Graceling

Well, the rating for this one is a difficult thing. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, I loved the main characters (and side ones too), I felt engaged in the story. It was funny and quite easy. Honestly, it is not a literary masterpiece, and the plot is not the strongest suit of the novel. However, I loved it, and it is all that matters to me.

I'm not sure why I put off reading this for so long, but I am so glad I finally sat down with it. Graceling was my favorite combination of elements: action, romance, loss, victory and a supernatural twist. The romance especially stuck with me—it was realistic, perfectly paced, and at times heartbreaking. It didn't fall for typical YA tropes and I found Cashore's take on Katsa and Po's relationship refreshing.

As for the characters themselves, Katsa was a breath of fresh air. She's easily one of the strongest female protagonists I've ever read—stubborn without being unlikable, and caring without being weak. I've added the companion novels (Fire and Bitterblue) to my TBR list and I look forward to reading more about the Graceling realm.

I did have some trouble getting into the novel in the beginning. The writing didn't seem smooth. It seemed repetitive and bumpy. When I finally was being pulled into the novel I was soon pulled back out with the whole romance between Katsa and Po. It turned me off since, to me, it seemed forced. I didn't care about the anti(?)-marriage or anti(?)-child message I just didn't like how much of the novel it ended up in. It is character development but pages and pages of her thoughts about marriage and children, I get it. I was missing the connection to the storyline, and the journey.
I lemmed it. Maybe one day I can go back to it and enjoy it. I want to! So many people I know liked it but right now, it's not for me.

In the world of Graceling there are two distinct kinds of people - those that are graced and those that are not. The skills of the graced from what I have seen so far in this first book of Kristin Cashore's fantasy series are not as flamboyant or should I say obvious as what you would find in, for example, a comic book. There are no lasers shooting out of people's eyes, or tornado's being formed with a mere thought, the gracelings are what I would describe as unnaturally gifted. A normal person gifted in fighting would beat his or her opponent with almost ease, a person graced in fighting could have a broken arm, be faced off against five people and would still never lose a fight. The gracelings could be the most talented dancers, swimmers, runners, singers, weavers etc. or they could have far more dangerous talents.

Katsa's grace allowed her to kill a man when she was eight years old with one hand and from this moment on she has been used by her uncle, King Reyard, to strike fear into the heart of anyone who wrongs him. This along with her particular grace has made others who have not even met Katsa fear her, and her upbringing has not made Katsa the most typical of noble ladies. Still, Katsa despite not seeing herself as anything more than a tyrant leads covert operations where she helps people who need it and more and more recently she is finding it much more difficult to carry out her uncle's orders. And what really sets things off is while on a mission Katsa encounters a graced fighter who unexpectedly helps her unravel the peculiarities of her own grace as well as the shocking secrets of a foreign kingdom.

The story of Graceling for me was truly about not allowing yourself to be shaped by other people's predetermined thoughts of who you are and about being able to achieve anything as long as you never give up despite the odds. Graceling was also filled with such a diverse combination of awesome characters that ranged from brilliant to kick butt that I can't wait to meet them again in Fire and Bitterblue.

Reading this book was a whole journey. Something about the writing stuck out to me immediately, although I am not fully sure what it was. This is truly fully about the characters and their interactions. Even though a lot happens in the plot, long journeys, kings challenged the focus is really on the relationships of the main characters. I don't think I have ever read such a deep and kind relationship.  

I don't usually read romances because I don't enjoy the constant troubles within the relationship, but this didn't centre their troubles with each other but their love within the troubling world. Which I always enjoy so much more. And it was truly also very dark and terrifying in many ways. Honestly probably the perfect book for me and I will be buying the next ones for sure, I usually love anthologies and expect this one to be no different. 

I have read Graceling before, but it's been seven years and I knew I was going to get more out of it now than I did when I was a teenager. That being said, I wasn't prepared for how viscerally angry it made me. Reading it now, Katsa seems so much more vulnerable. Despite her physical power, she lives in constant fear and anxiety, primarily because other people feel unpredictable and unknowable to her. She has a hard time understanding the motivations and emotions of others and it makes her avoidant of forming relationships. No matter what her character or abilities are, she is perpetually on the outside of every conversation, every joke. She is vulnerable, sure, but she isn't immature. This is a fact that escapes most of the men in this book, which is the reason why I was filled with rage for the first half of the book. Once Katsa leaves the court, I started to feel better, and especially after she realizes that her Grace isn't killing. And, in the end, it's her relationship with Po that enables her to overcome her weaknesses, in every sense of the word. He teaches her to trust herself, and even when she loses control, it's him that pulls her back to herself. The ending is just the final manifestation of this, killing Leck not because he is threatening her or because she has broken free of his power, but because her loyalty and her instinct to protect Po is stronger than her own control.

Po... yeah that's our boyfriend now. Truly the prince of the universe, has any fictional man been as thoroughly good to his core before? I doubt it. 

