Before sharing my review I would like to let you all know that this will probably be my last review on this blog for a while. This is because I am now reviewing for Dark Faerie Tales blog, leaving little time for my own!
Graceling(Graceling Realm #1)
By Kristin Cashore
Synopsis:
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...
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...
My rating: 4.8 / 5
How have I not read the Graceling series before now? This is a brilliant read and if you haven't had the good fortune to read it yet, you must do so at once!
The story is based on a young girl/lady, who has an ability, or as its more commonly known, as a 'grace' for killing. Or that's what she always thought. Her uncle, King Randa realised the importance of her gift and used Katsa as his own personal assassin. The longer Katsa works for her uncle as his thug, the more uneasy she becomes with what he requires of her. Soon she creates her own group of people who secretly help rather than hurt, and along her way encounters Prince Po (what a name!), and the adventure begins.
I loved the concept of Graces, and it made me think, if I could have any Grace, what would it be? The power to excel in fights, heal others, foresee storms or mind read perhaps? A Grace is essentially a super power, but obviously there are downsides.
Katsa's power of being a human killing machine, albeit with a conscience, means that very few people want to be around her, and because she has a very short fuse, she doesn't allow herself to have any friends either because she's afraid of hurting people close to her.
Katsa is one of my favourite literary characters ever. Being a tomboy is one thing, but Katsa takes it to another level. For example, one day she gets so fed up of having to comb her hair that she crops it just like a boy to make life easier. Katsa is so practical and sometimes machine-like that at times I would actually burst into laughter. The first time she starts crying with emotion, she's genuinely worried why her eyes are leaking!
I've gone on about Katsa, but there were lots of other awesome characters in this book too, especially Po; who is beyond adorable, Bitterblue, the stubborn little princess, and Raffin- the science crazed prince, who is also Katsa's best friend and cousin.
It goes without saying that I will definitely be reading the rest in this series and if I haven't convinced you yet, read some of my favourite quotes below!
Zed (:
Favourite Quotes:
"True. But you're better than I am, Katsa. And it doesn't humiliate me." He fed a branch to the fire. "It humbles me. But it doesn't humiliate me."
She shook her head disbelieving. "No one in this inn has any privacy."
"My sense of them is faint, Katsa. I cannot sense everyone down to the ends of their hair, as I do you.”
She sighed. “What an honor, then, to be me…”
“I’d rather strengthen my mind against you,” she said, “than knock you out every time I have a thought I don’t want you to know.”
“Yes, well, and I’d prefer that also, believe me. But I grant you permission to knock me out, if ever you need to.”
“I wish you wouldn’t. You know how impulsive I am.”
“I don’t care.”"
She cried like a person whose heart is broken and wondered how, when two people loved each other, there could be such a broken heart.
Well, you definitely made me think this sounds FANTASTIC!! I haven't seen it around much since its release, but I remember everyone loving it back then. So happy you adored it so much!! :)
ReplyDeleteHi Lisa, thanks for commenting. It was an awesome read and I can't believe I haven't read it sooner!
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