Seasparrow

Gr 9 Up–Hava’s Grace lets her disappear in plain sight, making her the perfect spy for Queen Bitterblue, her secret half-sister. Bitterblue learned the truth about zilfium in Winterkeep, and now travels home with zilfium weapon plans where Hava must play a part. Hava’s insatiable curiosity and ever-listening ears discover a mystery aboard the royal ship Monsea, but before she can get to the bottom of it they’re blown off course. Shipwrecked and stranded on the ice in the far north, Hava uncovers a number of other questions as court and crew begin their long, treacherous walk back to Monsea. After a childhood spent in hiding, Hava’s journey forces her to reckon with who she is and how she wishes to be seen by the world. Cashore’s writing and character arcs are exceptional as always, but Hava’s juvenile narration strikes an odd tone for such a dark series, and her musings often lead nowhere, making this story harder to follow than its predecessors. While they’re marketed as companion novels, the series from Bitterblue onward really does need to be read in order to understand what’s at stake. There is some racial diversity among the cast, with Bitterblue being biracial.