On a more serious level though, it's incredibly refreshing to listen to a book I used to enjoy as a child and have the relationship not be the absolute dumpster fire so many of my old favorites have turned out to be now that I'm (kind of) capable of critical thought. There is real and honest communication from both sides, and they handle their emotions openly and deal with them with the complexity and the nuance that comes from truly knowing and trusting each other and I have to say that's the hottest thing a YA couple has ever done. There not being a miscommunication trope is so near and dear to my heart, my fucking soul is singing. The side characters are written in a way that you can't help but feel for them even if they're not mentioned that often and the description of the world is wonderful. 

I love when I get to keep a childhood favorite for good reasons and not just because my nostalgia driven brain still loves it even though I know it's objectively bad. This is just good. Through and through. Made me fall a little bit in love with fantasy all over again. 

Katsa is a Graceling, born with the ability to kill a man with her bare hands. Forced into killing for her King, she goes throughout life hating her ability. She is quick to anger, and if she loses control she will kill. What little joy she gets out of life is by secretly disobeying the King whenever she can. Until she meets Po. A beautiful man with a grace for fighting. He opens her eyes to a new world, one where she can be in control of her life and make her own choices.

Graceling had a strong start. Even though Katsa should be a powerful character, lifetime conditioning and guilt made her into a tool to the king. Each time she kills for the king, it's another day she loathes being graced. I saw the potential in Katsa to develop into a strong willed female character. I enjoyed watching her walk the thin line between obedience and snapping under the pressure.

I expected the story to stay focused on Katsa's struggle. Instead, it fades into the background the minute Po came onto the page. Where was the internal battling? Where was the slow climb to redemption? Instead of turning into a stronger character, Katsa just became boring. Even the twist with her grace that was supposed to be this amazing mystery, fell flat for me.

Romance took the center stage. Katsa became this mushball of a woman. A person I guess some would connect with as a motherly protective figure, but I just didn't enjoy the development. The subplots even paled in comparison to the amount of time spent developing the romance between the two characters. It was as if the rest of the story was just filler. I would only suggest this book if you like YA romance.

First read this in high school for summer reading. I enjoyed it the first time but I don't think it fully sunk in as to WHY we were reading it in the first place. Now though, I can see why they chose this, simply because of Cashore's ability to build a fantasy world centered around a strong female protagonist. Someone who is physically strong and mentally strong, and cares deeply for justice and those she cares about. Katsa could've been molded and manipulated into becoming someone so evil and vile and twisted, just like Leck, who used his powers to abuse those around him. But the fact that Katsa's very own moral core is so strong, that she breaks free from Randa's control, takes charge of her own life, starts her own special inter-kingdom Council to help others... She's such an amazing and thoughtful character that you can't help but enjoy reading.

Though, I think the driving force of Graceling has to be Katsa's relationship with Po. It is built so gradually, where they learn to rely on, understand, and trust each other. They respect each other and pine for each other. They have such a deep connection and balance one another so well. Katsa never had interest in love, until she found someone who understood and connected with her, not even realizing she's fallen in love either. Their devotion and their tension was just chef's kiss. It's so nice to read a healthy relationship dynamic that depicts both of them as equals, where they TREAT each other as equals.

Update: 02/16/2015

If you'd like to read this review on my blog.

Rating: 4.5/5 stars.

Graceling is the story of Lady Katsa, a girl who is graced with the power of killing. She has been trained all her life, and used by her uncle, king Randa, to do all of his errands, torturing and killing people. And then she meets Po, who is graced with the power of fighting. Together, they'll search for the answer to Grandfather Telif's capture, and find a few mysteries of their own.

I've wanted to read this book for a while. More than a year and a half, I'd dare to say. But somewhere along the way I heard this tiny bitty bad review about it. I can't even remember who was it from or what exactly did it say, but I remember it discouraging me from reading it.

Enter present world, where I find myself with new friends and companionship (book related) and they happen to mention their love for this book. Reason why we're here. I read it. And I regret really hard not reading it before.

The writing is one of the things that did it for me. It was a special kind of writing due to it being more 1600's, to say a year. And I've heard a lot of people complain about it not being good, but I'm not a native English speaker, and for what I saw, I think that she wrote what was best.

Then we have Katsa. I don't necessarily love her as my favorite character. She's super bad ass and hilariously dense. But she's very robotic, issue acknowledged as part of her Grace, which is fine for me and this makes me not feel her as much. And there's also the “I don't want kids, not getting married cause freedom” thing. In my case, I related her intensity towards that problem due to the era in which she finds herself. I mean, if someone was like that in this century, or the past one, or even the one before, I wouldn't have bought her. Because it would have been fake and very unnecessary to dig so much into it. But Katsa is kind of in an older time (or at least that's my perception) and I think it's not that exaggerate. Of course, it did bother me, for her to be so surly. But I get it.

