Graceling Review by UnGraced Blogger

Recently I finished Graceling by Kristin Cashore. 







 Here's a quick Amazon summary:

If you had the power to kill with your bare hands, what would you do with it? Graceling takes readers inside the world of Katsa, a warrior-girl in her late teens with one blue eye and one green eye. This gives her haunting beauty, but also marks her as a Graceling. Gracelings are beings with special talents—swimming, storytelling, dancing. Katsa's Grace is considered more useful: her ability to fight (and kill, if she wanted to) is unequaled in the seven kingdoms. Forced to act as a henchman for a manipulative king, Katsa channels her guilt by forming a secret council of like-minded citizens who carry out secret missions to promote justice over cruelty and abuses of power.
Combining elements of fantasy and romance, Cashore skillfully portrays the confusion, discovery, and angst that smart, strong-willed girls experience as they creep toward adulthood. Katsa wrestles with questions of freedom, truth, and knowing when to rely on a friend for help. This is no small task for an angry girl who had eschewed friendships (with the exception of one cousin that she trusts) for her more ready skills of self-reliance, hunting, and fighting. Katsa also comes to know the real power of her Grace and the nature of Graces in general: they are not always what they appear to be.
Graceling is the first book in a series, and Kristin Cashore’s first work of fiction. It sets up a vivid world with engaging characters that readers will certainly look forward to following beyond the last chapter of this book. (Ages 14 and up) --Heidi Broadhead

I admit to wanting to read this book because I had heard it was similar to Hunger Games.  And it is set in a dystopia, and the main character's names are quite similar (Katsa in Graceling, Katniss in HG), but that's the only real connection.  It took me awhile to get into Graceling, although I really enjoyed it.  Katsa's character, at first, was hard to relate too.  She seemed very immature, but the plot and other characters kept me interested.  As the book progressed, so did Katsa, she had a genuine character arc.  As for the lead male character, Po was near perfect.  The best thing about their love was that neither took anything away from the other, but instead enhanced one another.  That's how real love (should) works.  I enjoyed the minor characters, would have loved to see them even more.  I think Cashore created a very intriguing world, and look forward to reading her other books.

Rating: 11pm, not quite a Midnight read, but well worth staying up for!