Graceling (Graceling Realm, #1)

by Kristin Cashore

[nitzan_schwarz]

JUST POSTED ON MY BLOG!

I really cannot even describe the amount of love I have for this book. Can you shout BLEW MY MIND AWAY loud enough?!

This book came to me in the midst of a reading slump. All the books I read seemed to be alright, but none of them were great. They were interesting, but they didn't hold my interest. I didn't hate them, but I didn't love them either. I was starting to despair.

And then came Graceling, a book I've been thinking of reading for a while. I found it in my local bookstore to my great surprise, and with such a beautiful cover I couldn't resist getting it (and its sequel).

What I found when I opened this book is an amazing, incredible adventure like nothing I've read before. One that sucks you in so deeply that you cannot put it away, because it is as if your life hangs in the balance.

Tired of main characters who are just plain useless? who are pathetic and petty and exist only in their tiny little worlds? Whose biggest concern is which guy to chose - Sweet A or Bad Boy B? Well, you're in luck, because Katsa is nothing like that. 

Katsa is, in one word, phenomenal. It's important you understand this. She is strong. She is brave. She is goodhearted and kind. She tortures herself because of her abilities and powers. She is afraid of her own anger and keeps a tight leash on it. And she is very, very human. And, to me, very beautiful.

Quite frankly, Katsa is the kind of character that makes me proud to be a woman. 

Next to such an incredible woman has to be an equally incredible man. And Po is just that. It's been almost four years since I read this book (and I desperately want to re-read it), and the guy is still at the top of my top-ten-book-boyfriend list. 

He is kind. He is good. He is strong. He is brave. And... he's not without his share of dark secrets. Everything about Po drew me in - from the way he converses, to the way he stand, sits, walks, laughs... It was the first time(since Harry Potter) a book made me see a character so clearly in my head, like he was right there in front of me.

And the romance between these two... *dreamy sigh*. Let's just say it's befitting to two such incredible people. 

Next to Katsa and Po are a wide range of characters, all wonderful (even the villain is wonderfully atrocious and evil). I feel like every supporting character could easily have their own story--and I'm sure I would gobble it up.

The one I feel compelled to mention though is Bitterblue, a young princess at the age of ten. She was so adorable, and strong beyond her years. In a way, she was both like a child to Po and Katsa and a mother to them as well. 

This intense novel has, to me, a perfect ending. It's not a completely happy one, and it definitely leaves you with a taste for more. But at the same time, you know all you really need to know. And the choices which were made were 100% fitting and right for the characters, even if personally I would like something different for them.

And at the end of the day, all you can really ask from an author is to be true to the character he or she created.#IApprove

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OLD VERSION
To read this review organized and full, go to my blog Drugs Called Books

I cannot describe the amount of love I have for this book.

Let me start with this: My new book crush is officially Po!

This book had been something of a blessing for me. I have been struggling for the past few months with books which were good, but not great. Books which were interesting, but didn't make me grip my chair in suspense, gritting my teeth and wanting to know more, and more, and more. And there came Graceling.
Graceling was on my to-read-list for a long while now. I had not read it because I did not find it in my local bookstore, and while the summery did interest me, it didn't make me want to read it right away. I feel genuinely sorry for that, now, for it is an incredible book.
I simply couldn't put the book down once I started. Kristin Cashore waved this incredible universe, in a way I didn't get lost. It felt as if I was reading of something as natural as the "real world", rather than a fictional novel. The details were so alive, so vivid, that I could see it in my mind. I could see, and believe, even though this is set in a world that doesn't exist.
Let me start with Katsa. Katsa, the main character of this book, is phenomenal. She is strong, brave and good heartened. She is kind, but doesn't perceive herself such. She is tortured by her own abilities and powers, and fears her own anger, but never lets it control her. She is extremely believable, extremely human and extremely beautiful in my eyes.
Po, as I said before, is my new crush. I want a Po, if you get what I mean. His personality just drew me in so much, the way he converse and the way he's described standing, laughing, walking... I just don't have the words to describe how much I love him.
Bitterblue, who now has her own book, was an adorable character to have. Small, but strong and caring--almost mothering toward her much older companions, at times (especially toward the end). She brought out sides in Katsa I don't even think our lovely heroine realizes she has.
The supportive characters were also beautifully executed, such as they didn't feel too dull or too irrelevant or plain meaningless. No, they were all the kind that kept me wondering when we were going to hear of them again.
The ending was wonderful, as well. It left a taste for more, no doubt, and more we shall get - because Katsa and Po (3) will make appearances in Bitterblue, which I can't wait to read.

Conclusion: I just loved this book so very much. I recommend it for everyone and am so very glad I decided to pick it up in the book store when I saw it!


To read this review organized and full, go to my blog Drugs Called Books