Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - Winterkeep

I really enjoyed this but I’m not 100% sure what to think of it yet. My favourite points of view are the telepathic fox and telepathic sea monster, and I also really loved Giddon’s character arc. It threw me that, because of the world expansion, the vibe of this book is distinctly more dystopian in flavour than previous ones (it actually reminded me a lot of The Queen of the Tearling). I didn’t dislike it but it wasn’t necessarily what I was hoping for from the book.

I haven’t read enough race theory to have formed a confident opinion on this but her portrayal of race struck me as a bit problematic. It was hard not to lay our own world and culture over top of the ones she has created and I don’t think the expectation should be that readers <em>can</em> do that. In context of the series as a whole her depiction of race becomes a little less problematic but I think these books are still meant to operate as standalones?

All that to say I really enjoyed this. It’s more in the vein of Bitterblue than Fire or Graceling and has a riveting mystery at its centre.

One final thing, there should be a huge trigger warning for extreme emotional and physical abuse of a main point-of-view character and other children.

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laurenkimoto's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I put off reading this for such a long time because I didn’t think anything could live up to the original trilogy but I regret that choice. Cashore expands the world and builds the characters deftly while dealing with some heavy and serious topics with nuance and care.

I was warned about the parents and wow I did not expect it to go like it did and how it evolved

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queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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? No

5.0

5 ⭐ CW: violence, child abuse, sexual content, slut-shaming, suicide mention, murder, death of a parent, imprisonment

Winterkeep by Kristin Cashore is book 4 of the Graceling Realm series. I cannot stress how much I love this series! And it's completely underrated! I have loved every single one of these installments, and Winterkeep is no different.

We continue to follow Bitterblue a few years after the events of the previous book. We also get Giddon's perspective in this book, and he's a great character. Bitterblue and company travel to the newly discovered continent of Torla, a country made up of democratic republics and vast scientific advances. When Bitterblue is swept overboard on the journey to Winterkeep, she finds herself in the middle of a plot. We also get new characters, like Lovisa, the daughter of the Winterkeep President. Lovisa's life is turned upside down when she discovers what is hidden in her attic and what her parents are up to.

One of my favorite things about these books is that Cashore doesn't shy away from letting her female characters embrace their sexuality. Both Bitterblue and Lovisa are pretty open about having multiple lovers, and I suspect Lovisa to be somewhere on the Aromantic spectrum. I loved Lovisa's character and her growth throughout the book. She's tough, blunt, and honest and doesn't much care for expectations. I definitely related to her as someone who grew up in an abusive household without understanding how bad it actually was. I really felt for Lovisa when she finally figured out that's not normal. Giddon was such a sap this book. He cried so much, but it was kinda sweet. We get more from Hava too, and I read her as neurodivergent. We get sentient, telepathic foxes! And a sentient Sea monster that just wants to be left alone. I want to be able to talk to silbercows. They seem so cute and fun.

There is a lot of political intrigue in these books, and I'm a fan. I will say that this isn't the most fast paced books series, but it has so much in it. The world-building is just incredible. Cashore has expanded the world with each book and new character, and it just becomes fuller. Super looking forward to Seasparrow, but also dreading the end of this amazing series.

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margaret_k30's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

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kllyholt's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional lighthearted medium-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? It's complicated

3.75

I think Bitterblue may be one of my all time favorite characters and I loved seeing her again in this book, and especially because all the parallels between her and Lovisa’s upbringings were really interesting. But I absolutely hated that

Giddon and Bitterblue ended up together- mostly because of the age gap. I mean I saw it coming, and yes she’s older in this book, but he met her when she had just barely turned eighteen and he’s literally in his thirties. It gives me the ick- the author makes it obvious that it’s alright because “Giddon is a such good man” but that feels like such a cop out and really poor excuse, especially given how he has been in almost a mentorship role with her the entire time. It just reeks of grooming in my opinion. It’s not the most egregious display of it I’ve ever seen, but it’s still disappointing. It’s why I’m rating this book a little lower than I might have otherwise.

I liked everything else about this book though, especially the political and environmental commentary- it was really interesting and fun to read.
Also, Lovisa’s character seemed very autistic to me- there’s one quote where she says, ‘“Why shouldn’t I ask about it directly? Would it be so terrible for everyone to say what they mean when they do things, and what they want, and why? Wouldn’t it make things simpler, and create fewer disasters?”’
Growing up I must have cried about that exact same thing hundreds of times- because I couldn’t understand why everyone around me would be upset or read into what I say all the time when I was trying my hardest to communicate with them the only way I am really able to. Anyways, I don’t know if this was an intentional thing by the author or not, but I definitely saw myself in Lovisa because of that and it made me love her character so much more.

Also, the Keeper and the silbercows? I’m obsessed with them. Love them.

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