust changes with each chapter expect for the characters that we have met in Graceling. I must warn you if you read this series it is for older YA and adults. There is talk about torture, both to animals and people, rape and murder. In addition to there things that I do not want to tell because they are major plot points but you are warned. All in all it is an excellent series, book, and I am looking forward to the next ones because Cashore set up for the next in the series very well in this one.