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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.Tags
Recommendations
Member Recommendations
SheReads Prequel to Graceling about different characters.
anonymous user because you get the same different world paranormal thing and you get the romance and the good conquers evil
311
saltypepper The heroines' voices are very similar, maybe due to their similar response to the awful circumstances they find themselves in.
Also recommended by librarymeg
344
espertus Both Graceling and the Lioness quartet are stories of strong but vulnerable young women wanting to use their considerable powers for good and maintain their identity in the face of romance.
Also recommended by francescadefreitas, helgagrace
231
Aerrin99 For stories that feature interesting and strong woman matched with equally interesting and strong men, with a dash of danger, adventure, and magic tossed in, try either of these books!
humouress The way the heroines feel like outsiders because of their heritage is similar, as is the way the authors describe the way the heroines think.
Also recommended by foggidawn
170
220
deadbookdarling Both are set in magical worlds, have strong female leads and a dash of romance.
170
bbrux Young woman on an adventure to discover her hidden talents.
30
hairball Young women rebelling against their prescribed role.
Also recommended by Echocliffs
54
justjukka Protagonist is relegated to third-class citizenship because of her gifts and must overcome prejudice.
30
luna_lovegood Exactly as kazhout said "strong, beautiful, intelligent, and sassy."
Plus, badass and good heart.
31
cransell Both excellent YA fantasy with strong female characters and great world building.
31
faither The characters, although set in very different times, are similar without being composites. I could see them all being friends.
56
hairball Very similar themes of trust, learning to use powers, quests, coming of age, etc.
02
BookLizard Strong female character. Political intrigue. Realistic love triangle.
Member Reviews
Wow. This book is just awful. Set in a flat, ill-described fantasy landscape, Katsa is a graceling. This means that she has a supernatural ability to fight. Her king has long been using her to enforce his tyrannical rule, but Katsa and her friends have banded together to form The Counsel, a secret group that gads about the kingdom doing good.
I knew within the first few pages that I wasn't going to like this book, but I persevered, because I have an almost pathological inability to quit reading a book once I've started. First of all, Katsa is the worst example of a Mary Sue I've seen outside of second-rate Lord of the Rings fanfiction. I don't mind indulging in a bit of Mary Sue, but Katsa was just plain over-powered. It made for a weak show more plot, which was frankly, already sickly. Besides being ludicrously powerful, Katsa's just an awful person. Basically, the king has been making her torture people since she was sixteen. And she never once considers simply REFUSING to torture people until Po shows up and suggests it. She spends a lot of time moping around because she has to torture people. She feels really guilty about it, we are constantly assured. Meanwhile, look at it from the peasant's point of view. Katsa just marches into his house and cuts all his fingers off because he shot one too many deer in the king's forest. Are we, the reader, supposed to absolve Katsa for this brutal action because the king "made" her do it and she feels "really bad" about it? Personally, I can't do that. She doesn't even resist him at any point until the day that she straight up tells him she's not going to do it anymore. And ultimately, she doesn't do it because torturing people is inherently, morally wrong, but because she doesn't want the king to control her anymore. Anyways, I could go on for hours about the poor writing, the cheesy romance, the flat characters, and screwy agenda, but I won't. I want to get started forgetting all about this book. Just take my advice and avoid it. show less
I knew within the first few pages that I wasn't going to like this book, but I persevered, because I have an almost pathological inability to quit reading a book once I've started. First of all, Katsa is the worst example of a Mary Sue I've seen outside of second-rate Lord of the Rings fanfiction. I don't mind indulging in a bit of Mary Sue, but Katsa was just plain over-powered. It made for a weak show more plot, which was frankly, already sickly. Besides being ludicrously powerful, Katsa's just an awful person. Basically, the king has been making her torture people since she was sixteen. And she never once considers simply REFUSING to torture people until Po shows up and suggests it. She spends a lot of time moping around because she has to torture people. She feels really guilty about it, we are constantly assured. Meanwhile, look at it from the peasant's point of view. Katsa just marches into his house and cuts all his fingers off because he shot one too many deer in the king's forest. Are we, the reader, supposed to absolve Katsa for this brutal action because the king "made" her do it and she feels "really bad" about it? Personally, I can't do that. She doesn't even resist him at any point until the day that she straight up tells him she's not going to do it anymore. And ultimately, she doesn't do it because torturing people is inherently, morally wrong, but because she doesn't want the king to control her anymore. Anyways, I could go on for hours about the poor writing, the cheesy romance, the flat characters, and screwy agenda, but I won't. I want to get started forgetting all about this book. Just take my advice and avoid it. show less
