By Meghan Mazzaferro
Content warning: violence, gore, murder, emotional manipulation, child neglect, child abuse, forced starvation, torture, animal abuse
Note: While categorized as young adult fantasy, this book features sexual content and explores sexual relationships between younger people in both positive and negative ways.
Winterkeep is the fourth book in the Graceling universe and it follows a number of returning characters, as well as new faces, into a new era. The Seven Kingdoms have changed since the Graceling series began, and the world is much vaster. Bitterblue, Queen of Monsea, seeks to establish diplomatic relations with the countries on the other side of the world. The two sides of the globe have only recently met, and Bitterblue is one of the first monarchs on the Royal Continent to express her interest in learning from Winterkeep and its neighbours’ new forms of government, education, and technology.
However, after Bitterblue discovers that two of her advisors were murdered while attempting to provide her with information about a valuable resource that Winterkeep and its neighbours have an interest in, she journeys across the sea to investigate. At the same time, Lovisa, the daughter of Winterkeep’s president and the leader of the opposition, makes it her mission to spy on all those around her, especially her parents. When her parents start acting strangely, Lovisa’s curiosity puts her right into Bitterblue’s path and thrusts them both into a controversy far bigger than either of them could imagine.
This book feels drastically different from Graceling. The writing style is quicker and more modern, the narrator seems to be closer to the minds of each of the characters, and the world no longer feels like the fantastical, medieval world of Katsa’s day. Instead, the story is rife with complicated politics and industrial technologies. While it took me a second to adjust to this new tone and pace, I commend Kristin Cashore; her ability to adapt her writing style to meet the settings of her books while still making the world feel familiar and cohesive is astonishing. The inclusion of familiar characters like Giddon and Bitterblue help bridge the gap as the reader gets to experience the new, more modern world through their eyes and experience their astonishment.
The plot of this book takes its time to get going, as characters slowly notice the subtle hints and clues that something might not be right. And yet, much like with Graceling, the book never feels slow. The reader is presented with just enough information to leave them wanting more, and the pacing of the book works perfectly to allow for a gradual reveal of just enough truths to keep the reader engaged. Once things get moving, the twists and turns don’t stop, and the second half of the book is impossible to put down.
While the plot of this story had me hooked from the very first chapter, the reason this book stands out to me is the characters. Lovisa is incredibly compelling: a complicated, nosy, angry girl whose world is completely shattered and pieced back together. Her struggles in this book are impossible to resist, and they help ground the story in the personal. Bitterblue is another incredibly compelling character, and it was moving to see her growth from the character she was in Graceling to who she is in this book, and to see her work to be to Lovisa what Katsa was to her. All the side characters in the story are strongly developed and unique, and they give the new setting of Winterkeep a life and vibrancy that sets it apart from the other settings in the series.
While this book is vastly different from Graceling, it is not something that can be read alone. Winterkeep is strong on its own, but it exists on a foundation of the rest of the series, whose worldbuilding and characters work to both complement and contrast with this newest installment. But do not be daunted! Yes, there are four books in the series, but each is unique and stunning in its own way and all four can be bought in paperback with matching covers! Which, as we all know, is almost as important as what the book’s actually about.
Joking aside, Kristin Cashore is one of the most unique young adult writers I have ever encountered. Her entire Graceling series is a work of art, with this newest installment takes the series to vaster, more intricate and stunning heights than I ever could have imagined. If you are a fan of rich, immersive fantasy worlds with a wide cast of complex characters and winding, scheme-filled plots, this is the series for you.
Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.