Gracling - Kristin Cashore

TITLE: Gracling

AUTHOR: Kristin Cashore

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 Pos 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 - From Publisher

REVIEW: So this would be book number 2 of fantasy for this avid reader. I’m a little shocked I’ve never jumped into this world previously. I love “Lord of The Rings”. I think I was worried they’d use old English and confuse the crap out of me, which is probably easier than I care to admit.

Regardless, this book hooked me early on. The character of Katsa pulled me. I loved her hard edges and refusal to let anyone in. She was in a way her own worst enemy, but it was beautiful watching her open to others and slowly morph and take the power back. Of course when she allowed herself to be vulnerable and got hurt it made that dagger just push in a bit deeper and twist more violently.

The plot was intriguing and I liked how the first few scenes set up for the rest of the book. I originally thought it was simply a rescue mission, a way to introduce the reader to Katsa and her Grace. (Sidenote: the concept of Graces was awesome. I loved that each was unique, some sought after by greedy men and others so useless.)

While the plot and pace was kept up through the majority of the book I found when we were almost finished Part 2 that it hit a bit of slump. The plot or something slipped and I found myself struggling to stay focused. I don’t know if it was the addition of Bitterblue, who I liked, and how all of sudden I was suppose to have the same level of love for her as I did for the others. That wasn’t the case. Thankfully the plot and pace was kicked back up and I didn’t finish the book with that ‘meh’ feeling. The ending was perfect for everything that Cashore had previously set up. In fact there are other books to this ‘verse. Not so much a series of following Katsa but using other characters and building the ‘verse.

Generally I enjoyed this book. However, I don’t know that it would be a series that I would follow, mostly because I am more interested in Katsa & Po, what I am sucker for the main characters.

RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