Title: Graceling

Author: Kristin Cashore

Series: The Seven Kingdoms #1

Genre: Fantasy Romance (YA)

Pages: 480 Pages (Paperback)

Original Publication Date: October 1, 2008

Overall Rating:
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Summary from Goodreads

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 … a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.

My Thoughts

One of my friends recommended this book to me because I liked The Hunger Games so much.  I’m really glad she did recommend it because Graceling has been added to my Favorites shelf.

Gracelings are people born with an extreme skill, called Graces.  They’re feared and exploited by others, usually one of the kings in the seven kingdoms.  Katsa, the main character and whose point-of-view the story’s written from, has a Grace she despises.  The Grace of killing.  Her uncle, King Randa, uses her to perform his dirty work by having her punish or torture those that defy him.

Then, she meets Prince Po, who’s also a Graceling.  She has no idea that her life’s going to change so dramatically because of him.  She never expects to learn the truth about her Grace or about a terrible plot to overthrow the other six kingdoms with words alone.

I started reading Graceling on Tuesday, but I only got a few chapters in, so I wasn’t completely hooked yet.  However, yesterday, I was sick and stayed home from work.  I couldn’t put the book down.  The story was so captivating and the characters are extremely likable.

I loved the concept of Gracelings and Graces.  As I read the story, I found myself wishing I had a Grace.  Some of them are extreme, like Katsa’s and Po’s.  Others are simple like being able to swim like a fish.  I think it would be fun to have a more simple Grace.

The story also has a very sweet romance that draws you in.  I loved seeing this romance develop, being on the outside and seeing things evolve before the characters even realized what was going on.

This is Kristin Cashore’s first book and it’s so well written.  Her use of words, foreshadowing, and humor is incredible.  A prequel-ish book, called Fire, is being released in October 2009 and I can’t wait to read it because I know it’ll captivate me just as much as Graceling did.  She’s also writing a sequel-ish book, called Bitterblue.  There’s no release date planned.