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im_basil's review
adventurous
emotional
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
a slow, indulgent read. i loved exploring hava’s character and found her really relatable. cried.
i just really love characters who have no sense of self or their desires but find the courage to step away from what they’ve always known to find and heal themselves YIPPEEEEEE
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Violence, Medical content, and Grief
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Injury/Injury detail
bookish_hollyx's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
j_the_human's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
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
4.0
WE’RE BACK FOLKS.
Okay not like. Entirely back. But definitely on the upswing from Winterkeep.
Bitterblue? Still not herself and much worse than original 3 books. Giddon? Still not himself and crying so goddamn much.
Hava? They had me in the first half, not gonna lie. I was especially worried because her internal dialogue felt so childish and with the introduction of weirdly described s*x scenes in Winterkeep I was very, very worried. However! Much likeour cast of wonderful sailors and advisors, we made our way out of the stormy sea mostly unscathed. There were some… odd, completely unnecessary mentions of s*x (seriously, why did Linny need to get a boner in the middle of Hava breaking down her trauma?? We knew just from his characterization that he wouldn’t force her to go into things faster than she wanted to, that did not need to be there) but nothing on page/graphic. I DID like the ending and I absolutely loved Linny, he was delightful, and I’ve never been so happy to be wrong since I was SO worried he might be LV . All in all, Seasparrow did feel like a return to the wonderful character exploration/growth stories of the earlier Graceling books, and while it might not have been done with as much tact or skill as the first 3, it was a worthy and meaningful addition to the series, and I’m glad I pushed through my early reservations and finished. Now can we please get a short cute story about Hava and Linny?? I appreciate not having anything really happening in this book, but what if they just went on a cute date? I don’t even need them to kiss, I just want the fluff. It’d melt my iceberg of anger at the world.
Okay not like. Entirely back. But definitely on the upswing from Winterkeep.
Bitterblue? Still not herself and much worse than original 3 books. Giddon? Still not himself and crying so goddamn much.
Hava? They had me in the first half, not gonna lie. I was especially worried because her internal dialogue felt so childish and with the introduction of weirdly described s*x scenes in Winterkeep I was very, very worried. However! Much like
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Drug use, Physical abuse, Islamophobia, Medical content, Grief, Murder, and Pregnancy
ballerinacat's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
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? It's complicated
4.5
It was a bit slow to start but really good once I got into it. Hava was a really fun point of view character which I wasn't expecting at all (Bitterblue has been my favourite ever since I read her book). Adventure, Hope and the babies were my favourite. Their interactions with Hava and each other were among some of my favourite moments in the book.
I found the ending a bit incomplete. It was really good for Hava and I'm glad she ends up in a fairly good situation but I would have liked more details about Bitterblues decisions around the weapon and how that played out. I understand they didn’t exactly involve Hava and would it probably require its own book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder
catinaflatcap's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, and Dementia
Moderate: Gore, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body horror, Drug use, and Pedophilia
noetical's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Violence, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder
elizkacz's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Death of parent
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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? No
4.0
4 ⭐ CW: (provided by the author) sexual assault/child sexual abuse mention, (provided by me) animal abuse mention, PTSD
Seasparrow by Kristin Cashore is the fifth and final book in the Graceling Realm series. I have loved spending time in this world with these characters. This one was a little slower than some of the previous books, but it still gives you so much.
We follow Hava's point of view after the events of the previous book. She and a group with Queen Bitterblue are sailing back to Monsea from Winterkeep, but are caught in a winter storm and pushed off course to the far north. Things get dire when they are in a shipwreck and forced to survive on the Arctic ocean and on the ice, with only their feet and wits to carry them to civilization.
Hava finds out that one of the crew has smuggled a pregnant blue fox aboard and drugged her. Have saves her and becomes the caregiver of a bunch of sentient blue foxes. I love that we got to see more blue foxes in this book. I desperately want one as a companion. A good chunk of this book is about survival. The last third of the book is mostly Hava trying to figure out who she is and where she belongs, and dealing with her anger, pain, and trauma.
