Bitterblue is the highley anticipated sequel to Graceling and Fire. It takes place 9 years after the events of Graceling and does feature characters from both previous books. 
 King Leck left a bad legacy. Even though it's been nine years since Katsa killed him and the kingdom is still trying to heal. Bitterblue, now 18, has started questioning things about her kingdom. She's met with a lot of evasiveness from her advisors, so she decides to headd out on her own to try to find some answers. 
 I loved the imagry Cashore uses of the keys and unlocking secrets and mazes. There are plenty of secrets kept throughout this book, and one of the main points is trying to unlock all of these sectrets so Bitterblue can find out how to help her kingdom heal fully. 
 I will admit there were times when I thought that there was too much filler with Bitterblue inquiring about something in the kingdom and her advisorswithholding the truth. After the first few times I think the readers understood that they had something to hide yet it was something that was constantly brought up. Once things started being revealed and we started to get some information and started to piece things together it really made the reading go by quicker. 
 It was difficult, at times, for me to differeniate Bitterblue 18 with the 10 year old Bitterblue we met in Graceling. There were times that I was still thinking of her as that little girl. I almost think that Cashore maybe either felt the same way or knew that the readers would feel the same way because the romantic element was really toned down as opposed to Graceling and Fire. Saf and Bitterblue are sweet but instead of showing the readers their future she leaves it open-ended. 
 Cashore uses this open-endedness a lot in this book. The book itself is at times heartbreaking. Learning what Leck did to his people was sad. There's no definite ending to this book, but there are possibilities. It's left on a note of hope and possibility, not just with the kingdom, but with the relationships as well. The readers I think are encouraged to take the postitive path and figure out where their characters will go from there. I personally can only imagine anroad full of healing and good things to come. 
 Probably the thing I was looking forward to the most was more Katsa and Po. I so enjoyed Graceling, and I was really glad to hear that they would be in this book. They were both featured quite a bit, Po more so than Katsa. There were times that I was actually hoping that we could get more from their POV, but this is Bitterblue's book. Their relationship is strong. We get to see some tough times, but we get to see them work through it and their future (like the future of the entire book world Cashore created) is a good one. It's like you can almost see where they want to take their relationship and know that soon they will be able to. 
 While this was a good addtion to the trilogy, I didn't connect with it as easily as I did Graceling and Fire. With everything left so open Cashore could probably revisit this world again. I know that it's supposed to only be the trilogy but I can always hope for more Katsa and Po right? :) Until then!