Seasparrow
"Hava sails across the sea toward Monsea with her sister, the royal entourage, and the world’s only copies of the formulas for the zilfum weapons she saved at the end of Winterkeep. During the crossing, Have makes an unexpected discovery about one of the ship’s crew, but before she can unravel the mystery, storms drive their ship off course, wrecking them in the ice far north of the Royal Continent. The survivors must endure a harrowing trek across the ice to make it back to Monsea. And while Queen Bitterblue grapples with how to carry the responsibility of a weapon that will change the world, Have has a few more mysteries to solve-and a decision to make about who she wants to be in the new world Bitterblue will build."
Seasparrow by Kristen Cashore is the latest installment in the Graceling series. Judging by the ending of it (no spoilers!), I am willing to bet that there will be more to come from this series. The enthralling world continues to take shape with political turmoil, bitter and incredible survival; this time from a hardened Have’s perspective. Have is, at times, very lonely and impossibly guarded. She is also strong and takes on the task of translating the zilfum diaries while also nursing an abused blue fox back to live. Cashore has a talent for writing of survival, death, and hardship. She also describes the bittersweet triumph afterwards, which aids in Have’s personal epiphany that maybe she isn’t supposed to remain at Bitterblue’s side forever. Maybe, much like her mother’s statue depiction of her, she is supposed to fly and live her very own life. I look forward to future installments of this series!