Summary: Katsa is special. Born with one blue eye and one green - the mark of the Graced - Katsa is a near-unbeatable fighter, either with her hands or with any weapon she holds. Her uncle, King Randa, has turned Katsa's Grace to his advantage, using her as his enforcer, thug, and assassin. Katsa's not happy with this role, however, and has started a secret society committed to righting wrongs on the sly. On one of their missions to rescue a kidnapped old man from the dungeons of a neighboring king, Katsa meets Po, who is a prince in his own right, the grandson of the old man, and who possesses a fighting Grace that can match Katsa's own. They become sparing partners, and eventually friends, but the question of Po's grandfather's show more kidnapping gnaws at them. Who would order such a thing, and why? They set out to investigate, but what they find is a threat so great that it might engulf all of the seven kingdoms... if they can't find a way to stop it.
Review: The short version? I enjoyed the heck out of it. I enjoyed it so much I was creating opportunities to go and listen to more of it, cheerfully volunteering for one of the most boring tasks at work, just because it's a task I could do with my headphones on. I'm actually having a really hard time putting my finger on exactly why I liked it so much, but before I start dissecting it, I just want to reiterate: Graceling was compelling, relatable, exciting, and a thoroughly great read.
In almost all particulars, Graceling is very very similar to a Tamora Pierce novel. Teen heroine who has some special ability that sets her apart from everyone else, who's good at almost everything she does, even though these powers make her somewhat of an outsider? Check and check. Romantic interest who is also special/supernatural/powered in some way, and is therefore the only guy who can ever hope to keep up with our heroine? Both have 'em. (As a side note, I now have enough of a bookcrush on Po that I'm willing to overlook his metallic-colored eyes, which is ordinarily a huge pet peeve.) Plot involving political intrigue and corruption within a medieval fantasy kingdom? Yup. A healthy mix of coming-of age, romance, action, plotting, and witty banter? Yes across the board. The only real difference I can pick out is that Pierce's books have more magic/mythology, with direct involvement by the gods, while the origin of the Graces is never really explained. There's not even a method-of-consumption bias: I listened to both of them done by Full Cast Audio (which took me a while to get into, but eventually wound up being very enjoyable; a lot of the voice actors did really excellent work). So, even though there's not much to chose between them, while Pierce's books are reliably enjoyable, none of them knocked my socks off the way Graceling did.
In fact, the only thing I can find to ding Graceling for is a bit of heavy-handed expository worldbuilding in the early chapters. The nature of the Graces, the political layout of the various kingdoms, etc., are all presented flat out in a way that doesn't feel particularly organic to the story or the characters, instead of being more subtly woven in. Still, it is a very interesting world that's being set up, and once it's established, everything flows much more smoothly, and the character development and story development are handled with considerable skill, especially given that this is Cashore's first novel. I also really appreciated both the strong feminist lead, and the overall sensibility and mature handling of some thorny issues. Overall, even though I can't entirely define *why* I enjoyed it so much, I found it absolutely engrossing, I was sad that it was over, and I already have Fire queued up on my iPod. 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Recommendation: Fans of Tamora Pierce or those who like YA fantasy with a strong feminist twist should definitely put Graceling at the top of their list. Even those who aren't particular fantasy fans but who like a good coming-of-age story with solid doses of romance, humor, and action should check it out; I don't think the fantasy elements are prevalent enough to be off-putting. show less
Review: The short version? I enjoyed the heck out of it. I enjoyed it so much I was creating opportunities to go and listen to more of it, cheerfully volunteering for one of the most boring tasks at work, just because it's a task I could do with my headphones on. I'm actually having a really hard time putting my finger on exactly why I liked it so much, but before I start dissecting it, I just want to reiterate: Graceling was compelling, relatable, exciting, and a thoroughly great read.
