This is Hava's story, a character you don't see much of in other stories but this time she's the narrator. She's a messy character, not sure about who she is and who she wants to be. It was a bit of a slog occasionally and weighs in a bit at a smidge over 600 pages, She's whiling away the time translating the science notes from previously in the story and then she finds a blue fox who is drugged into insensibility, who turns out to be pregnant and Hava finds something to care for, as well as one of the sailors. She has never really had friends before, people in her life couldn't be trusted, but now she's having to deal with a lot of secrets and lies. She can deal with secrets and lies, and reacts badly sometimes when people show her affection, she's a child that suffered a form of abuse from her father and her mother and her healing isn't going to be easy.

I liked it, there were parts of the slog through the ice and the sailing that honestly dragged but that reflected what the characters were going through too. Hava has an interesting perspective in her brokedness and I found it an interesting read. ( )

Series Info/Source: This is the 5th book in the Graceling Realm series. I borrowed a copy of this book on audiobook from the library.

Thoughts: I listened to this on audiobook and the audiobook was well done; the narration is amazing and a pleasure to listen to. It's been two years since "Winterkeep" came out and I struggled to remember the characters from "Winterkeep" but the book does a fairly good job of jogging your memory. I really enjoyed the beautiful writing style, adventure, and complex characters in this book.

This book is told from Hava's point of view. Hava is Bitterblue's half-sister. While sailing across the sea to Monsea their ship is unexpectedly driven off course and wrecked in the middle of the harsh north. Hava, Bitterblue, and crew are forced to make a horrible trek across glaciers and through frozen ice tubes in an effort to find some civilization.

Hava is an intriguing character to learn about and get to know. She is very scarred by her upbringing and always very prickly and anxious, but this journey takes her through horrible challenges that help her to grow. This book is really about Hava's history and her growth as a character. She is having to learn who she wants to be, instead of being the girl who always hides in shadows.

There is a lot about survival and adventure in this book. The characters spend a lot of time both trying to survive on the ship and then trying to survive in the arctic wasteland. The book does also gets into the politics behind the zilfium weapon and secret formulas that were found around that. Although, this part if focused on more towards the end of the book (but you do hear some about it throughout). We also get to learn more about the blue foxes when Hava rescues a blue fox named Hope.

As I mentioned, I listened to this on audiobook. This was engaging and easy to listen to, I enjoyed the story a lot. The writing is stunningly beautiful and the scenery really comes alive throughout. You can really feel for Hava and get to know her as a person and appreciate what she's been through.

My Summary (5/5): Overall I really enjoyed this installment in the Graceling series and hope that Cashore writes some more books in this series. These are beautifully written epic fantasy stories and I always look forward to the next book being released. ( )

Hava, Queen Bitterblue's spy, has learned many secrets in the service of the queen - not to mention the many secrets of her own that she holds deep within herself. On the sea voyage back to Monsea from Winterkeep, she's uncovered the first mate’s secret, one she cannot keep. The voyage takes and unexpected turn and Hava has to decide who to trust and how many secrets she can keep. ( )

Seasparrow is the fifth novel in the Graceling Realm series by Kristin Cashore.

Content Note: animal cruelty, animal death, mention of rape, child (sexual) abuse

Plot:
Hava is Queen Bitterblue’s spy, and her secret half-sister. So, of course she was part of Bitterblue’s entourage when they went to Winterkeep – and now it’s time for all of them to go home to Monsea. It is a long journey on a sailship, but Hava discovers that she loves sailing. It would be so much nicer if Bitterblue hadn’t tasked her with translating the formulas they stole – formulas that can transform zilfium into a world-shattering weapon. What Bitterblue will do with that knowledge remains to be seen. But first, they need to understand it – and they need to get back to Monsea at all. Seafaring is not that easy and political intrigue is following them everywhere.

I am so very glad that Cashore finally returned to the Graceling Realm, and continues to deliver absolutely amazing books. Seasparrow is a book that I wanted to wrap in a blanket and to tell it that everything will be alright (or rather, I wanted to do that to myself), because it really put me through the emotional wringer – in the best of ways.

Read more on my blog: https://kalafudra.com/2023/03/22/seasparrow-kristin-cashore/ ( )

Part One: Bitterblue, Giddon, Hava, and assorted others sail away from Winterkeep on the Monsea, but encounter unusual storms that push them northward. Hava, Graced with the ability to blend in or disappear, discovers that Kera is keeping one of Winterkeep's telepathic blue foxes drugged in a box; Hava rescues it and cares for it, earning Kera's ire. The Monsea runs aground on ice and everyone must leave in the lifeboats.

Part Two: Survival (for most; one guard is lost, and one of the fox kits). The party encounters cold, hunger, injuries, and bears on their journey toward safety. They eventually land in Pikkia.

Part Three: They make their way through Pikkia, the Dells, and back to Monsea, where Bitterblue continues to handle thorny geopolitical problems. She marries Giddon in secret, creating an official alliance between Monsea and the Council, and mulls over what to do with the formula for zilfium weapons; Monsea has zilfium mines, and zilfium can be used as an explosive as well as a (polluting) energy source.

Meanwhile, Kera is imprisoned, and Hava faces past trauma (she is the daughter of the late King Leck and half-sister to Bitterblue; she saw Leck murder her sculptor mother just as he murdered Ashen). Hava must figure out what she wants, as well as what she doesn't want, how to manage her anger and grief, and how to keep the foxes safe - as well as discover the true identity of the fox she calls Hope, who his connected to the formulas Hava has helped Bitterblue translate.

Seasparrow is an epic tale of survival, narrated entirely in first person from Hava's perspective. In the end, she sails away from Monsea with Linny, a Dellian kind sailor who endured the shipwreck ordeal with her, and some of the foxes, leaving the door open for another book.

Quotes

I do study all the languages. And it is because I'm my sister's spy, but it's also because languages are like a blanket you can crawl into and be warm. And words are like pebbles you can throw. (53)

It's not reasonable to be both dictatorial and secretive. (Adventure to Hava, 126)

Wondering what you would find if you divided me into my indivisible parts. Little building blocks of suspicion and despair? (171)

I just don't know how to say what I mean. (193)

Delusions are dangerous in situations like these. (211)

"Why are you kind to me," I said, "over and over, when I'm mean and jealous?"
He pursed his lips in thought. Then he shrugged. "Maybe to see what happens." (Hava and Linny, 267)

Is that what love is? Hope for other people? (361)

What did you do when you got back from a journey that no one could understand? (382)

Love is hope for other people. (470)

I think I saw then the difference between my anger toward my father and my anger toward Kera. It was like watching two icebergs separate, after moving together for a very long time. One was enormous, the size of an island; so enormous that I'd been standing atop it my entire life and never realized it was dragging me away from myself.
The other was a regular iceberg....
I wonder if angers can connect to each other, if you're not careful. I wonder if they combine, and feed one another, strengthen each other, make each individual anger bigger than it's supposed to be? (581) ( )