Bitterblue by Kristen Cashore

I have very mixed feelings about this book and it dredged up a lot of Feelings so I'm going to write about it while it's fresh so I don't keep mulling over it and trigger myself.

This is a rough sequel to Graceling. In that book we meet the princess Bitterblue, rescued from her awful father. In this one we see her, and her kingdom, recover from his rule. Other than that it's a moderately engaging "new young monarch tries to figure out the political situation, rule wisely, and not get killed while also figuring out things like friends and relationships" plot. That aspect I thought was handled pretty well, though some might find the way the romantic subplot was handled frustrating.

What I have mixed feelings about is the handling of recovery from trauma. Literally the entire country, including most of the main characters, has PTSD. This is mostly handled pretty well, with one very significant and unpleasant exception.
( discussions of rape and trauma, vague but significant spoilers )

I still plan on reading the remaining book in the series, Fire. But I will have my guard up.

EDIT: Oh and I might as well mention that the book contains a lot of VERY triggery subjects: self harm, child abuse, rape, torture, animal abuse, probably others I'm forgetting. It's overall pretty optimistic in tone and doesn't describe much in detail but could still be upsetting.

Gastro

Also! Cam and I both had gastro ("stomach flu" to those from the US, apparently, which always makes me think of a sneezing stomach) For me there was only 24 hours between "uh oh this is not my normal level of nausea" and "hooray eating is fun again" but those 24 hours were a wild, deeply unpleasant ride and I am still feeling the after effects. Cam was sick a little longer but bounced back faster or at least higher, which I guess isn't that surprising. The cat has been enjoying how much time I have been spending horizontal, at least.