In almost all particulars, Graceling is very very similar to a Tamora Pierce novel. Teen heroine who has some special ability that sets her apart from everyone else, who's good at almost everything she does, even though these powers make her somewhat of an outsider? Check and check. Romantic interest who is also special/supernatural/powered in some way, and is therefore the only guy who can ever hope to keep up with our heroine? Both have 'em. (As a side note, I now have enough of a bookcrush on Po that I'm willing to overlook his metallic-colored eyes, which is ordinarily a huge pet peeve.) Plot involving political intrigue and corruption within a medieval fantasy kingdom? Yup. A healthy mix of coming-of age, romance, action, plotting, and witty banter? Yes across the board. The only real difference I can pick out is that Pierce's books have more magic/mythology, with direct involvement by the gods, while the origin of the Graces is never really explained. There's not even a method-of-consumption bias: I listened to both of them done by Full Cast Audio (which took me a while to get into, but eventually wound up being very enjoyable; a lot of the voice actors did really excellent work). So, even though there's not much to chose between them, while Pierce's books are reliably enjoyable, none of them knocked my socks off the way Graceling did.
In fact, the only thing I can find to ding Graceling for is a bit of heavy-handed expository worldbuilding in the early chapters. The nature of the Graces, the political layout of the various kingdoms, etc., are all presented flat out in a way that doesn't feel particularly organic to the story or the characters, instead of being more subtly woven in. Still, it is a very interesting world that's being set up, and once it's established, everything flows much more smoothly, and the character development and story development are handled with considerable skill, especially given that this is Cashore's first novel. I also really appreciated both the strong feminist lead, and the overall sensibility and mature handling of some thorny issues. Overall, even though I can't entirely define *why* I enjoyed it so much, I found it absolutely engrossing, I was sad that it was over, and I already have Fire queued up on my iPod. 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Recommendation: Fans of Tamora Pierce or those who like YA fantasy with a strong feminist twist should definitely put Graceling at the top of their list. Even those who aren't particular fantasy fans but who like a good coming-of-age story with solid doses of romance, humor, and action should check it out; I don't think the fantasy elements are prevalent enough to be off-putting. show less
There should be a campaign to grace girls worldwide with a copy of Kristin Cashore’s debut novel, Graceling. In the world of the 7 Kingdoms, rare individuals are “graced” with abilities ranging from cooking to swimming, fighting to mind-reading. But only the heroine Katsa bears a killing grace. As a child she works as a King’s assassin, her brutality infamous throughout the Kingdoms. But as Katsa travels, she learns how lucky she is: most women cannot best any man, many children have no choice except dependence. Katsa abandons the King and instead chooses to become a superhero, an ass-kicking protagonist fighting for the people’s rights. She also falls in love with a man surely more swoon-worthy than any sparkling vampire. But show more Graceling surprises at every turn; how many heroines are stronger fighters than their lovers? How many female protagonists question marriage? Cashore plays with gender stereotypes in a realistic and deeply satisfying way. The storytelling unravels at the climax, but the build up is a tightly constructed novel, impossible to put down, and one which will be read again and again by a multitude of girls (and boys) struggling through these same issues of dependence, love and morality. show less
Katsa, a young woman who possesses the Grace of Killing, must deal with a corrupt ruler whose power seems to be beyond what even she can fight.
You know all the good things you've heard about this book? They're true. Every one of them.
Cashore's setup is reminiscent of Mercedes Lackey or Tamora Pierce. We've got a young woman with an extraordinary power who feels like an outsider because of it. Her uncle, who also happens to be the king of her country, has exploited her for years, forcing her to dole out punishment to anyone who displeases him. Katsa hates her job, but she feels helpless. Her uncle has kept her under his thumb by convincing her that her gift makes her little better than an animal, and most of his court backs him up. She show more has a small group of loyal friends, but she's done such a thorough job of hardening her heart against the abuse she endures from every other quarter that she won't really allow them to support her. From an emotional standpoint, she's in a bad place. She's unwilling to reach out to anyone else, and her belief in her own self control is shaky at best.
