Bitterblue (novel)

Bitterblue

Author	Kristin Cashore
Language	English
Genre	Fantasy, Romance
Publisher	Harcourt
Publication date	May 1st, 2012 (1st edition)
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (Hardback and Paperback)
Pages	480 (first edition, hardback)
ISBN	978-0-80-373473-9 (first edition, hardback)
Preceded by	Fire

Bitterblue is a young adult fantasy novel written by American author Kristin Cashore. It is preceded by Graceling, and Fire. The book was released on May 1, 2012.

Plot

Eight years after the events of Graceling, Bitterblue, now eighteen, is Queen on Monsea. She is determined to restore peace and justice to her land, and rebuild the kingdom left in ruins by her father, King Leck, Her advisors Darby, Rood, Runnemood, and Thiel seem to be keeping her in the dark, and want her to act as a figurehead. And so, Bitterblue disguises herself as a servant and begins a truth-seeking campaign in the city. She stops at a tavern, which she learns is a story-room, where she hears stories about her kingdom and history. She meets the young thieves Teddy and Sapphire (Saf), who is also a Graceling, but oddly, does not know what his grace is. She discovers that the two young men and their cohorts are involved in an underground movement to educate the kingdom's people. Unaware of her true identity, they nickname Bitterblue "Sparks".

As the politics around her get more complex, Bitterblue discovers new disturbing information about her father, about information he destroyed, and that her advisors are former healers. Lord Danzhol tried to kidnap Bitterblue, and she kills him in self defense. Her cousin Po, a blind Graceling and Katsa's romantic partner, arrives to help her. Saf tells her that he only steals things formerly stolen by Leck. Teddy is stabbed, and later his family's printshop is burned down. All these events are somehow connected, but the connection is elusive. Hava, the servant whose clothes Bitterblue borrows to go into the city, is a Graceling with a talent for disguise. She helps Saf and Bitterblue evade whoever is trying to kill them. Bitterblue realizes that she has romantic feelings for Saf.

Saf is arrested and put on trial for stealing from the castle. Bitterblue enters the courtroom as herself - and Saf is upset when he recognizes her. When his alibi is proven, he steals Bitterblue's crown and sells it to Spook on the black market. Bitterblue manages to deciper hidden messages from her mother, and discovers the depth of her father's depravity, and the par played by her advisors, who die or commit suicide one-by-one.

BItterblue takes measures to ensure the true history of the realm is recorded. Saf and his group do their part in the city. Saf and Bitterblue spend the night together. But afterwards, he leaves with Katsa to find his true fortune.

Characters

• Queen Bitterblue: Queen Bitterblue is the daughter of Leck (Immiker), the former king of Monsea, and Ashen, the former queen of Monsea and princess of Lienid. She was born in Monsea
• Thiel: Formerly an advisor to King Leck, and now to Queen Bitterblue. He was selected by Leck due to his excellence in medical studies (along with Darby, Runnemood and Rood). He was later selected to be Queen Bitterblue's advisor by King Ror. After Bitterblue figured out some of his betrayal, he admitted to killing Runnemood and his crimes against Bitterblue, Thiel tragically took his own life by stepping off Winged Bridge.
• Sapphire: Also known as Saf, is a Monsean commoner raised by the Lienid. His parents were truthseekers during King Leck's reign, and his Grace showed when he was quite young. At the age of six months, they snuck him onto a Lienid ship in the hopes of saving his life. They died in the fight against Leck. Saf returned to Monsea shortly before the events of Bitterblue, looking for his sister, Bren. He spent his time since then working with Teddy, Bren, and Tilda as part of the continued truthseeking campaign. His primary task has been stealing back the many things Leck stole. During Bitterblue, Saf meets and develops a fractious relationship with the young queen, believing her to be a commoner as well. When he finds out that she is not, their relationship deteriorates and never fully recovers. At one point, he takes in a frazzled Bitterblue into the drawbridge tower, where he learns of Thiel's suicide. He lies with her through the night. At the end of the book, he leaves with the Dellian party to seek adventure elsewhere.
• Teddy: Friend and colleague of Saf, Bren and Tilda, who do their underground work out of his printshop.
• Tilda: A young woman residing in Bitterblue City in Monsea, running a printing shop with her partner Bren and her brother Teddy. During Bitterblue, she starts out printing reading lessons to combat the low literacy rate in Monsea and especially Bitterblue City. She is later contracted by Queen Bitterblue to print copies of the books that were destroyed by King Leck and restored by Death, the librarian.
• Bren: A teacher and printer in the east city, and Saf's sister. She assists in the restoration of the castle library collection.
• Madlen: A one-eyed Dellian healer who posed as a graced healer in the Monsean Court. She became a dear friend of Queen Bitterblue and saved Teddy's life after he was stabbed and nearly killed.
• Rood: Formerly an advisor to King Leck and later to Queen Bitterblue, along with Thiel, Darby, and his own brother Runnemood. Before being chosen by Leck, he was an excellent student of medicine. As such, Leck chose him to assist him in torturing people and animals. After it was revealed of his actions against Bitterblue, Rood was imprisoned along with Darby. After Darby's suicide, Rood admitted to Bitterblue that he had thought of the idea of killing himself now and again, but did not act on it as it would undoubtedly confuse and hurt his grandchildren. Understanding this, Bitterblue placed him under house arrest.
• Runnemood: Formerly an advisor to King Leck and later Queen Bitterblue, along with Thiel, Darby, and his own brother Rood. Runnemood's body had been discovered a while after he disappeared, and it was revealed that Thiel had pushed him off Winged Bridge in order to protect Bitterblue.
• Darby: Formerly an adviser to King Leck of Monsea and later to his daughter Queen Bitterblue. After his joined betrayal to Bitterblue with Thiel, Rood, and Runnemood, he and Rood were sent to prison. By the next day, Darby had hanged himself in his prison cell. Prior to his suicide, Darby had also co-authored a series of medical pamphlets, which later disappeared (presumably taken to hide the advisors' past).
• Prince Po: Prince Greening Grandemalion (or simply "Po") is the seventh son of King Ror and Queen Zinnober of Lienid. His only other known brothers by name are Prince Skye and Prince Silvern. He is the romantic partner of Katsa.
• Katsa: The main protagonist of Graceling. She has one blue eye and one green eye and dark hair. She is initially believed to be Graced with killing, but her real grace is survival as she later discovers with the help of Prince Po.
• Hava: The daughter of Bellamew and King Leck and is also the niece of Holt. She is Graced with hiding/disguise.At the end of the story it becomes found that she could also be Bitterblue's sister.
• Helda: Katsa's friend and former servant. She is also a part of the Council and currently a servant for Bitterblue in Monsea. She also functions as Bitterblue's spymaster, in charge of hiring the queen's personal spies and handling their correspondences. She has a very motherly personality as she cared for both Katsa and Bitterblue from a young age.

Reception

Bitterblue was named a New York Times best-seller, a Kirkus Reviews and Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2012, and the 2012 American Library Association Best Fiction for Young Adults.