Book Review: Graceling

With great power comes great responsibility” is the central theme around Kristin Cashore’s Young Adult (YA) novel Graceling. Ms. Cashore has created a fantasy world in which only a few individuals are born with Graces, or powers. They are identified by having two different colored eyes and their Graces are not realized until later in life. Some are powerful, like the Grace of Killing or Mind Reading, and some are not so useful, like tree climbing or talking backwards. In most of the Kingdoms, once a child is identified with a Grace they are required to serve their King until their Grace is recognized. If the Grace is useful then they stay in the service of their King, if not, then they are sent home.

The main character is Katsa who is burdened or lucky, depending on your point of view, with the Grace of Killing. This Grace essentially makes her invulnerable and of course, a great asset to her King, Uncle Randa. He uses her as his enforcer to keep everyone in line and under his control. Katsa begins to question her own morality when she meets another Graced individual, Prince Greening or Po. The story real begins to take flight at this point and turned into a fascinating exploration of does a person control their power or does the power control the person?

Dust Jacket Summary: 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.

With elegant, evocative prose and a cast of unforgettable characters, debut author Kristin Cashore creates a mesmerizing world, a death-defying adventure, and a heart-racing romance that will consume you, hold you captive, and leave you wanting more.

What I liked: The main character, Katsa, is captivating and well fleshed out by the end of the story. At first, she is represented as unstoppable as The Terminator, but then as she begins to discovery her own humanity she becomes a more of a remarkable character. I liked that Ms. Cashore makes her character struggle with her Grace of Killing power and the moral dilemma that it imposes.

Katsa and Po’s relationship is an unusual plot device that goes over some new ground. Since Katsa is the dominate individual in their relationship, due to her Grace, this sets up a different type of balance between the typical female and male bond. This is fully explored thought out the story and is a refreshing perspective.

What I didn’t like: About 2/3rds into the novel there is long trek through a snow storm and the novel tended to drag during this part. This is a personal issue as I dislike reading about hiking through the woods and camping as it has been done numerous times before in fantasy novels.

I also felt cheated in how the main bad guy is disposed of at the end. There is a long build up and continuous discussion about his Grace being completely overwhelming. But, the final solution was very underwhelming and I wished for a better resolution.

Last word: Ms. Cashore has taken some common themes found in the fantasy genre, added some new wrinkles making Graceling a highly engrossing read.