Author: Kristin
Cashore
Title: Graceling
Series: Graceling Realm #1
Published: October 1st 2008 by Harcourt
Format: Hardcover, 471 pages
"He made her drunk, this man made her drunk; and every time his eyes flashed into hers she could not breathe."
In a world where people born with an extreme skill - called a Grace - are feared and exploited, Katsa carries the burden of the skill even she despises: the Grace of killing. She lives under the command of her uncle Randa, King of the Middluns, and is expected to execute his dirty work, punishing and torturing anyone who displeases him.
When she first meets Prince Po, who is Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change.
She never expects to become Po's friend.She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace - or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away...a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.
When she first meets Prince Po, who is Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change.
She never expects to become Po's friend.She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace - or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away...a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.
My Thoughts
Rating Graceling was really hard,I was torn between 4 and 5 stars and finally decided on 4 stars.
In Katsa's world certain people had the Grace,something that's like a superpower(for the lack of a better term) sometimes the Grace was harmless sometimes it's quite the opposite.
Basically what the Grace did was it took a normal skill and amplified it making it something that people admired and sometimes feared.The Gracelings could be identified by there mismatching eyes.
Basically what the Grace did was it took a normal skill and amplified it making it something that people admired and sometimes feared.The Gracelings could be identified by there mismatching eyes.
Katsa,the protagonist is one such person and her uncle uses her Grace as a weapon.She hates herself for what she's capable of.Katsa is one of many favourite heroines-strong,witty,fierce and compassionate!
The world building was pretty good although it took a little while to get into the story at around 30% I was captivated.The action-packed plot,the great character development and the romance had me hooked.
The rest of the characters Po,Bitterblue and Raffin were like-able.I loved Po with his silver and gold eyes-totally swoony! ;)
Not many faults except maybe the ending felt a little rushed and Katsa was a little too anti-feminine(this added to the humor factor though).
Overall I'd recommend it to anyone who likes feisty heroines,action and a little romance.Can't wait to get my hands on Fire and Bitterblue!
“A monster that refused, sometimes, to behave like a monster. When a monster stopped behaving like a monster, did it stop being a monster? Did it become something else?”
The world building was pretty good although it took a little while to get into the story at around 30% I was captivated.The action-packed plot,the great character development and the romance had me hooked.
The rest of the characters Po,Bitterblue and Raffin were like-able.I loved Po with his silver and gold eyes-totally swoony! ;)
Not many faults except maybe the ending felt a little rushed and Katsa was a little too anti-feminine(this added to the humor factor though).
Overall I'd recommend it to anyone who likes feisty heroines,action and a little romance.Can't wait to get my hands on Fire and Bitterblue!
“I'm not going to wear a red dress," she said.
"It would look stunning, My Lady," she called.
She spoke to the bubbles gathered on the surface of the water. "If there's anyone I wish to stun at dinner, I'll hit him in the face.”
My Rating
The Author
Kristin Cashore is the
author of Graceling(2008),Fire(2009) and Bitterblue(2012).You can visit her
at This is my secret.
So tell me what did YOU think of Graceling-Loved it,Hated it or was it just okay??
I liked this book, once Katsa met Po I really got sucked in, but I agree that Katsa was a little too anti-feminine. I felt like the author maybe went a little far with the girl-power thing and I started to like Katsa's relationship with Po less as it went on because of that. I just felt like they started out as equals and then it seemed like Katsa ended up with a lot more power in the relationship.
ReplyDeleteGreat review! I literally just bought this book yesterday!! Now i'm excited to read it :P
ReplyDeletenew follower :) here is my blog if you'd like to follow back: http://thereadingdevil.blogspot.com
I've had a copy of this on my shelf for so long, in fact I think I might even have 2 copies! Should really get round to reading it soon! It sounds like it was a great read :)
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