Graceling
by Kristin Cashore
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Book Summary Information
Author: Kristin CashoreEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-10-01
ISBN: 015206396X
Number of pages: 471
Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books
Book Reviews of Graceling
Book Review: *May contain spoilers* Could have been much better...
Summary: 3 Stars
Graceling is the story of a young woman named Katsa born with the "grace" of survival. It gives her superhuman strength which is a both a blessing, because she can defend herself; and a curse because her grace is exploited by her unscrupulous uncle who is ruler of their kingdom. As soon as her grace is discovered, she is trained as a killer and is sent on errands for the king against those who would oppose him.
Guilt ridden by the pain that she has caused, Katsa decides to form a benevolent council to right the wrongs she has done on behalf of her uncle. It is at one of these secret missions that she meets Prince Po, a young man from a neighboring kingdom who is graced with insight and foretelling. Prince Po understands Katsa and she feels she has met her match in hand-to-hand combat. Katsa is drawn to Prince Po's warmth and sense of humor and the two become fast friends. In spite of Katsa's promises never to fall in love she finds herself doing just that.
The rest of the story takes Katsa and Po on an adventure to gather information about Po's grandfather's kidnapping and the story's twists and turns keep the action going and easily readable. There were problems with the writing, however, that made the prose seem choppy and poorly executed. Sentences were often repeated and I found myself thinking, "Okay you've said that already. Let's move along." I was able to overlook most of that, but not the heroine's choices.
Katsa is a young woman in her late teens and, as such, she has some set ideas about marriage and motherhood---she will do neither. It is never clear why she feels this way, but I predicted that she would change her mind by the end of the book. I was hoping that Katsa would grow from her experiences and new found love. But from the beginning of the book until the end, she held fast to her decision never to marry. I could see how deeply in love she had fallen with Po and he with her. She suffered greatly over his well-being when he was in peril and he gave her a ring which, unbeknownst to her, made Katsa owner of everything he held dear. His very identity was tied up in that ring and he gave it to her. You don't find that kind of love every day and yet Katsa looked squarely into Po's mother's eyes and told her that she would never marry. That makes no sense to me. Instead Katsa justifies her decision as not wanting to take Po's choice to one day love another. What the heck?
Part of falling in love with someone means including them in your plans. It can sometimes mean that that which once was important to you no longer is as enticing if the one you love is not there to share it with you. Perhaps because the author is a young woman herself and has imparted some of her own notions of marriage and family to her heroine do we see Katsa reflect those ideas. Perhaps the author needs to grow herself so that her characters will as well. Because of this I am afraid the story left me somewhat unsatisfied.
Graceling was a highly readable story with some flaws that made it less than perfect.
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