Cashore does an excellent job of depicting the complexities of trauma and grief throughout this series, while also showing the potential for healing. I'm so glad we got to learn more about Hava and her Grace of making a person see her as what she projects herself to be (a sculpture, a curtain, a bundle of rope, trees). I read Hava as being ace-spec and maybe neurodivergent. It's bittersweet seeing this story end. I could go on reading about this world, following different characters forever.
Seasparrow by Kristin Cashore is the fifth and final book in the Graceling Realm series. I have loved spending time in this world with these characters. This one was a little slower than some of the previous books, but it still gives you so much.
We follow Hava's point of view after the events of the previous book. She and a group with Queen Bitterblue are sailing back to Monsea from Winterkeep, but are caught in a winter storm and pushed off course to the far north. Things get dire when they are in a shipwreck and forced to survive on the Arctic ocean and on the ice, with only their feet and wits to carry them to civilization.
Hava finds out that one of the crew has smuggled a pregnant blue fox aboard and drugged her. Have saves her and becomes the caregiver of a bunch of sentient blue foxes. I love that we got to see more blue foxes in this book. I desperately want one as a companion. A good chunk of this book is about survival. The last third of the book is mostly Hava trying to figure out who she is and where she belongs, and dealing with her anger, pain, and trauma.
Cashore does an excellent job of depicting the complexities of trauma and grief throughout this series, while also showing the potential for healing. I'm so glad we got to learn more about Hava and her Grace of making a person see her as what she projects herself to be (a sculpture, a curtain, a bundle of rope, trees). I read Hava as being ace-spec and maybe neurodivergent. It's bittersweet seeing this story end. I could go on reading about this world, following different characters forever.
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Sexual assault, and Death of parent
beebeewin's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
What can I say, other than I was surprised by this book! I feel like at first, I was not truly getting into the story. It was quite slow at the beginning and that wasn't helped by the fact that Hava is a hard to character to like. But in the end, Hava's characterization is probably one of the best parts of this book. Hava as a character is neither good nor bad. She is someone who's been scarred by trauma and can't express her emotions or feelings because of that. This book is about her coming to terms with the trauma and working to be better. By the end you can see her growyh and how she is working on, but not yet perfected, her ability to process her emotions. As someone who's experienced a lot of childhood trauma this book felt so fucking personal. Kristin Cashore once again did a great job of writing the processing of trauma. I think I talked about this in the first three books of this series, Cashore does not hide from the trauma and the truly deep scars it leaves on people. I think the fourth book lost this thread, but it is back here. Due to the setting of the story Cashore was able to do a great job of slowly having Hava unpack the trauma she experienced and learning how to live in the world that comes afterwards. It was interesting, the survival aspect of this novel really tied in with how Hava had to survive as a child and was so well written and I assume researched.
I definitely found myself really getting into it once it got into the second act. The third act was a lot more reflective, but that made sense for the novel narratively. But I think the lowness at the beginning is why I'm not giving it a higher rating. It did take a while to get into and I felt like at least 100-150 pages could have been trimmed. I think Cashore was trying to build Hava's perspective but i think the rest of the novel did that well ao much could have been removed. I do appreciate Hava's perspective, it's someone who was on the outskirts, which made me way more interested in her perspective.
I also really appreciated the romance. It wasn't over the top like some other books I've been reading recently. Instead it was really the slow build, as these two people are healing themselves and want to be together as they heal with one another. It felt so honest to the story and truly lovely.
I would definitely recommend this last book in the series (so far)!
I definitely found myself really getting into it once it got into the second act. The third act was a lot more reflective, but that made sense for the novel narratively. But I think the lowness at the beginning is why I'm not giving it a higher rating. It did take a while to get into and I felt like at least 100-150 pages could have been trimmed. I think Cashore was trying to build Hava's perspective but i think the rest of the novel did that well ao much could have been removed. I do appreciate Hava's perspective, it's someone who was on the outskirts, which made me way more interested in her perspective.
I also really appreciated the romance. It wasn't over the top like some other books I've been reading recently. Instead it was really the slow build, as these two people are healing themselves and want to be together as they heal with one another. It felt so honest to the story and truly lovely.
I would definitely recommend this last book in the series (so far)!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Child abuse, Death, and Rape
randomshai's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Sexual assault, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail