Book Review - Graceling

Graceling
Author: Kristin Cashore
Series: Graceling Realm #1
Genres: Fantasy | Young Adult
Release Date: 22nd January 2009
Publishers: Gollancz
No. Pages: 352
Source: Borrowed
Rating: 
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In a world where people born with an exceptional skill, known as a Grace, are both feared and exploited, Katsa carries the burden of a skill even she despises: the Grace of killing. Feared by the court and shunned by those her own age, the darkness of her Grace casts a heavy shadow over Katsa’s life. Yet she remains defiant: when the King of Lienid’s father is kidnapped she investigates, and stumbles across a mystery. Who would want to kidnap the old man, and why? And who was the extraordinary Graced man whose fighting abilities rivaled. The only thing Katsa is sure of is that she no longer wants to kill. The intrigue around this kidnapping offers her a way out – but little does she realise, when she takes it, that something insidious and dark lurks behind the mystery. Something spreading from the shadowy figure of a one-eyed king..

Graceling is a difficult book to review, and not because it wasn't good, because it was fantastic, but because it's what made the book fantastic that is escaping me. For all the notes I've made, for all the scenes I enjoyed, the development of Katsa in Graceling to the so sweet and realistic romance she experienced, there's something very hard about putting those words into a full, coherent review. I promise to do my best, but I can't promise that it'll make a whole lot of sense. I just know I loved it.

I'd been told by a few people to take Graceling slowly and not to rush head strong into it, and I can gladly say those people were correct. Reading Graceling over the time period I did gave me the space to appreciate the simplest of things, such as the world of the Seven Kingdoms and the history behind them. Cashore took this world, this fantastical world of mountains, seas, forests and normal terrain, with seven leading Kings for seven kingdoms, and managed to sustain my knowledge of this world regularly within the story so as to keep me fully engaged, but she never dumped a heavy amount of world building onto me, it always felt natural, and flowed easily and I was able to experience the world, and these different kingdoms alongside the main character, which was wonderful. She has a way of writing that is so enthralling and mesmorising that when I was reading Graceling, nothing else really mattered; I was completely as one with the story the entire way through, and as first impressions go, Cashore's was utterly brilliant. As the story progressed and took on a slight survival feature, what probably should have felt like tiresome and boring scenes were somehow enticing and kept my interests far better than I've seen in some other books previously. Rarely do I come across a book who's writing is so utterly beautiful that it takes a dull and less action themed scene and turns it into something powerful and feeling inducing, and if I could rate this book solely on writing, it'd be perfect.

What also surprised me about this book were the characters. In most cases in a book, the strength is either the plot, the writing or the characters, but in Cashore's cases, her strength was all three. I would love to delve deep into every character in Graceling and discuss how they were so well created and instantly had a depthness to them that you could relate to and understand, but I fear I would be here all day otherwise, so I'm going to focus on a few. The most logical of characters to start with is Katsa; in the beginning, a young lady who has the Grace of killing, who can kill any man, woman or child that causes harm, but whom is controlled by one of the Kings of the Seven Kingdoms, to a lady with her freedom, with the power to control her Grace and her heart, and a backbone made of steel, I don't think I've ever fallen so hard so quickly for a fantasy character before in my life. She is such a damaged and flawed character, and even when she realised what kind of future she may have, she's still so realistic and relatable that she understands someone's past isn't so easily forgettable, especially her own. Katsa had this hidden strength, and riding force with her that made her character someone to aspire to be, someone who could become anyone she wanted, wherever she wanted, with whomever she wanted, and I couldn't have adored her or her development anymore than I already do. I found Bitterblue's development to also be worthy of mention, her relationship with Katsa, not unlike that of sisters and protection to be so utterly beautiful and the confidence and skill she gained throughout the second half of the novel was just so utterly perfect that the only thing I could fault is that I'm unaware of her Grace, unlike Po's, which plays such an important part in this character, who is and who he becomes later on in the novel. Every inch of character development there could possibly have been in this book, Graceling had it.

I would love to talk for days on the romance but I just can't. Describing it as elegant and sweet, or realistic and emotional would just not be enough to justify the feelings I have for it. The trust both Katsa and Po formed with the other, the faith and loyalty they had for one another, and the oh so beautifully ;obvious feelings they showed for each other was just so utterly wonderful. I could describe my feelings for their relationships as having butterflies in my stomach, smiling like a fool who can see two people in love, and as someone with very googly eyes who just can't get enough of the perfection, because that's what Graceling did to me. I also appreciated both Katsa and Po's decisions to keep heir romance unofficial; it was such a head shake to the society of the kingdoms, and a beautiful way to showcase their freedom and support for one another. Even their fight scenes or training was fantastic, not the mention the passion and descriptions that came from the writing that complimented those scenes. Cashore has the perfect talent in creating a scene that is both strong in action, but beautiful in elegance. It broke my heart when Katsa and Po were torn apart by circumstances, but I can safely say my heart was mended in the end, but not without stitch marks.

Graceling was a beautiful read. It had the right amount of action, surprise, twist and intrigue and had a collection of characters that I would not find anywhere else. Cashore wrapped this novel up in such a way that it could be read entirely as standalone, and you could never read the following two installments and you'd be comfortable in the world, and with the people you've met, however, I will be continuing on, because I want so much more from this world, this world of Seven Kingdoms, and I want to experience it through someone else's eyes, and through someone else's life, because if Fire and Bitterblue are anything like Graceling, they'll be a perfect collection of stories to fill the minds of fantasy and romance lovers around.