Author: Kristin Cashore
The Seven Kingdoms Trilogy #1
Pages: 471
Published by Harcourt's Children's Books
My Rating: 5/5 stars
Summary: (From Goodreads)
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.
When she first meets Prince Po, 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 Review:
Graceling was probably one of the best debut novels I have read so far. I think I started to like historical/old fashioned type of books BECAUSE of Graceling. It had the most amazing historical charm. I was swept away into the seven kingdoms by the end of the first chapter.
It was right before Christmas as I sat huddled in a chair close to the fireplace (the electric fireplace) and read on and on. As a early Christmas present, I had received a gift card to the local bookstore, and being a very bad person, went out and spent the gift card on Graceling BEFORE, yeah, BEFORE Christmas.
Katsa was an amazing, strong female lead that really rang out to me, because she seems to demonstrate the strength of girls. Po was the leading guy in this story. I loved him. I thought of him as a handsome, shy but outgoing, sweet guy. Katsa and Po form an amazing bond of friendship that quickly leads towards romance. I was cheering for them all the time, as like every book couple, and I was overjoyed when they finally realized their love for each other.
The seven kingdoms is a very powerful, vast and magical place to me. The kingdoms felt timeless. Kristin Cashore is extremely clever and amazing at putting it all together.
I loved the clever idea of the people with graces. It was amazing and clever and exciting and entertaining and I’m going on and on and on. (And on!)
Graceling is a book on a long journey. I normally hate books with long journeys, I can’t stand them, but the journey just made Graceling even better. Katsa and Po make an incredible team. I loved reading about their journey across the kingdoms, and Graceling did, overall, have a pretty great and entertaining plot.
There wasn’t much of a big bang at the end of Graceling, but it was great just the same. The ending was enchanting, and of course, romantic. And though not so exciting, I really love how Katsa figures out the truth about her grace. It was so surprising, but it made sense and I’m so glad the author wrote that in.
I can’t wait for more from Kristin Cashore!
Posts
2 comments:
I loved loved loved Graceling. Have you read Fire? I wasn't crazy about it like I was with Graceling.
Sarah,
I thought Graceling was awesome! I actually have read Fire, and I actually loved it! I tried reading it once or twice, and I didn't like it, but then I picked it up again, going to make myself finish it, since it was one of my friend's favourite books, and I loved it! If you want, you can read my review here, at the Book Garden.
Post a Comment