Review of Kristin Cashore's Graceling

If you’re expecting a long rant and/or rave of Kristin Cashore’s Graceling you will be sorely disappointed (well, the rant/rave part. The review turned out to be fairly long). Yes, Graceling caused me some stress, prevented me from posting two weeks ago, and created a semi-long ramble on how I critique. However, as I mentioned in last week’s post, Graceling was just the unfortunate catalyst for something that needed to be written anyway. Simply put, I have no problems with Graceling. It wasn’t the best book I’ve ever picked up, but it certainly wasn’t the worst. For what it is, a fantasy novel written for teen-aged girls, it was actually pretty decently written.

Graceling’s world is relatively generic in its make-up. Separated into multiple (7 in this case) kingdoms, which are perpetually in conflict with each other, the (mostly) self-absorbed royalty use their followers for personal gain and enjoyment. In other words, they are largely corrupt. Within this world there is a chance for a baby to develop two differently colored eyes which indicate an eventual ability, or ‘grace,’ that can be anything from the mundane, like the grace of holding one’s breath for long periods of time, to more interesting ones, like mind reading. Along with these abilities there is an X-Men like stigma attached to these individuals as well as a claim of ownership by the corrupted leaders over the ‘useful’ gracelings born in their kingdom (though the intensity of these interactions are a little too underplayed in my opinion and get lost in the action of the story).

The novel follows the adventures of Katsa, a feared combatant from the Midluns, and Po, a young prince from the island of Lienid, as they try to discover why someone would want to kidnap his grandfather. Through their adventures they begin to learn more about each other, their own selves, and the limitations of their individual graces. Though fairly generic on the surface, I found that the uniqueness of the Katsa and Po’s personalities supported the story through until the end. Furthermore, Ms. Cashore’s ability to present the necessary information without connecting unnecessary dots allowed for a fluid story, progression without any major reader confusion. That is to say, the twists and turns were clearly planned and the majority of potential misunderstandings had been satisfactorily addressed.

Now, this story is not without its…let’s call them considerations. As I’ve stated, Graceling is designed for teen-aged girls, though any female above the age of fourteen could potentially read this and enjoy it. For guys the suggestion differs just slightly. Due to some female specific descriptions, which include some fairly delicate topics, a teen-aged male might not completely understand the action of the story. For the most part everything is clear, but there were enough moments that I felt it could make a difference. Additionally, and this is where last weeks ramble comes in, it felt like Ms. Cashore tried to achieve one thing with Katsa but the story wanted to do something else. Specifically, Katsa is supposed to be a strong and independent lead female. Long ago she decided that she was not going to get married or have children and there are a few times within the story that Katsa struggles with her grace, her femininity, Po, and everything else around her. There are even times that Ms. Cashore seemingly inserts dialog simply to sustain this feeling of ‘strong womanhood.’ However, and it took a while for me to figure this out, Katsa is rather weak, intellectually and spiritually speaking. She is, in a word, co-dependant, and her actions demonstrate that, even if her words try to hide it.

In the end Graceling is a nice book to read when you’re looking for something fun and ‘fluffy,’ though don’t delve too deeply between the lines, just let the experience wash over you. You’ll have more fun that way.


Cashore, Kristin. Graceling. Orlando: Harcourt, Inc. 2008