It's a great setup, and Cashore makes it pay. She takes us inside Katsa's head and lets us experience her emotional journey as it unfolds. We're right there with her, every step of the way. I teared up more than once. Katsa's story kept me involved and tugged at my heartstrings in a pretty big way.
And it's exciting, too! The fight scenes are beautifully choreographed; they really come alive. Katsa's internal struggles are as tense and exciting as her physical battles. Her unconventional romance is handled very well, and in such a way that it blends perfectly with the action. And once the main bad guy enters the fray, the story sweeps the reader up and refuses to let her go. Cashore's pacing is great; she keeps you involved in the action from start to finish. I was hard pressed to put the book down.
it's very good stuff. I definitely recommend that you check it out, especially if you're looking for fantasies with strong female leads.
(Also reviewed on my blog, Stella Matutina). show less
You know all the good things you've heard about this book? They're true. Every one of them.
Cashore's setup is reminiscent of Mercedes Lackey or Tamora Pierce. We've got a young woman with an extraordinary power who feels like an outsider because of it. Her uncle, who also happens to be the king of her country, has exploited her for years, forcing her to dole out punishment to anyone who displeases him. Katsa hates her job, but she feels helpless. Her uncle has kept her under his thumb by convincing her that her gift makes her little better than an animal, and most of his court backs him up. She show more has a small group of loyal friends, but she's done such a thorough job of hardening her heart against the abuse she endures from every other quarter that she won't really allow them to support her. From an emotional standpoint, she's in a bad place. She's unwilling to reach out to anyone else, and her belief in her own self control is shaky at best.
It's a great setup, and Cashore makes it pay. She takes us inside Katsa's head and lets us experience her emotional journey as it unfolds. We're right there with her, every step of the way. I teared up more than once. Katsa's story kept me involved and tugged at my heartstrings in a pretty big way.
And it's exciting, too! The fight scenes are beautifully choreographed; they really come alive. Katsa's internal struggles are as tense and exciting as her physical battles. Her unconventional romance is handled very well, and in such a way that it blends perfectly with the action. And once the main bad guy enters the fray, the story sweeps the reader up and refuses to let her go. Cashore's pacing is great; she keeps you involved in the action from start to finish. I was hard pressed to put the book down.
it's very good stuff. I definitely recommend that you check it out, especially if you're looking for fantasies with strong female leads.
(Also reviewed on my blog, Stella Matutina). show less
I wanted to reread this because since I first read it (year), I’ve seen so many glowing reviews and couldn’t quite remember why I disliked it? So a reread was definitely in order! Warning: this review is long and negative.
Content warnings
sexual harassment
pedophilia mention
animal abuse
In the seven kingdoms, having heterochromia means one is Graced . . . and being Graced either means working for the Kingdom or being treated as a lower class citizen. When Katsa’s eyes changed color, her Grace gave her better advantage in fights, and she became known as the “lady killer (unfortunately not as gay as it sounds)”.
Katsa can be described in two simple, stereotypical tropes: the “I’m not like other girls!” and “the TOUGH girl show more but not strong girl”. Now to address the first, it’s not even because she’s Graced. It’s more like internalized misogyny - in the character and in the author. It’s sad female authors write this so particularly well.
“A girl who didn’t want the husbands Randa pushed on her, perfectly handsome and thoughtful men, a girl who panicked at the thought of a baby at her breast, or clinging to her ankles.
“She wasn’t natural.” p.32-33
YIKES. ok this is TERRIBLE to tell young adults. First of all, we have lesbophobia, and then calling women who didn’t want children “unnatural”. Sure, it’s character-appropriate thinking, but you can’t say it’s Katsa’s PoV, because this book is written in omniscient tense . . . this wouldn’t make sense. It’s the omniscient narrator calling women like Katsa unnatural, which is . . . really offensive and harmful to young women.
There’s also this gem: “Katsa had no reason to interact with a woman servant.”
