Elle (ellexamines on TT & Substack)'s Reviews > Bitterblue

This book is a narrative about how colonization can fuck you over. Starring a biracial and ambiguously queer woman of color, it follows Bitterblue as she tries to bring back the traditions, culture, & liberty her dictator father took away from the country of Monsea. Along the way, she must come to terms the legacy of a genocidal, terrifying monster as a ruler, one who wiped away every detail of the country and replaced it with his own imagined world. But she must also come to terms with the legacy of that monster being her father.

Never heard it pitched that way before? Me neither. But I’m serious about this, and I’m ready to write a serious fucking literary analysis here. Good morning, guys.

“But that's how memory works,” Bitterblue said quietly. “Things disappear without your permission, then come back again without your permission.” And sometimes they came back incomplete and warped.

So, what is Bitterblue about, you ask? Well, I don't think it can be fully summed up. In one way, it's a mystery– Bitterblue spends this book trying to discover what really happened during her father's reign, to both her people AND herself, and what is happening now. In one way, it's a character journey– Bitterblue's journey of agency and growing up. But in another way, it's the journey of a whole world– the story of an entire country's journey to free itself from a legacy of colonialism and brutality.

I've seen many say they had trouble with this book due to boredom. While I found this story incredibly compelling, it should be said that the first half is somewhat slow. And yes, there are a multitude of sideplots in Bitterblue, but here's the thing: I think the book works because of the pace. The slightly slow beginning of the first half is nicely offset by the slow-build mystery and character development of the book, and it completely pays off towards the second half.

And with all these different interlocking plots, the book still feels tied together and coherent. Why? Primarily because of Bitterblue's character. Bitterblue is one of the realest characters I've ever come across. She's not the type of fighter we tend to see in the role of a strong female character, but also not the type of sweet and simpering character we tend to see in weaker female characters. Bitterblue is clever, manipulative, and willing to fight for the people she loves, yet is given moments of being reckless, underconfident, and petty. This isn't a simple plot device; she's sixteen, and the narrative both explores that and lets her be a character beyond it. I also adore how her character connects the narrative; her inner conflict and outer conflict form a gorgeous map.

Hoooooo, boy, so I guess it's time to talk about the narrative now, huh?

Monsea’s dictatorship all but mirrors the legacy of colonial dictatorships. It is a world in which a culture of openness, a wealthy economy, and a structure of living tested for years has been completely overturned by a despicable, tyrannical leader, and now the people of the realm must pick up the pieces. And it’s all the more frightening because of the legacy of Leck - as a monster who could cloud the judgement of others, he has left the country’s old traditions all but forgotten. This is something neither Bitterblue nor much of the country has any way of being aware of, especially as the older generation has died out. The country’s old culture of casual queerness is something few are still aware of. The architecture is forever changed. Freedom of the press is nonexistent.

I've been sitting in front of a computer screen for around ten minutes because I truly do not know how to begin this review. This book is so, so deeply important to me, in so many ways. I've read very few books in my life that made me feel every emotion on the spectrum, and this is perhaps one of the best. This book is many things, but above all, it's a story of hope; a story of joy in the face of so much pain.

So let's sum it all up: Butterblue features a cast of well-written, compelling side characters, a hilarious appendix written by an actual character, a cast that is around 70% queer and 90% characters of color, a fucking glorious slow-burn mystery, a fucking glorious character arc for a young woman in a tight space, and a narrative around colonialism that sticks out in my mind to this day. I cannot get past how much I adore this book.

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