Graceling

WardenRed reviewed Graceling by Kristin Cashore (Seven Kingdoms trilogy -- book 1)

None

4 stars

"He's no more than a bully."
Katsa snorted. "A bully who chops off people's fingers or breaks their arms."
"Not if you stop doing it for him," Po said. "Much of his power comes from you."

I have vague memories about DNFing this book pretty early on years ago, since the beginning was just so generic and not very well-constructed. Touch, stabby heroine who's not like other girls and has weird eyes! Chapters upon chapters bogged down with flashbacks and exposition! Honestly, the second time around it was just as boring. But I've been seeing a lot of positive mentions of this series lately, and besides, I've been recced one of the book from further in the series for a highly specific request. So I chose to persevere, and once I was past 5 chapters or so, things did get a lot better. It turned out to be a quicker …

"He's no more than a bully."
Katsa snorted. "A bully who chops off people's fingers or breaks their arms."
"Not if you stop doing it for him," Po said. "Much of his power comes from you."

I have vague memories about DNFing this book pretty early on years ago, since the beginning was just so generic and not very well-constructed. Touch, stabby heroine who's not like other girls and has weird eyes! Chapters upon chapters bogged down with flashbacks and exposition! Honestly, the second time around it was just as boring. But I've been seeing a lot of positive mentions of this series lately, and besides, I've been recced one of the book from further in the series for a highly specific request. So I chose to persevere, and once I was past 5 chapters or so, things did get a lot better. It turned out to be a quicker read than I expected, and I was rather engrossed for the most part.

Ultimately, though, my feelings are mixed at best. I really enjoyed the superpowers/graces and how their implications were handled. They're not just cool powers, but something that permeates the characters' entire lives and provokes experiences that shape their personalities. I liked the relationship between Katsa and Po: the gradual development, the building of trust, how they actually talked it out whenever they clashed. I also enjoyed Katsa's arc and her struggle to gain control over her life, though at the same time, she frustrated me a lot with that stereotypical "not like other girls" thing and the way it was handled/delivered. Also, the way she treats horses? Absolutely not cool, 0/10, much frustration. Not saying every character should adore animals, but there's a line between not adoring animals and not even treating them as living beings who can get tired or hurt, and that girl is so far on the other side of it.

The setting had a lot of interesting things going for it, though I wish some of them were explored deeper. I really liked the way the ethical implications of certain political tangles were brought to light, like how the responsibility is shared between cruel rulers and those who work for them and empower them through that. Really, I don't think the book ever completely stopped being tropey and somewhat generic, but the way these familiar tropes are explored and delve into felt really refreshing. So despite the rocky beginning, the occasionally clunky prose, and my grips with Katsa as the MC, for the most part I rather enjoyed this.

Books That Burn reviewed Graceling by Kristin Cashore (Graceling Realm)

Review of 'Graceling' on 'Storygraph'

4 stars

This is a YA novel with an aspec protagonist (my best guess is she'd say demi if that language were available) who ends up in a relationship with someone who meets her on her terms rather than demanding she meet his. It's nice to see an aspec character whose aro/ace nature isn't overwritten or ignored in order to give her a relationship, how she is is part of how they are together.

It's about loneliness, abuse, and healing, including abuse to children and animals, so please be aware that those are major themes in the book.

The world building is solid, with enough detail to make later revelations feel important. The explanations feel natural, occurring as something happens or Katsa thinks of some detail. This makes it feel like the world is slowly being revealed even though early on it's not new to the protagonist. I like Po, he had …

This is a YA novel with an aspec protagonist (my best guess is she'd say demi if that language were available) who ends up in a relationship with someone who meets her on her terms rather than demanding she meet his. It's nice to see an aspec character whose aro/ace nature isn't overwritten or ignored in order to give her a relationship, how she is is part of how they are together.

It's about loneliness, abuse, and healing, including abuse to children and animals, so please be aware that those are major themes in the book.

The world building is solid, with enough detail to make later revelations feel important. The explanations feel natural, occurring as something happens or Katsa thinks of some detail. This makes it feel like the world is slowly being revealed even though early on it's not new to the protagonist. I like Po, he had a difficult set of things to balance and overall I like how he is with Katsa. His situation towards the end skirts some potentially problematic ableist tropes but manages to not make it seem like his late-acquired disability is what gives him greater control of his powers. YMMV on whether this works, I think it does because of the precise order of events.

Overall I like this a lot and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

ospalh reviewed Graceling by Kristin Cashore (Seven Kingdoms trilogy -- book 1)

Review of 'Graceling' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

One silly thing is the map. So this plays on a landmass of unknown size, a west-facing peninsula or subcontintent, like Anatolia or Iberia. On it are five similarly sized countries in a rough quincunx shape. One in the north, one in the east, one in the south, one in the west and one in the middle. The one in the north is called Nander, the one in the east Estill, in the south Sunder, in the west Wester and the one in the middle Middluns. Ugh. That is about the least bad about the map. Where are all the ports? The cities on the river? Why isn’t there a small, coastal mountain range where the river flow away from the coast?

Another thing is one i really can’t stand: Katniss, sorry Katsa, our Heroine, has the “gift” or capital-G …

One silly thing is the map. So this plays on a landmass of unknown size, a west-facing peninsula or subcontintent, like Anatolia or Iberia. On it are five similarly sized countries in a rough quincunx shape. One in the north, one in the east, one in the south, one in the west and one in the middle. The one in the north is called Nander, the one in the east Estill, in the south Sunder, in the west Wester and the one in the middle Middluns. Ugh. That is about the least bad about the map. Where are all the ports? The cities on the river? Why isn’t there a small, coastal mountain range where the river flow away from the coast?

Another thing is one i really can’t stand: Katniss, sorry Katsa, our Heroine, has the “gift” or capital-G Grace of combat, that is, she has the ability to kill people: hit strong and hard, &c. To keep her as one of the good folks, and hav her train anyway, the author has people sentenct to deth sent to her to kill. No, no, no, no. I don’t care that most medieval societies had the deth penalty. This is yur work, take a stand against it! Oh, yu’re an Usonian and for the deth penalty? Yeah, i really can’t stand that. And being bludgeond to deth by a child in combat² would seem to be cruel and unusual to me, anyway

¹I’m using Simplified Spelling Board spelling as much as possible.
²At first i wrote “mock combat”. But their’s nothing “mock” about fighting for your live and then dying.

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