This is such a prime example of internalized misogyny and it’s never corrected in-book. :/ Just sticking “the queen was more than capable” or something in the text later . . . doesn’t quite do it. Especially if the PoV is omniscient . . .
God, Katsa even “refuses to have an opinion on the matter” of the color of tapestry in her room. I’m pretty sure you don’t have to be a man, woman, or otherwise to be able to like a color but what do I know? This is ridiculous, Katsa is ridiculous, and the fact I’m supposed to like her character is ridiculous. In the same vein, soft pillows and chairs are also out for her. Too girly. So if she has backaches, she probably still sits on concrete. Or maybe backaches are girly, too.Then again, her Grace apparently helps her to not feel pain like other people. But pain is also a signal of survival and damage, so if she doesn’t feel pain, it’s actually not a good survival tactic.
TOUGH girl but not strong
Katsa is the epitome of this awful trope, female characters who are obnoxiously physically strong . . . and that’s all there is to them. There’s no depth to their character. They typically hate anything feminine, hate other women, especially hate other feminine women, and look down on feminine traits. Because they’re TOUGH.
The moment I died?
When she began hating herself for feeling attraction to Po, for no other reason that “OMG but OTHER GIRLS feel attraction to boys! and I’M not like other girls!” I mean, if she hates liking boys so much, then why doesn’t she just start liking girls instead?
She also compared a sixteen-year-old girl getting harassed by a bunch of men “too much like a dumb, confused rabbit caught in a trap.” I swear, the internal sexism in this book is so difficult to bear. And to think it’s so highly recommended!
One more slash at Katsa, and then I’ll be done. The way she treats horses is absolutely abysmal. She runs them beyond ragged, with no care to their well-being, only that she gets to her destination as soon as possible, and that whoever can’t keep up with her is lazy. I’m ashamed this book is for young adults! Katsa actually lames a horse and doesn’t care! She says the horse can go on anyway, because she wants to go on. Of course, it’s said later the horse is actually lame. With no hard feelings towards Katsa. I just can’t believe it.
The writing isn’t much better than Katsa’s character, and I’m not surprised. There’s so many simple grammatical errors and awkward writing that I feel like Graveling is either horrendously edited or a rough draft that somehow got published. Somehow. Here are some marvels:
- Introducing a subject in a paragraph and switching it in the middle without introducing the new subject: “Katsa stared other plate. He was talking about brothers . . .” Katsa’s the subject here, and this is an entirely new scene! The HE here is finally introduced by name THREE pages later!
- Hundreds of incorrect commas used as pauses
- This ridiculous dialogue:
“Katsa, a man would be a fool to try to keep you in a cage.”
“But that doesn’t tell me how you’ll feel, always to be subject to my whim.”
“It isn’t your whim. It’s the need of your heart.”
- “I’m ever so slightly dizzy.”
- Strange sentence structures like “And that was enough of that, for it was Po she wanted to fill her eyes with” that fill the entire book.
- An incredible amount of summary over action/interesting areas, which just makes me feel cheated.
Now when it comes to Po and Katsa . . . things just aren’t that much better. They’re so plastic with each other. There’s no real emotion! It’s just we’re being told there’s emotion, so we’re supposed to feel it? Plus, Katsa is abusive. When Po’s grace improves, she gets SO angry, even though her Grace and talents are immense (she can start a fire with icicles, can hunt better than anyone, fight better than anyone, doesn’t feel pain/cold). Yet he improves on one aspect and bam! How dare he?! She’s literally abusive but it’s presented as a romantic relationship.
The character Bitterblue doesn’t feel real, either. She’s simply a plot device. No ten-year-old would be so calm in the face of her mother’s murder or all of the terror she’s facing! I don’t care if she’s “special”, it just doesn’t happen! It all just adds up to the book not feeling real. It’s just a series of bullet points playing out.
Now, to what I did enjoy: the bit in part three after Katsa and Bitterblue got through the mountain pass and reached the ship. It was entertaining, despite the awkward prose and dialogue. I’ll give it that, but I can’t say I enjoyed much more.
