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The Bitter Kingdom

Author: Visit Amazon's Rae Carson Page | Language: English | ISBN: 0062026542 | Format: PDF

The Bitter Kingdom Description

From Booklist

Carson brings her well-wrought trilogy (The Girl of Fire and Thorns, 2011, and The Crown of Embers, 2012) to a satisfying conclusion as Elisa, bearer of the godstone that brings her both power and extreme danger, searches for her true love, Hector, captive of Franco’s troops. Traveling with her trusted new maidservant as well as their prisoner, Storm, and the besotted Belen, Elisa must practice duplicity without falling victim to that of others. Romance, bravery, and suspenseful political wranglings drive and inform the characters on all sides. Readers new to the series should begin at its start, but, luckily, they’ll have the whole series ahead of them as Elisa races to free Hector and take her rightful place of power. Grades 9-12. --Francisca Goldsmith

Review

"A marvelous and refreshing twist on literary tropes... A smashing ending." - Kirkus (starred review)

"Tackles classic fantasy tropes, springing off into unusual and refreshing directions... A thrilling climax." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“What a conclusion to a spellbinding trilogy! The Bitter Kingdom cements Rae Carson as one of the best fantasy authors to grace the shelves. I love this series to pieces, and so should you.” (Marie Lu, New York Times best-selling author of the Legend trilogy)

“The perfect conclusion to one of the most brilliant modern YA fantasies on the market today. Readers will love this whole series, and while I didn’t want to leave Elisa’s world, The Bitter Kingdom hits all the right notes. This is YA fantasy as it should be.” (Beth Revis, author of the nationally best-selling Across the Universe)

“Action-packed … excellent … with terrific world-building and character development. … Also tackles classic fantasy tropes, springing off into unusual and refreshing directions.…Carson brings her series to an end with a thrilling climax.” (Publishers Weekly (starred review))

“A smashing ending to a trilogy that …developed into the stellar journey of a girl who would be queen.” (Kirkus Reviews (starred review))

“This is a spell-binding book. It is not often that all three books in a series are equally enthralling. Those who love Tamora Pierce and Kristen Cashore will love the tales of Elisa.” (Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA))

“This is that rare series in which each volume is better than the last. … An action-packed and thoughtful end to an ambitious series.” (Horn Book Magazine)

“Elisa continues to be a heroine worth rooting for … and by the fairy-tale ending, readers will have no doubt that her newly formed empire will thrive. … An altogether satisfying conclusion to an entertaining trilogy.” (School Library Journal)

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Product Details
Table of Contents
Reviews

Series: Girl of Fire and Thorns (Book 3)
Hardcover: 448 pages
Publisher: Greenwillow Books; First Edition edition (August 27, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0062026542
ISBN-13: 978-0062026545
Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Despite my best efforts at self-control, telling myself to slowly savor it, I finished this last book in the series in a day. I just keep saying, "just one more chapter" and suddenly it was over. I was so sad to see this trilogy end, but I enjoyed every moment of it and I plan to enjoy every re-reading of these three books. The Fire and Thorns trilogy is one of those rare things -- a book series that has close to perfect pacing and realistic character growth combined with a truly engaging story. Modern YA books can be fraught with dangers, mostly for the reader. They can be cliche, mind numbing fillers that might possibly blind a reader with it's stupid story lines and "strong but yet somehow very silly heroines" (Yes, Bella Swan I am looking at you). Here is a line up of the good and the short list of the "don't think to much about this" parts of the series (warning: Spoilers):

Good:
- Elisa's character growth from a insecure, binge eating princess to a strong, capable and brilliant queen is both believable and emotional. I felt her surprise as she grew physically stronger, cheered for her through the struggles and loved that she became strong through both the strength of friends and her own ability to see her strengths. I also loved that she didn't magically become a super model or a ninja. She worked for every bit of her new found warrior skills and toned yet rounded body. She was willing to see herself truly and accept both her strengths and weaknesses. Her moments of self doubt are believable and not sappy and I didn't want to kill her by the end of the books because she has so much self doubt and "he can't possibly like me" and "woe is me" inner thoughts. Bonus.

-Hector. Sigh. Hector. Such an honorable man.

It would destroy me to have you just a little

The Bitter Kingdom is the perfect ending to the Girl of Fire and Thorns trilogy. Rae Carson has hit this one out of the park with the addition of a few new characters and the resurrection of other favorites from the first two books in the series. In addition there are scenes from Hector's POV with added so much depth and understanding to his character that I loved him even more, if that was possible.

The Bitter Kingdom starts almost immediately after Crown of Embers and Elisa is on the way to find and save Hector. With the help of Mara, Belén and Storm, Elisa travels into enemy territory to destroy the power source of the Invierne and save the man she loves. This is such an action packed story full of trials, obstacles and adventures. Just when one problem is solved another jumps into its place, the road to Inveirne and back to save Elisa's own kingdom is perilous.

Elisa really grows into herself on the journey and finds a special strength within herself from an unexpected place, she is not just the bearer of the Godstone, she is a great ruler in her own right. Elisa is strong and powerful in this book, brave and wickedly smart in her political maneuverings. More than once I was shocked and impressed at the strength she showed and the way she arranged all the alliances.

But there are plenty of tender moments shared between Elisa and Hector along the way to make your heart flutter a little.

"I am strong enough, man enough, to be subject to you."

Because that is one of the things I loved best from Crown of Embers and this book as well. The growing love between Hector and Elisa that seemed completely organic and `real' never forced or absolutely perfect.

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