Review: Bitterblue

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I loved it. I hope there's more to come, and from the ending, I feel that there will be. Not that there was a cliffhanger ending. I just got the feeling that there's more story to be told.

There are definite differences between this and the previous two books in the series. There is not much romance, for one thing. It just didn't fit within the scope of this part of Bitterblue's story, and it felt complete without it. This is one reason I believe there will be a sequel - I don't get the sense that Cashore is done telling Bitterblue's story.

There is also less magic. Bitterblue doesn't have a Grace, and she's not a monster. She's a queen with a kingdom to rule. So although there is still magic around her, the story focuses more on her political struggles. I also felt this was appropriate, although I did miss the heavier focus on magic, and this was not my favorite of the three for that reason.

Bitterblue is also not adventurous in the same way as Graceling or Fire in the sense that it all takes place in one city. That's to be expected since a queen is not free to go gallivanting from kingdom to kingdom. But the mystery, the danger, and the political intrigue as Bitterblue tries to find her way to being a true queen is adventuresome in its own way. I thoroughly enjoyed it.



View all my reviews

Review: Wolfsbane

Wolfsbane by Andrea Cremer

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



This was pretty dark, and sad. The lighter aspects of friendship and the pack relationships from book 1 were missing. I hope things turn around in book 3. There's a bit of a cliff-hanger at the end, but luckily the 3rd book is already out.

I've also decided I'm not a fan of love triangles. I guess I prefer the 'one and only undying love' types instead of the 'I can't make up my mind so I'll just keep kissing everyone' types. Somehow that just really annoys me. It annoyed me in Twilight, and it still isn't working for me in this series. Maybe it's because I'm not a teen anymore that I don't enjoy the concept of being in love with multiple people at once. That's not love. That's hormones. I just don't find it plausible or desirable in a story.



View all my reviews

Review: The Cater Street Hangman

The Cater Street Hangman by Anne Perry

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I struggled to get into this for the first 70 pages. The setup of the family relationships as being over-righteous, stuffy and proper took about that long. Once they finally started to be shaken by the events taking place, characters finally began to take on more depth and interest for me.

I enjoy mysteries in the Victorian setting, and this causes enough suspicion between people to shake things up, regardless of who is really the killer. There were enough surprises to make me want to read more in the series, plus I want to read more about Detective Pitt and his relationship to Charlotte.



View all my reviews