Graceling by Kristin Cashore | Book Review
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“. . . it unfolds with the magic of a fairy tale and the breakneck excitement of dystopian fiction.” –Publisher’s Weekly
Contents
Book Blurb
My Review
About the Author
Book Blurb
Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight—she’s a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king’s thug.
She never expects to fall in love with beautiful Prince Po.
She never expects to learn the truth behind her Grace—or the terrible secret that lies hidden far away . . . a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.
With elegant, evocative prose and a cast of unforgettable characters, debut author Kristin Cashore creates a mesmerizing world, a death-defying adventure, and a heart-racing romance that will consume you, hold you captive, and leave you wanting more.
“You won’t even take your bow? Are you planning to throttle a moose with your bare hands, then?”
”I’ve a knife in my boot,” she said, and then wondered, for a moment, if she could throttle a moose with her bare hands.”
My Review
I’d been recommended to read this book by so many people and I finally got around to it after several years. I wished I had read it sooner! I think I put it off because I didn’t like the cover and I always judge books by their cover so it was hard to get past that.
But I’m happy to say it is now in my list of favourite fantasy reads.
The best thing about this book is the character relationships. The main character Katsa has a unique relationship with each of the side characters making them all seem like real people. I really loved this. I also loved the main relationship between Katsa and Po. This was the perfect slow burn romance and it was exciting and well paced the whole way though with lots of perfect moments!
Katsa was a bit of an annoying character at times, but she was always trying to do something to fix things, even if it made things worse. I liked that she was always proactive.
Parts of the story were a bit slow, it had a classic fantasy feel to it with all the journeying. But I really enjoyed the story. It was a pretty simple plot, but I feel like its worth reading just for all the characters alone.
I wasn’t so keen on the magic system. Having certain people born with random ‘graces’ was a bit hard to believe, but I think this is just personal preference, I usually sway toward liking hard magic systems where a lot is explained. Katsa certainly had a lot of advantages over other people.
Overall an awesome book that I will likely read again and tell lots of other people to read too. If you like high fantasy with court drama and strong female characters this is a book for you!
“Lady Katsa, is it?”
”Yes, Lord Prince.”
”I’ve heard you have one eye green as the Middluns grasses, and the other eye blue as the sky.”
”Yes, Lord Prince.”
”I’ve heard you can kill a man with the nail of your smallest finger.”
She smiled. “Yes, Lord Prince.”
”Does it make it easier?”
”I don’t understand you.”
”To have beautiful eyes. Does it lighten the burden of your Grace, to know you have beautiful eyes?”
About the Author- Kristin Cashore
Kristin Cashore grew up in the northeast Pennsylvania countryside and went on to receive a master's from the Center for the Study of Children's Literature at Simmons College. She currently lives in the Boston area. Graceling and Fire, her first two novels, were each selected as an SLJ Best Book of the Year, a Booklist Editors' Choice, a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year, and an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, in addition to being selected for many other lists. Graceling was shortlisted for the William C. Morris Debut Award and Fire is an Amelia Elizabeth Walden Book Award Winner. Bitterblue is Kristin's third book.
Check out Kristin Cashore’s website
Check out the Box Set
About the reviewer- Jenny sandiford
Hi I’m Jenny. I am passionate about promoting new authors and sharing any amazing books I find with the world. I am a book blogger, bookstagrammer, YA fantasy writer and travel writer.
I’m also a lover of nature, hiking, Harry Potter, cats, fantasy lands and quiet places.
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