DMN review. . .

Not a book for me. Magical realism is hard to do, and it never quite worked for me. Appreciate the transgender storyline, but I never cared about the characters. Not one of the best picks by the Forever YA folks.

So many friends loved this book, and yet I didn't. Is Joan/Janet the luckiest girl alive? And does she deserve the luck?
I found myself increasingly annoyed about how historically unlikely her situation was. And as someone who has never felt comfortable with evangelizing, especially if someone is comfortable in their own faith, the conversion plot line put me over the edge. Thought about quitting halfway through, but for some reason, I had to finish it. It didn't magically redeem itself.
Ended up having a lot more to say about this one: https://kidlithistory.com/2018/01/14/my-feminist-winter-part-1/

The whole time I was reading this, I kept thinking "Well, this is good, but it's not as good as The Hate U Give."

And then I got to the end and found myself sobbing. So clearly it touched me more than I realized.

I loved the first two Graceling books, and I think I would have enjoyed this more if I hadn't listened to the audio version. My commute just isn't long enough to listen to large chunks of this at one time. So, it felt like it went on far too long. And it probably would have helped if I listened to this closer to when I read the others.

But I loved the conspiracy, and Bitterblue's gradual awakening and the ways in which the people fought back. All in all, it was very satisfying fantasy.

Delightful bit of quiet British fluff. Three very funny daughters and one confused mother. Delightful D. E. Stevenson for sure.