Book Review: Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Review: Graceling
Author: Kristin Cashore
No. Of Pages: 370
Release Date: October 2008

In a world where people are born with an exceptional skill, known as a Grace, are both feared and exploited, Katsa carries the burden of a skill even she despises: the Grace of killing.

Feared by the court and shunned by those her own age, the darkness of her Grace casts a heavy shadow over Katsa’s life. Yet she remains defiant: when the King of Lienid’s father is kidnapped she investigates, and stumbles across a mystery. Who would want to kidnap the old man, and why? And who was the extraordinary Graced man whose fighting abilities rivalled her own?

The only thing Katsa is sure of is that she no longer wants to kill. The intrigue around this kidnapping offers her a way out – but little does she realise, when she takes it, that something insidious and dark lurks behind the mystery. Something spreading from the shadowy figure of a one-eyed king...

With elegant, evocative prose and a cast of unforgettable characters, Kristin Cashore creates a mesmerising world, a death defying adventure, and a heart-racing romance that will captivate you, and leave you wanting more.

My Thoughts:

Graceling is in a way, what I expected but completely different at the same time. Katsa is your typically strong heroine. No one gets in her way and if they do, they will most definitely be sorry. She is also afraid of herself, of her power which is although not new, complimented the story beautifully. She holds back from killing people as her uncle wishes and shows compassion. An emotion Katsa’s uncle obviously doesn’t expect to be there.

Po is one of those swoony characters. Even when he merely looked at Katsa, my tummy flipped over. The romance that played out between the two was just long enough but not so long that you were saying “finally” when it did finally happen.

Katsa’s story is beautifully written, and the adventure is definitely there. I was constantly thinking about it when I wasn’t reading it, and I flew through it when I was.

The villain in Graceling was predictable, but I don’t think that he was drawn out as much as he could have been. We spent so much time escaping and when it finally came down to the crunch, it was extremely anti climatic. No battle, no struggle, I know Katsa’s Grace is killing, but I feel that the scene could have been approached differently.

This book was definitely full of action, adventure and romance. Katsa and Po are a beautiful couple, and Po makes the story with some of his actions and taunts towards Katsa.

I would pick it up again, in time.

4 stars