June Genreflecting: Giveaway of Mistwood by Leah Cypress & Review of Graceling by Kristin Cashore

I'm sorry this didn't go up on Friday like it was supposed to. Unfortunately instead of finishing up the post on Thursday night I was rushing to the vet and we had to make the extremely painful decision to put our kitten Hugo down. We were in shock & are grieving, but I managed to pull this together for you for today. Enjoy.

Eight years after Graceling, Bitterblue is now queen of Monsea. But the influence of her father, a violent psychopath with mind-altering abilities, lives on. Her advisors, who have run things since Leck died, believe in a forward-thinking plan: Pardon all who committed terrible acts under Leck's reign, and forget anything bad ever happened. But when Bitterblue begins sneaking outside the castle--disguised and alone--to walk the streets of her own city, she starts realizing that the kingdom has been under the thirty-five-year spell of a madman, and the only way to move forward is to revisit the past.

Two thieves, who only steal what has already been stolen, change her life forever. They hold a key to the truth of Leck's reign. And one of them, with an extreme skill called a Grace that he hasn't yet identified, holds a key to her heart.
From Goodreads
Bitterblue wasn't nearly as spellbinding for me as the first two books in the Graceling Realms "series". I enjoyed the characters & some of the action, but felt that things dragged on a bit as the story progressed. While following Bitterblue as she traveled her kingdom & adventured with Katsa & Po was quite entertaining, the second half of the book was more depressing than I was prepared for. Suffice it to say that this was not one of my favorite works by Kristin Cashore.
As far as a fantasy book goes, it hits the mark right on. Between the magical realm, the unique "Graces," and the adventuring, we've got a prime example of an epic fantasy. The battle between Bitterblue's graceful reign & her tyrannical father's oppression is about as truthful a good vs. evil situation as you can get in this world. While they aren't on a specific quest together per se, there is a large group of characters that all kind of lend themselves to being grouped into smaller clusters. While I may not have been the biggest fan of this book, I do have to respect it for what it is in the genre.
Now for what I'm sure y'all are really interested in: the giveaway! In keeping with the fantasy theme I'm giving away Leah Cypress's Mistwood. You know the rules: you must be over 13 & live in the US (or at least have a US mailing address). a Rafflecopter giveaway