November's whimsical wallpaper was brought to my Patrons by listening to WinterKeep (bk4) by Kristin Cashore, read by Emma Powell (who does a great job). I love her Graceling series. While the series is most definitely fantasy, her characters deal with complex lives in a day-to-day process. In Bitterblue (BK3) the main character is a young woman made Queen after her psychopathic, magically talented father is finally killed. A hurrah moment for many books - all will be well now! Bitterblue though struggles with a country torn apart by terrible decisions and rulings as well as her mental health...and her advisors.
WinterKeep continues Bitterblue's story and while she is an MC I like the story is not as strong in my opinion. I continued with Seasparrow (bk5), told from Bitterblue's half-sister's POV which regains the intensity of the previous 3 books. It was a little harrowing but satisfying as Hava began to heal her trauma from her father's effect on her early life.
However! In WinterKeep there were telepathic yellow-eyed blue foxes - and I started doodling foxes while listening and looking out the train/plane window. Britain was in the last throws of Autumn when we visited so the background reflects the season.
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