“Po,” she said to his back, “where’s your coat?”

“Where’s yours?”

She moved to stand beside him. “I’m warm.”

He tilted his head to her. “If you’re warm and I’m coatless, there’s only one friendly thing for you to do.”

“Go back and get your coat for you?”

– Kristin Cashore, Graceling

 

I have been meaning to read this series FOR SO LONG! So when my audible account renewed and I got a credit for the month, I used it to buy Graceling on audiobook (even though I had the physical copy – I was going a bit crazy with audiobooks with that month). So as soon as I purchased the audiobook, I started it straight away, and fell into the world of the Gracelings. 

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.

She never expects to fall in love with beautiful Prince Po.

She never expects to learn the truth behind her Grace—or the 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.

 

 

“I’m not going to wear a red dress,” she said.
“It would look stunning, My Lady,” she called.
She spoke to the bubbles gathered on the surface of the water. “If there’s anyone I wish to stun at dinner, I’ll hit him in the face.”

― Kristin Cashore, Graceling

 

I loved this story so much; I fell completely in love with the world of the Gracelings. Graceling revolves around the character of Katsa who lives in a world where people can be born with a ‘Grace’, which means that they have an affinity for a certain skill. Some people can have a grace for singing, or mind reading, or – in Katsa’s case – survival. Katsa actually thinks that she has a grace in killing at first, but then she realises that it’s in survival. Because of her amazing fighting skills, Katsa serves as some kind of ‘thug’ for her Uncle, the King.

I really did enjoy the character of Katsa. I loved how strong she was, but also how flawed she as well. I hate it when there is a strong, female ‘assassin-like’ character who has no flaws, and she just kicks ass all of the time. Katsa realised her flaws, realised that she had so much more humanity within her than she first thought. And her character development IS AMAZING; it’s gradual but definite. Her development was handled exceptionally, and she really ends this book as a different person than when it first started. To be honest, Katsa is bloody brilliant. Sure, on face-value, she looks like the average YA, fighting heroine who hates dressing up and punches people and is as tough as they come, but she is so much more than that. She’s also funny and witty. She’s aware that the king has made her into his, like, dog. He says “Kill” and she has to do it.

 

 

“What are you grinning at?” Katsa demanded for the third or fourth time. “Is the ceiling about to cave in on my head or something? You look like we’re both on the verge of an enormous joke.”
“Katsa, only you would consider the collapse of the ceiling a good joke.”

― Kristin Cashore, Graceling

 

 

ALSO, Katsa isn’t THE ONLY strong female character within this story. There are other characters such as Helda and Bitterblue who contain such strength and they support each other throughout everything.

Can I just say how much I loved Po? He was such a strong, dynamic character. I really appreciated that he wasn’t weakened to further enunciate Katsa’s power—he’s just strong in different ways. I love him so much and he’s made it onto my list on fictional boyfriends who I want to be real. The romance between Prince Po and Katsa was done 100% right, and how every romance should be done. It wasn’t insta love. It didn’t happen within the first 75 pages… It was a slow burn; it developed naturally, as normal, real-life relationships do. They communicated with each other, they loved each other, but didn’t let their love stop them from doing what they WANTED to do in life, which is something that I loved to read. In normal YA books, the female or the male stop what they want to do in life, put their passions to one side, just so they can have a relationship. There’s a really fantastic discussion regarding romantic relationships and compromising one’s self. Katsa and Po let the other do what they want to do in life, they respect the other. It’s beautiful. I love how healthy I found this romance.

 

 

“Perhaps I can stay by the fire and mend your socks and scream if I hear any strange noises.”

― Kristin Cashore, Graceling

 

 

I also love how Katsa didn’t want children (she doesn’t HATE kids, she doesn’t want any, which is perfectly normal), and she doesn’t want to marry either, and even though she is in love with Po, her decision REMAINS not to marry. She sticks to her own principles, and if that isn’t just AMAZING, then I don’t know what is, and I really appreciated how Cashore portrayed this.

There was some BLATANT sexism in this book though, which mainly came from the character of Giddon. He acted as the character that served as some sort of ‘thing’ for Cashore to show how bad sexism really is. One of the things that Giddon says to Katsa is:

“You’re not an unnatural woman, Katsa. […] You’ll want babies. I’m certain of it.”

I really appreciated the way his sexism was portrayed and how Katsa retorted to Giddon’s remarks, which are things that millions of women in the 21st century are familiar with. The only thing that I didn’t like about Giddon was how random his feelings were for Katsa. Like… Where the hell did they even come from? They just appeared out of nowhere, which was just crazy. Plus, I just can’t seem to see anything in Katsa that Giddon would like. She is the EXACT OPPOSITE of what I would imagine Giddon to like.

Overall, the plot was SO creative, and the world building was handled with so much care and with such beautiful writing that the Graceling realm seemed so real to me. We had two brilliant protagonists, and also a villain that was absolutely terrifying. I love this story is much, and I will definitely be re-reading this series soon enough.