I found the idea of Graces and their relation to the eye color to be such an original idea and very cool. Very well thought and executed. And all this Grandfather Tealif being captured and who is the one who ordered it. That's just plain awesome. One thing I didn't really like, which is very characteristic of series, is that not everything is revealed. And I wouldn't mind it that much if it wasn't because they really didn't say anything. There are so many things mentioned but not explained that it feels like the the author forgot about this things. But I guess I'll have to read the other two. on my way

But the thing that really bothered me about this book is how anticlimactic is was. It built up so much things and there was so much potential, and it all ended in this...nonsense. It really blew it for me. But the book in itseld was so amazing and interesting and full of awesomeness all over that I gave it 4.5.

AND OMG PO. Cutest thing ever. I'm in love completely. He's A+ perfect. And that ending Po being blind was perfect. Really sad but it was meant to be. The only thing I didn't like about it, is that you could see it coming miles away. But oh well.

You should definitely read this if you haven't. You won't loose your time and you'll end up so delighted.
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Amazing, amazing book. Can't believe it's over an in such a bittersweet note (more sweet than bitter to me) but I'm not really mad at it, I feel like it was fair. Really great story and the characters are amazingly done. Really really loved this book. I'm glad I finally decided to read it. Review to come.

Alright, so... I wanted to like this book, I really did. However, pretty much as soon as I picked it up I wanted to put it down. Seriously, I constantly found other things to do as soon as I started a page.
If it wasn't for the audiobook I may never have gotten past the first couple chapters.

I found Katsa to be super annoying, childish, and unlikable. Po was better but, how did this guy who came off as at least a bit more mature fall in love with this childish teenager? Po seems like a bit of a martyr, he's a prince that's not like other princes, he likes that he has the smallest castle and is last in line, he has to hide his grace, he even takes his blindness with the acceptance of a saint. The only reason I'll give this two stars is because I give one stars to the books I actually loath and I didn't loath this, I was just really, really, really bored. I wanted it to end about 10 chapters before it did and had to drag myself through it. Their romance seemed shoehorned in to me, like the author was told that it needed to have a romance because it was YA. I didn't care about them or their love. honestly would've been better if it was just Katsa going to find and save Bitterblue. Or if it was told partially in Po's POV as well.

Like the last book I read, if it hadn't been on a list of books I'm trying to read through I probably would've DNF'd it.

Pure unadulterated fun. Graceling is very much a light YA read- I'd recommend it to readers as young as 10. It can be very surface level at times; there is minimal depth to the book- the big villain dies easily and isn't even fleshed out. The so called “feminist agenda” isn't as prevalent as some would have you think, and it is purely pushed through the views of Katsa- never through events or people which is something I'm grateful for.

Don't go in expecting anything amazing. Read Graceling and except it for what it is- a well written, if simplistic YA book that avoids most pitfalls of the genre without doing anything special.

“Mercy was more frightening than murder, because it was harder.”

A solid good read. I thought it was unique and even though not much happens regarding the plot, i still enjoyed every part. The characters are likeable too, especially Po. The romance takes a back seat but it's so good and endearing. I also liked the seven kingdoms conflicts and the graces concept.

NOTE: SPOILERS INSIDE
I bought this book yesterday, and they description on the back cover kind of threw me off. It was called a(and I quote) “ a mesmerizing world, A Death-defying adventure,and a Heart-racing Romance”. I like the book, but it wasn't really any of those things. The adventure part was good, tracking through the mountains, and the romance was good, but not heart-racingly good. I love Po. Really, but he got a little bit annoying. Like when he became blind. He seemed to be unnecessarily bitter about it. Also, it was kind of, I don't know, strange for our-world that the minute she decided that she was ok with liking him like that, they just dropped to the ground and, well, did it.
And, the Giddon proposing thing was odd. I didn't expect that. And it seemed as if he were bribing her to marry him. That's just not right.
I also liked that Katsa's Grace wasn't Killing. And that it was really surviving. It makes it easier to like her. I was wondering, though, what had happened to Katsa's father. I only got that she was Graced, her mother was dead? and she was sent to live with her uncle. They didn't mention her father.
I liked that Cashore put in enough humor into the book so that it wasn't a book solely on adventure(unlike the Inheritance Cycle).
I like their world, but in no way is it mesmerizing. It seemed to be less-cruel than our own medieval times. But, we did not have madmen who controlled people, literally, with their words(or did we?). Speaking of madmen, I never King Leck anyways, I suspected him of having Murgon kidnap Po's Grandfather Tealiff in order to get someone to do something. Really, I did.
I think, though, that Katsa should've married Po, in the end. Or at least hinted at it. It made me kind of sad when she said that she would let him love other women or whatever she said.
I think the description was good. And the characters' character were. . .well brought up and shown.
The book was good. You should at least try to read it. . .