Reviews with content warning for Animal cruelty - Winterkeep

I've been reading the Graceling books since I was young, and I really enjoyed finding myself back in that world again. Kristin Cashore is undeniably a very good writer and creates carefully thought-through plots with lots of focus on the characters' thoughts and feelings. That being said, this is not my favorite or hers, which could also be down to the fact that I'm no longer within the target age range. I felt that the multiple POVs didn't work very well because she Cashore didn't change her writing style, or the character's thoughts, enough for each one to be distinctive. In such a character-focused story, switching from one to the other is almost counter-productive because we never stay in anyone's head long enough to feel truly connected to their POV. I was also a bit disappointed by Giddon and Bitterblue's romance. Though I think those characters do have chemistry when they're on the page together, it was annoying that when they were apart, every other sentence would be about how Bitterblue would've loved this or Giddin would've done that, and so on. I get that Cashore was trying to create that pining, but it just didn't work for me.

I do think this is a really fun and entertaining book, though, and I appreciated the allegory about climate change. Would recommend!

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elle_dee's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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kayladaila's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Queen Bitterblue is on her way to Winterkeep, a distant nation that was only recently discovered by the Monseans, when she is thrown overboard. She is rescued by mysterious sea creatures, only to find herself held captive. Meanwhile, Giddon, Hava, and the rest of the Monsean crew reach Winterkeep, heartbroken at the loss of their queen. There, they encounter the bitter antagonism between Winterkeep’s two primary political parties over the issue of zilfium, an important fuel that could potentially boost the economy but cause environmental devastation. Lovisa is the daughter of two of the most prominent politicians in each party, but she is not so sure that either side has it right. Politics, family, magic, and loyalty: Winterkeep has it all.

Kristin Cashore’s Graceling has been one of my favorite fantasy books since I read it back in 2012 or so, and I have avidly consumed every other book she has published since then. I love how she has continued to expand on the Graceling realm, adding new characters, countries, and magical creatures. The worldbuilding was definitely my favorite aspect of this book; Cashore always comes up with the most unique and interesting creatures and powers. I absolutely adored the blue foxes (I would die for Ad), as well as the silbercows and the legends of the mysterious “Keeper.” I thought that the story was less engaging than Cashore’s other Graceling novels, because the pace of the plot was sacrificed to make way for a lot of new worldbuilding. The politics, while fairly relevant to real, modern issues, were also less enjoyable to read about. I also felt that the romance in this book wasn’t as compelling as some of Cashore’s other pairings.

Bitterblue and Giddon are a perfectly fine couple, but just didn’t have the same spark that I’m used to seeing in Cashore’s writing. Maybe it was the friends-to-lovers trope (which I usually don’t mind… as long as it’s done well), or the age gap (which I, personally, strongly dislike, though I know it doesn’t bother lots of people). Whatever it was, I just didn’t care as much about the two of them ending up together. Now Lovisa and Nev, on the other hand… I hope we get another installment just so I can see those two fall in love, because they clearly should!

Side note: I saw someone mention how they appreciated the way Cashore started including explicit descriptions of each character’s skin color as soon as you meet them, and after that I couldn’t help but notice it! It never felt awkwardly tacked on and flowed nicely with the story while also making sure that the diversity of skin color was clear and obvious to everyone.

Happy ending meter (no specific spoilers, just the vibe of the ending):

Happy! And even better, definitely room for another sequel!

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geekmom's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

After a pretty clunky start, this novel delivers!

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emusing's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful mysterious sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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libbyhb's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Mannnn I just love this series and world so much! Even though this wasn't as gripping as the first two books for me, I still liked it in the end. Kristin Cashore puts so much care into the details of each new part of the world she reveals, and that is felt on every page of Winterkeep. I mean, it sounds obvious, but not enough authors make sure to clarify which language the characters from different countries are speaking at each moment of the conversation and that makes all the difference in buying into the world. Character-wise, I was not thrilled with how much Giddon there was in this book. I don't really care about his relationship with Bitterblue, and that was a main focus of Winterkeep, so I felt a little bored by that at times. I absolutely LOVED all of the new characters, though! Lovisa was especially great - I loved reading her chapters. Her recklessness, her love for her brothers, her having to break out of her sheltered life and realize it's not what it seems, everything. Such a good arc. Also, it doesn't need to be said, Adventure Fox was everything to me and I would lay down my life for him. Would love to read an entire story from Adventure's perspective, seriously. I really liked how the plot progressed, and the way it concluded was satisfying without being overly tidy. I just......LOVE this series. Would read any new book from this forever.

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etosaurus's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

3.0

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