Samantha The Escapist’s comment > Likes and Comments

My personal favorite is Bitterblue. Of the three, she is the only one without a "superpower" but she manages to be very strong. She has huge responsibilities, yet she struggles to be fair and just and do the right thing instead of taking an easy way out.

She very much wants the lives of the people of her kingdom to be good, even if it means hurting some of those around her.

Bitterblue can 'read' people?
Sorry haven't read it yet.

I agree. Their all have their own specialties and they are not comparable because they are all such good characters.

I very much agree. This is very well thought out and well written. I liked all of them.

Thank you Erin :) Weiting I know I'm many months late (lol) but by reading people I meant that Bitterblue has an intuition when it comes another person's disposition. She is very perceptive and picks up on the little signs that point to what is wrong.

i like them all but i dont think its fair to say that Katsa doesn't live with guilt or emotional trauma she accidentally killed her cousin at a very young age a was plagued with the hatred from everyone around her she also felt very guilty she doesn't get close to people to protect them most of her problems were internal and she handles them with just as much grace as she handles combat
she lets herself feel vulnerable at certain points but i think that it is a good thing that at other points she doesn't let anyone else have more power over her it shows just how strong she is internally as well as externally her leaving the king and persecuting Leck also proves how determined she was you cant say that Bitterblue had more drive than Katsa

The main point I was making, though, is that Katsa has to actively make herself take these steps in vulnerability and it is a huge lesson to learn, Bitterblue seems to have an innate understanding of this and has no trouble.

I also think Bitterblue has a better sense of self than Katsa. And while Katsa does certainly suffer through her fair share of trauma I actually don't think she handles it with the same grace she has physically. Katsa is profoundly confused by quite a lot of emotions she experiences and has no idea how she appears to others.

^I feel that Katsa, quite often, reacts to a situation like a caged animal, reading threat where it is not, and leaning heavily on her survival instinct as it is her strength rather than branching out and having a little faith in her own finesse. Katsa seems to get things done quick and dirty when she knows it'll work.

the fact that Katsa can make herself take the steps in vulnerability shows an immense amount of strength and character she was born with the ability to be stronger physically than all others and to be able to show vulnerability at all proves her inner strength Bitterblue was born and raised a queen I'm not saying that she didn't suffer, but from a young age she was told how important she was giving her a self assurance Katsa was told that she was worth nothing her whole life. She overcame this. She was separated from the outside world not allowed to feel or show emotion for so long. Given this information i think she handled the situations that she was in wonderfully. She was also able to get things done quickly and when the things were dirty it was because it was absolutely necessary. The book states how much she disliked killing people, but she did it because she had to, not because it was easy. When seeing that she would be vulnerable to Leck, could have hightailed it out of their, but she continued to fight.

I love both characters, but, if i had to pick, id pick Katsa. I don't think that either of us are going to change our opinions on that matter, which is great, everyone has their own opinion. I liked hearing yours, but i'm gonna cut off my side of the argument because i don't think that this discussion will go anywhere. anyway.... what are some other books that you enjoyed reading?

Remi, first thanks for the add - I love meeting people who are capable of respectfully disagreeing. I just wanted to point out, however, that we don't disagree so much in the end, I made my post for the purpose of talking up the other two since they are woefully underrepresented in this thread. As for who is more impressive than the other, I am not entirely sure I could choose, but I certainly have a lot of strongly positive feelings about Katsa and very well might relate more to her than anyone (I have a bit of a tough-guy complex).

Anywho. I wish I could suggest Maria V. Snyder to you because her novels have the potential to be very similar but they're so far from the caliber it would be insulting. Snyder suffers from a habit of writing excellent first-novel-in-a-series but failing to follow through on the rest. The Demon King series is quite good though and I suspect very much up you alley. It's not entirely similar to Graceling but it's not so far away either - it just focuses on more characters and a much more political storyline. Probably more similar to Bitterblue in the end.

Try the Poisons study in the Study series by Maria V. Snyder. Also read Inside Out by Maria V. Snyder. The whole series was amazing. Try reading The Dark Side of Valor Alicia Singleton.

Well Poison Study was phenomenal but I thought the series lost its footing fast and by the time I got to Fire Study I was so disinterested I only finished it for the sake of it. I will definitely try the other you mentioned there though. I would say also that Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce has a similar protagonist but it's a modern day fairy tale retelling setting so I don't know if it'd be your thing. Also if you're into steampunk The Girl in the Steel Corset is alright (shallow though) and Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld has a kickass protagonist but the POV is shared with a boy as well.

thanks! I don't know if you're into this kind of book, but Callum & Harper by Fisher Amelie is my favorite book of all time. If you like it try reading Heart on a Chain by Cindy C. Bennett.

I love Fire but, she's too afraid of herself to be very effective...if Bitterblue hadn't taken so long to take control of her kingdom she might be a contender, heck if she'd just concerned herself with trying to see behind the locked doors...but no--it has to be Katsa!