I’ll only read Fire because it’s part of a reading challenge I’m working on. show less
Content warnings
sexual harassment
pedophilia mention
animal abuse
In the seven kingdoms, having heterochromia means one is Graced . . . and being Graced either means working for the Kingdom or being treated as a lower class citizen. When Katsa’s eyes changed color, her Grace gave her better advantage in fights, and she became known as the “lady killer (unfortunately not as gay as it sounds)”.
Katsa can be described in two simple, stereotypical tropes: the “I’m not like other girls!” and “the TOUGH girl show more but not strong girl”. Now to address the first, it’s not even because she’s Graced. It’s more like internalized misogyny - in the character and in the author. It’s sad female authors write this so particularly well.
“A girl who didn’t want the husbands Randa pushed on her, perfectly handsome and thoughtful men, a girl who panicked at the thought of a baby at her breast, or clinging to her ankles.
“She wasn’t natural.” p.32-33
YIKES. ok this is TERRIBLE to tell young adults. First of all, we have lesbophobia, and then calling women who didn’t want children “unnatural”. Sure, it’s character-appropriate thinking, but you can’t say it’s Katsa’s PoV, because this book is written in omniscient tense . . . this wouldn’t make sense. It’s the omniscient narrator calling women like Katsa unnatural, which is . . . really offensive and harmful to young women.
There’s also this gem: “Katsa had no reason to interact with a woman servant.”
This is such a prime example of internalized misogyny and it’s never corrected in-book. :/ Just sticking “the queen was more than capable” or something in the text later . . . doesn’t quite do it. Especially if the PoV is omniscient . . .
God, Katsa even “refuses to have an opinion on the matter” of the color of tapestry in her room. I’m pretty sure you don’t have to be a man, woman, or otherwise to be able to like a color but what do I know? This is ridiculous, Katsa is ridiculous, and the fact I’m supposed to like her character is ridiculous. In the same vein, soft pillows and chairs are also out for her. Too girly. So if she has backaches, she probably still sits on concrete. Or maybe backaches are girly, too.
TOUGH girl but not strong
Katsa is the epitome of this awful trope, female characters who are obnoxiously physically strong . . . and that’s all there is to them. There’s no depth to their character. They typically hate anything feminine, hate other women, especially hate other feminine women, and look down on feminine traits. Because they’re TOUGH.
The moment I died?
When she began hating herself for feeling attraction to Po, for no other reason that “OMG but OTHER GIRLS feel attraction to boys! and I’M not like other girls!” I mean, if she hates liking boys so much, then why doesn’t she just start liking girls instead?
She also compared a sixteen-year-old girl getting harassed by a bunch of men “too much like a dumb, confused rabbit caught in a trap.” I swear, the internal sexism in this book is so difficult to bear. And to think it’s so highly recommended!
One more slash at Katsa, and then I’ll be done. The way she treats horses is absolutely abysmal. She runs them beyond ragged, with no care to their well-being, only that she gets to her destination as soon as possible, and that whoever can’t keep up with her is lazy. I’m ashamed this book is for young adults! Katsa actually lames a horse and doesn’t care! She says the horse can go on anyway, because she wants to go on. Of course, it’s said later the horse is actually lame. With no hard feelings towards Katsa. I just can’t believe it.
The writing isn’t much better than Katsa’s character, and I’m not surprised. There’s so many simple grammatical errors and awkward writing that I feel like Graveling is either horrendously edited or a rough draft that somehow got published. Somehow. Here are some marvels:
- Introducing a subject in a paragraph and switching it in the middle without introducing the new subject: “Katsa stared other plate. He was talking about brothers . . .” Katsa’s the subject here, and this is an entirely new scene! The HE here is finally introduced by name THREE pages later!
- Hundreds of incorrect commas used as pauses
- This ridiculous dialogue:
“Katsa, a man would be a fool to try to keep you in a cage.”
“But that doesn’t tell me how you’ll feel, always to be subject to my whim.”
“It isn’t your whim. It’s the need of your heart.”
- “I’m ever so slightly dizzy.”
