Graceling Realm / YMMV

Anvilicious: None of the books are particularly subtle when it comes to certain morals, such as the corruption of government, one character being literally So Beautiful, It's a Curse, Katsa's attitude toward Mandatory Motherhood, or how radical the Dells are described as being.
Broken Base: Is Katsa hating wearing dresses or anything feminine a refreshing subversion of feminine stereotypes, or a novelized hatred of all things effeminate?
Captain Obvious Reveal: In Bitterblue, it becomes clear very early on that Bitterblue's advisors are keeping secrets from her, owing to their constantly dodging questions, the policy of forwardthinkingness they adopted, and just generally acting in an overly suspicious manner. And yet, despite knowing how much they've lied and withheld information from her, that the four of them suffered personally under Leck's reign, and that one of them tried to have her killed, Bitterblue never considers removing the other three from her employ, continues to take their responses to questioning at face value, and doesn't realize they were all involved in killing truthseekers until it's spelled out for her.
Complete Monster: King Leck, though at first seeming to be a kind and noble ruler, is quickly revealed to be the most monstrous character in the story. Blessed with the Grace of Compelling Voice at birth, Leck abused and tortured everyone around him, from small animals to his own father before murdering the man. Eventually taking control of the kingdom of Monsea after murdering all of the current royalty, Leck uses his ability to kidnap, torture, and experiment on hundreds of women and little girls, raping and mutilating each of them for weeks on end before reviving them solely to do it all over again, even forcing his own horrified servants to do it while he watches. Regularly abusing and raping his wife before murdering her, Leck attempts to raise his own daughter to be his "perfect heir" by torturing and possibly even raping her. Sadistic beyond belief and viewing his various atrocities as "art" that should be honored, King Leck was the worst this fantasy series had to offer, horrifying and repulsing all those who knew his true nature.
Fridge Horror:
- There are probably people with a Grace for sex. And Gracelings are usually enslaved by kings...
- Of course that's the kind of Grace that would take (hopefully!) about sixteen years to discover, so an impatient king might declare them useless by then. As long as they're not stupid enough to go bragging about it, they should be fine.
Heartwarming:
- Katsa and Po's reunion after Leck's death, when she literally knocks him over with a hug.
- Bitterblue bonding with the sailors, when she used to be afraid to even look at a man.
- Brigan to Fire: "Your sadness is one of the things that makes you beautiful to me. It makes my own sadness less frightening. Can you understand that?"
- Fire comforting a pregnant Mila.
Nightmare Fuel: Pretty much everything about Leck is nightmare fuel, but most horrific is what comes to light after Bitterblue finds his journals and Death manages to decode them. The journals detail Leck's "hospital" in the cave, which he liked because it had good acoustics for the screams of his victims; the fact that he was forcing his advisors to rape and torture young girls, all the while convincing the men that they enjoyed doing such horrific things; and that Leck apparently didn't burn or bury the bodies of his victims, and instead stacked them in massive piles in the cave because he liked the smell and the vermin the rotting corpses attracted.
Paranoia Fuel: Leck's lying Grace. Anything he tells you, no matter how absurd, you will believe. Even if you know this is his Grace, it's still almost impossible to resist in person. And it even works (though thankfully to a lesser degree) when it's someone else who's repeating Leck's lies. There is no way to be sure how much he has already used this Grace to mess with your head.

YMMV / Graceling Realm

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