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Graceling Kristin Cashore Books

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Graceling Kristin Cashore Books

I know this is considered a "teen" book but I am far from a teen and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is set in a fantasy world, but no magic or elves. It is a very original world in which some people are born with a "grace." These people are exceptionally gifted in some particular area and their eyes are different colors which identifies them as graced.

Some graces are useless, others are interesting and still others are so helpful that these people are put into service for the King.

The book follows the story of a young girl (Katsa) who is graced with fighting and killing - or so it seems - and a young Prince named Po who is graced with fighting. They are pitted against an evil King whose grace is so powerful that they aren't sure they can combat him even if they work together as a team.

The only real flaw in the book for me was the reach and power of the evil King's grace. It was so powerful that I didn't think the author could reasonably work out a solution, but in the end I was happy with it. I was worried that it was going to fall short, but in the end it wrapped up nicely (but not neatly, which I consider another plus to the book.)

Overall, if you are a fan of Fantasy, this is well worth the read.

The only real disappointment was find out that this was the author's first work. I had hoped to find a stack of previous books from Cashore to begin reading. Instead I have to wait for her to write another one. Get to work!

:-)


Tags : Amazon.com: Graceling (9780152063962): Kristin Cashore: Books,Kristin Cashore,Graceling,HMH Books for Young Readers,015206396X,AZ2652,Fantasy - General,Social Themes - Friendship,Social Themes - General,Adventure and adventurers,Adventure stories,Fantasy,Fantasy fiction.,Fantasy.,Friendship,Good and evil,Kings and rulers,Kings, queens, rulers, etc,Magic,Murder,Nobility,Uncles,Voyages and travels,Action & Adventure - General,Children: Young Adult (Gr. 10-12),Fantasy & Magic,Fiction-Fantasy,JUVENILE,Juvenile Fiction,Juvenile Fiction Action & Adventure General,Juvenile Fiction Fantasy & Magic,Juvenile Fiction Girls & Women,Juvenile Fiction Social Issues Adolescence,Juvenile Grades 10-12 Ages 15+,Kings and rulers,Kings, queens, rulers, etc,Magic,Murder,Nobility,Science fiction (Children's Teenage),Social Themes - Friendship,Social Themes - General,TEEN'S FICTION FANTASY,Uncles,United States,Voyages and travels,YOUNG ADULT FICTION,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Action & Adventure General,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Fantasy General,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Girls & Women,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Social Themes Friendship,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Social Themes General (see also headings under Family),Young Adult FictionFantasy - General,Young Adult FictionGirls & Women,Young Adult FictionSocial Themes - General (see also headings under Family),adventure; dystopian; fantasy; romance; feminism; powers; YA; heroine; assassin; kingdoms; combat; skill; magic; Kristin Cashore; Bitterblue; Fire; Graceling Realm; Jane, Unlimited; Katsa; epic storytelling; teen romance; Po; strong female protagonist; Seven Kingdoms; trilogy; Kristen Cashore; secret power; special skill; William Morris Award,adventure;dystopian;fantasy;romance;feminism;powers;YA;heroine;assassin;kingdoms;combat;skill;magic;Kristin Cashore;Bitterblue;Fire;Graceling Realm;Jane, Unlimited;Katsa;epic storytelling;teen romance;Po;strong female protagonist;Seven Kingdoms;trilogy;Kristen Cashore;secret power;special skill;William Morris Award,Action & Adventure - General,Fantasy & Magic,Juvenile Fiction Action & Adventure General,Juvenile Fiction Fantasy & Magic,Juvenile Fiction Girls & Women,Juvenile Fiction Social Issues Adolescence,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Action & Adventure General,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Fantasy General,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Girls & Women,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Social Themes Friendship,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Social Themes General (see also headings under Family),Young Adult FictionFantasy - General,Young Adult FictionGirls & Women,Young Adult FictionSocial Themes - General (see also headings under Family),YOUNG ADULT FICTION,Children: Young Adult (Gr. 10-12),Science fiction (Children's Teenage)