- Strange sentence structures like “And that was enough of that, for it was Po she wanted to fill her eyes with” that fill the entire book.
- An incredible amount of summary over action/interesting areas, which just makes me feel cheated.
Now when it comes to Po and Katsa . . . things just aren’t that much better. They’re so plastic with each other. There’s no real emotion! It’s just we’re being told there’s emotion, so we’re supposed to feel it? Plus, Katsa is abusive. When Po’s grace improves, she gets SO angry, even though her Grace and talents are immense (she can start a fire with icicles, can hunt better than anyone, fight better than anyone, doesn’t feel pain/cold). Yet he improves on one aspect and bam! How dare he?! She’s literally abusive but it’s presented as a romantic relationship.
The character Bitterblue doesn’t feel real, either. She’s simply a plot device. No ten-year-old would be so calm in the face of her mother’s murder or all of the terror she’s facing! I don’t care if she’s “special”, it just doesn’t happen! It all just adds up to the book not feeling real. It’s just a series of bullet points playing out.
Now, to what I did enjoy: the bit in part three after Katsa and Bitterblue got through the mountain pass and reached the ship. It was entertaining, despite the awkward prose and dialogue. I’ll give it that, but I can’t say I enjoyed much more.
I’ll only read Fire because it’s part of a reading challenge I’m working on. show less
I actually picked this book at random from an online library. I just wanted to read some kind of fantasy book and the cover screams "generic fantasy book." Obviously, as I read it, I found way more depth and creativity than I had expected. Actually, it was not long after I had finally caved and read The Hunger Games, and one of my first thoughts in the book was "This is what I wanted Katniss to be." The strong female protagonist and role model who would do what she had to to survive and fight, but took no pleasure in hurting people and would rather use diplomacy where she could. I thought the book was incredibly well put together, and I loved the characters. It's one of my all-time favorite fantasy books.
The audiobook is also good. It's show more full-cast, which I always love, and the casting is excellent. I especially liked Bitterblue's voice. show less
The audiobook is also good. It's show more full-cast, which I always love, and the casting is excellent. I especially liked Bitterblue's voice. show less
Cashore writes beautifully, and I couldn't help feeling a small sense of pride as a fellow NESCAC school grad. Her prose is simple, evocative, and elegant. Occasionally, she would write certain sentences or phrases that I would raise an eyebrow at, and wonder if it sounded a little too pretentious, for lack of a better word. But somehow, though I've seen others try for this style and fail, hers worked. The writing was strong and tight enough that it held together. Every writer creates a world for his or her character, whether he or she writes for fantasy or not, but few make theirs believable, or interesting enough to merit full exploration. Cashore does both: here, finally, is a world that is not created solely for the purpose of show more holding up a shaky romance, but a world that I found myself pulled into, believing, and wanting to know more about. Somehow, the backstory never feels too heavy, though I will admit that the second chapter required some focused determination to learn more and differentiate between seven new kingdoms all at once. The plot is intricate, detailed, and fairly original and complex. I was riveted as I saw the unfolding of Katsa's character, as she uncovers her humanity and, largely through her friendship with Po, transforms from the savage others expect of her.
I was also ecstatic to see that this was a standalone novel, as I've had quite my fill of trilogies for a long, long time. But her world is so interesting, Po and Raffin and the Lienid especially so dear to me, that I would gladly learn more about them.
All that said, I still gave it only three stars. Although Cashore did a lovely job fleshing out her characters, and I loved seeing all the dimensions she worked into them, there was still an extent to which I felt somewhat burdened by her characters, Katsa most of all. Don't get me wrong; I love strong heroines, and was glad to see that Katsa was strong, able to defend herself, and capable. But sometimes I found her disdain for men like Giddon, and his desire to provide and protect, somewhat trying. I firmly believe you can be a strong woman without punishing men or looking down on them, and I wasn't sure she was one such woman. Even with Po, I was sometimes disappointed with how Katsa treated him. It seemed that he was bending over backwards to please her, and though part of this was because she didn't know how to be in relationships with others and she improved over time and through her friendship with him, I felt her response to be lacking. Though these might seem like minor points, they were the things that most hindered my enjoyment of the novel at times. I agree with previous readers that said what Katsa and Po had didn't really seem to be love, which would involve commitment and sacrifice, but something else; and I'd like to emphasize again that equality for women doesn't have to come at the expense of bashing femininity and masculinity simultaneously, which is what this book sometimes seemed to do.
