Kristin Cashore

In a world where some people are born with a unique and sometimes uncanny gift, Katsa was certainly no exception. At an early age, she demonstrated an uncomfortable gift for killing. This makes her the perfect tool for her uncle, King Randa. But Katsa detests being used and decides to stand against the injustice surrounding her.

Eighteen-year-old Bitterblue, queen of Monsea, realizes her heavy responsibility and the futility of relying on advisors who surround her with lies as she tries to help her people to heal from the thirty-five-year spell cast by her father, a violent psychopath with mind-altering abilities.

As Hava sails across the sea toward Monsea with the world's only copies of the formulas for the zilfium weapon, she 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.

Jane has lived an ordinary life, raised by her aunt Magnolia--an adjunct professor and deep sea photographer. Jane counted on Magnolia to make the world feel expansive and to turn life into an adventure. But Aunt Magnolia was lost a few months ago in Antarctica on one of her expeditions. Now, with no direction, a year out of high school, and obsessed with making umbrellas that look like her own dreams (but mostly just mourning her aunt), she is easily...

In a world where some people are born with extreme and often-feared skills called Graces, Katsa struggles for redemption from her own horrifying Grace, the Grace of killing, and teams up with another young fighter to save their land from a corrupt king.