Graceling Kristin Cashore Books Reviews

Oh Graceling. I looked at this book several times before actually reading it and I am SO glad I finally did! Katsa is a wonderful main character. She is a graceling, meaning that she is graced with special abilities like many other characters in this fantasy world. Katsa is able to kill anyone with her bare hands and is a skilled fighter. I absolutely adored Katsa. She was such a fierce, independent heroine and I love that I’ve been seeing more of that in YA novels. Everything about Katsa is intense. Her fighting, her relationships and her sheer will to survive and persevere through some impossible situations.
And Po, I loved Po! The romance was absolutely adorable. Po softens Katsa, and yet he understands and respects her. I personally didn’t love that Katsa was often too independent and stubborn with Po, but I think Cashore was trying to make a point about different types of love and relationships.
The story itself was exciting. A lot of great fight scenes and dramatic rescues. Much of the story revolves around Katsa uncovering the treachery of her kingdom. There was also a twist towards the end that I was not expecting! While I adored all the characters and their relationships, the world-building and story line of this book is really where it shines. It was so well thought out and complete for being a stand alone novel (Bitterblue and Fire are companion novels but the stories are different). Highly recommend this read. One of my favorite fantasy novels.

[...]
I'll write the review I wish I'd read before buying this book (and its sequels Fire and Bitterblue. I bought and read Graceling and Fire in their entirety; Bitterblue I had learned my lesson and only skimmed a friend's copy in the hopes of seeing a satisfactory resolution to the whole thing, but I could not handle the book at all.)

The allusions to what I'm calling "upsetting content" are subtler in Graceling than they are in Fire, so you can skim over a few paragraphs in Graceling and be left unsettled but not utterly disgusted, but if you're sensitive, it will still linger and upset you. Fire has more detail. And then in Bitterblue, all subtlety goes completely out the window and I don't see how you could read it without being traumatized. These books contain characters who commit acts that are truly sick, depraved, and vicious. I do not like to get broadsided by abuse, torture, animal cruelty, rape, and intended incest in a book. Especially a YA fantasy book.

Though Cashore gives Graceling herself (and Fire and Bitterblue) redemptive and at least somewhat happy endings, I'm not left feeling uplifted. I'm left feeling like I was just slimed by an extremely misanthropic worldview and a glimpse through a window I wish I could shut tight. I'm not denying that Leck is an effective villain -- he is utterly, relentlessly, villainous, so what else could he be? But he's not an Iago or Richard III -- you're not sitting there enjoying his plots and schemes for their complexity and audacity and his gift at making you complicit. Neither is he a Voldemort -- a nearly abstract embodiment of Evil, whose acts aren't psychologically complex at all and are mostly described with corresponding simplicity suitable for young readers. He's not even a Hannibal Lechter -- freaking creepy, but so strange and specific that you don't actually worry that you're going to encounter him in the real world -- or that he would do anything to you if he met you. Leck's a much more deeply personal nightmare, and I would think some readers -- especially sensitive readers and younger readers -- would not thank Cashore for giving them that nightmare.

I'm giving these books three stars because my comments here about the content are objectively true but their impact is subjective. These aren't bad books as far as the craft of storytelling goes, but I personally did not like them -- and there may be likeminded readers who would benefit from my remarks. If you would not read someone's memoir about abuse because it just upsets you too much, you might want to avoid these books as well. If you are someone who finds it healing or redemptive to read of survivors, however, you might find that these books speak to you... and the heroines do, ultimately, triumph over the horrors they have experienced or witnessed. As is the case with real abuse, of course, not all of the damage can be mitigated.

I hope I've helped you decide whether or not these books are for you.
I know this is considered a "teen" book but I am far from a teen and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is set in a fantasy world, but no magic or elves. It is a very original world in which some people are born with a "grace." These people are exceptionally gifted in some particular area and their eyes are different colors which identifies them as graced.

Some graces are useless, others are interesting and still others are so helpful that these people are put into service for the King.

The book follows the story of a young girl (Katsa) who is graced with fighting and killing - or so it seems - and a young Prince named Po who is graced with fighting. They are pitted against an evil King whose grace is so powerful that they aren't sure they can combat him even if they work together as a team.

The only real flaw in the book for me was the reach and power of the evil King's grace. It was so powerful that I didn't think the author could reasonably work out a solution, but in the end I was happy with it. I was worried that it was going to fall short, but in the end it wrapped up nicely (but not neatly, which I consider another plus to the book.)

Overall, if you are a fan of Fantasy, this is well worth the read.

The only real disappointment was find out that this was the author's first work. I had hoped to find a stack of previous books from Cashore to begin reading. Instead I have to wait for her to write another one. Get to work!

-)