I was pleasantly surprised by Bitterblue's development, because upon first sighting, I thought she would be a stereotypical helpless child, thrown in for the sake of adding a child to the story but not having her own personality. I loved Po and Raffin throughout.
Overall, really masterfully crafted, and if I did not enjoy it the entire way through, I still found much to admire in it throughout. show less
I was also ecstatic to see that this was a standalone novel, as I've had quite my fill of trilogies for a long, long time. But her world is so interesting, Po and Raffin and the Lienid especially so dear to me, that I would gladly learn more about them.
All that said, I still gave it only three stars. Although Cashore did a lovely job fleshing out her characters, and I loved seeing all the dimensions she worked into them, there was still an extent to which I felt somewhat burdened by her characters, Katsa most of all. Don't get me wrong; I love strong heroines, and was glad to see that Katsa was strong, able to defend herself, and capable. But sometimes I found her disdain for men like Giddon, and his desire to provide and protect, somewhat trying. I firmly believe you can be a strong woman without punishing men or looking down on them, and I wasn't sure she was one such woman. Even with Po, I was sometimes disappointed with how Katsa treated him. It seemed that he was bending over backwards to please her, and though part of this was because she didn't know how to be in relationships with others and she improved over time and through her friendship with him, I felt her response to be lacking. Though these might seem like minor points, they were the things that most hindered my enjoyment of the novel at times. I agree with previous readers that said what Katsa and Po had didn't really seem to be love, which would involve commitment and sacrifice, but something else; and I'd like to emphasize again that equality for women doesn't have to come at the expense of bashing femininity and masculinity simultaneously, which is what this book sometimes seemed to do.
I was pleasantly surprised by Bitterblue's development, because upon first sighting, I thought she would be a stereotypical helpless child, thrown in for the sake of adding a child to the story but not having her own personality. I loved Po and Raffin throughout.
Overall, really masterfully crafted, and if I did not enjoy it the entire way through, I still found much to admire in it throughout. show less
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ThingScore 75
In a world of gossip girls, it is perhaps refreshing to have a teenage heroine who cuts off all her hair because it gets in her way; and Kristin Cashore’s eccentric and absorbing first novel, “Graceling,” has such a heroine. Katsa is tough, awkward, beautiful and consumed by pressing moral issues
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GROUP READ: Graceling by Kristin Cashore (Spoiler-Free Thread) in Hogwarts Express (March 2012)
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74 Works 26,552 Members
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- Tankeläsaren
- Original publication date
- 2008-10-01
- People/Characters
- Katsa; Prince "Po" Greening (Prince of Lienied); Prince Raffin (Son of King Randa and Katsa's friend and cousin); Giddon; Oll; Bitterblue (show all 13); King Randa (King of Middluns); Prince Skye (Prince Po's brother); King Leck (King of Monsea); Helda (Katsa's maid and friend); Bann; King Ror; Ashen
- Important places
- Randa City; Grella's Pass; Kingdom of Monsea; Kingdom of Lienid
- Related movies
- Graceling (in development | IMDb)
- Dedication
- For my mother,
Nedda Previtera Cashore,
who has a meatball Grace,
and my father,
J. Michael Cashore,
who is Graced with losing (and finding) his glasses - First words
- In these dungeons the darkness was complete, but Katsa had a map in her mind.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)And so Po described to Katsa what hid in the blackness of the cave; and outside, the world awaited them.
- Blurbers
- Murdock, Catherine; Marr, Melissa; Pierce, Tamora
- Original language
- English
- Canonical DDC/MDS
- 813.6
- Canonical LCC
- PZ7.C26823
- Disambiguation notice
- This is the original novel by Kristin Cashore. Please do not combine with the graphic novel adapted and illustrated by Gareth Hinds.
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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