Review: Graceling

Title: Graceling
Author: Kristin Cashore
Publisher: Harcourt
Date published: 2008
Type of book: Young Adult (love, kingdoms, Grace, rescue missions)
Pages: 471
I received this book from/at: local library
My interest in this book is: plot

Ideas expressed/message/plot: From the inside cover: “His eyes. Katsa had never seen such eyes. One was silver, and the other, gold. They glowed in his sun-darkened face, uneven, and strange. She was surprised that they hadn’t shone in the darkness of their first meeting. They didn’t seem human…
Then he raised his eyebrows a hair, and his mouth shifted into the hint of a smirk. He nodded at her, just barely, and it released her from her spell.
Cocky, she thought. Cocky and arrogant, this one, and that was all there was to make of him. Whateer game he was playing, if he expected her to join him he would be disappointed.
In a world where people born with an extreme skill – called a Grace – are feared and exploited, Katsa carries the burden of a skill even she despises: the Grace of killing. She lives under the command of her uncle Randa, King of the Middluns, and is expected to execute his dirty work, punishing and torturing anyone who displeases him.
When she first meets Prince Po, who is Graced with combat skills, Kats a 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.”
Favorite characters, quotes/lines: Katsa and Po: I wanted them to be together so so badly it drove me absolutely crazy until they admitted their feelings for one another; Bitterblue: she has such an awesome name and is so strong for such a little kid

When I finished this book I felt: I LOVE this book! I’m so excited for Cashore’s next book, Fire, due out in October. The idea of Graces is really interesting and I can’t wait to see who will be the main characters in the next installment or if the readers will get to follow Katsa and Po again. Or if it will be about Bitterblue (when she’s older). Or all new characters! It all sounds good.

Other books to read by this author: this is her first book

I would recommend this book to: Young Adult and Fantasy fans – Everyone!