I've been excited for this book since I first rumours of its future existence, and it's been a long wait. The danger of the long anticipation is that the book won't live up to your expectations. This book ended up being completely different from anything I had imagined, but I was far from disappointed. 
 The story was, by far, the most complex of the series. There are details from both other books entwined into the third, so I highly recommend reading the other two first, even though Fire was technically only a companion novel. 
 The story takes place nine years after Graceling left off, following Bitterblue through her difficult task at ruling her kingdom. King Leck has left quite a mess behind, and it's not an easy job cleaning up such a psychopath. 
 What I loved most about this book is that Cashore deals with some pretty serious topics besides the obvious death, and they never feel awkward or in-your-face. Just to name a few of these issues, depression, post traumatic stress, and cutting. She explores a myriad of relationships types, and the only one deemed wrong is an abusive one, so if you're uncomfortable with homosexuality, get over it, or don't read the book. 
 Cashore could very easily continue with this series, and so I will wait. Again. I hate waiting.