Bitterblue discussion

It seems like there are a lot of people who love Bitterblue, and then some who think it is the worst of the three books by far. I'm curious if the people who hated Bitterblue are the same people who absolutely despised Mockingjay (the third book of the Hunger Games trilogy).

Both are, in my opinion, darker, more depressing, and more emotionally nuanced and mature than the books they follow. Both deal with recovery from trauma.

For me, Bitterblue edged out Fire by a little bit to be my favorite of the Graceling Realms books, and Mockingjay blew the rest of the Hunger Games out of the water.

So give me your opinions, I want to see if there's any correlation.

Hmm it's an interesting idea but I don't think you'll find much of a correlation - and just not because I break the pattern already.

In the case of both series you could actually argue a similar relationship between all three novels and how they fit together as a whole (aside, obviously, from the different protagonists in Cashore's books) With most of the action taking place in the first, a more politically oriented but still action packed second novel with a lot of backstory and build up, and finally a darker third novel featuring still more politics, weilding power of authority and dealing with problems at their source and, as you said, trauma.

Anyway that said, I loved Bitterblue and almost hated Mockingjay.

Bitterblue was certainly dark but I think Fire was quite sad indeed and already more emotionally nuanced than the first two Hunger Games novels. I think Bitterblue has a nice juxtaposition between naivté and grim seriousness, while Fire is entirely wistful. Both novels explore these themes quite well I think. Because of this I think the change from Fire to Bitterblue is far less jarring than Catching Fire to Mockingjay

I found Mockingjay to be a huge change of pace for the Hunger Games series and disliked it because I simply found it to be dry and unengaging. I felt the Peeta storyline late in the novel was unnecessary and really just began to feel like Katniss was being victimized and beaten down in every way possible for the sake of it. I got really tired of her waking up in hospital. Bitterblue went through a lot but we got to watch her grow as a person because of it. Mockingjay just sapped the life out of Katniss and it was unpleasant to read.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciated the realism of Mockingjay and obviously we were talking about a war in and it was time to face up to some pretty serious loss, I would never critique the novel for that, but keeping Katniss away from so much of the action lost me a lot of my interest - even if it makes more sense.

I honestly can't criticize Mockingjay and call it bad for any significant reasons, I can only say it lost my interest and explain how. I think Collins made the book she wanted to make and I respect it because of that, even if I found it to be largely forgettable.

In case you're interested in more details I'll throw my two LONG reviews in here too :P
Bitterblue http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Mockingjay http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

I agree ^^. I love all of Cashore's books and I especially liked Bitterblue. And I did not like Mockingjay. I thought it was too rushed and confusing. Important characters died in one sentence and then she moved on and I hated that. I also thought that Katniss's whole pointless mission where she got everyone killed was so stupid and obviously pointless. I have no idea why Collins had Katniss go on that mission. It was like she just kept wanting to make Katniss go through hunger games in every single book instead of coming up with something new that could have been great. I was very disappointed with the feel of the book too. I also hated the way that Katniss treated Peeta. He needed help and instead of being there for a friend that she loved she refused to help him and treated him horribly. I was really disappointed in her reaction to him.

Bitterblue on the other hand was much more enjoyable because I really felt for Bitterblue and as the books progressed you did see character growth and you cared for Bitterblue more and more and you wanted her to figure things out. The tone of the book was sad but it was also hopeful and Mockingjay had none of that.

Erin wrote: "I agree ^^. I love all of Cashore's books and I especially liked Bitterblue. And I did not like Mockingjay. I thought it was too rushed and confusing. Important characters died in one sentence ..."

OO oh yeah! *jumps around and points* Sad but hopeful versus utterly desolate. Good point!

Samantha The Escapist wrote: "OO oh yeah! *jumps around and points* Sad but hopeful versus utterly desolate. Good point! "

Lol thanks :D I always enjoy your points too.

I loved both Bitterblue and Mockingjay. And I noticed the same phenomenon in the reviews and also wondered, whether the people are the same :)

So far, it does not look like there's much correlation.

I hated Hunger Games, and have therefore not read Mockingjay (or Catching Fire). But I enjoyed all three Graceling Realm books very much.

I wasn't a fan of Bitterblue but I like Mockingjay apart from the last 10% which I felt was rushed. I just wanted that last 10% to be fleshed out more rather than changed the storyline as some fans wanted.