Reviews with content warning for Kidnapping - Graceling

Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

21 reviews

katebella's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

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toastyghosty13's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

I read this book as a kid and loved it. I completely forgot everything about it besides some key points, and I am glad I found it on Everand to read again. I listened to this as an audiobook and the narrator does a great job.

I thoroughly enjoyed Katsa as a main character. I hope that there is more of her in the following books, since I know that they follow other characters for the most part.

Katsa and Poe were a lot of fun to read about and I loved their adventures. I will probably buy this as a physical copy and revisit the print version sometime soon. Read this if you like books about cool assassin girlies that have a good group of friends that make up a great found family.

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katievallin's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

Had a good start but got boring around halfway. Didn't really like the anti-marriage message. Katsa was entirely too good at all things, which made her and the plot boring. Also didn't really understand why she was so determined to help Bitterblue. And the climax was entirely anticlimactic. The world-building was a bit confusing, but that might've been because I listened to the audiobook, which wasn't very good (the full-cast version, at least).

I did like Bitterblue as a character, and I thought Katsa and Po's relationship was sweet.

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niclantsov's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The perfect YA high fantasy, if I do say so myself.

Graceling follows Katsa, our main girl, and her adventure to solve the mysterious reason why the neighboring kingdom kidnap the other's king's father (pls this is so confusing). Written beautifully like a lore, with a slow paced adventurous everything-is-at-stake journey, an exceptional characters, and a map that we actually use (not just for decorations 😉).

This also have an unforgettable love story with a cathartic confession+ realization, it made me blush like a school girl and kick my feet in the air.

The only problem(s) with this book is, I feel the 'bad guy' died too easy, and since page 1, this 'bad guy' was literally the main problem for these characters, and it just didn't sit quite well to me that they killed them off so easily. The second one is: his name is Po 😃😇🙃🤡, EVERYTIME I SEE THAT NAME IT REMINDS ME OF THAT GAME WE USED TO PLAY (Pou!) even though the spelling is different but it's pronounced the same nonetheless and it bothers me so 😞

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numberdance's review against another edition

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4.25

A large part of my love for Graceling is nostalgia, but I still find Katsa and her character arc really compelling, and I love the development of her relationship with Po. (And Bitterblue is a delight.)

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qrschulte's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Oh wow I inhaled this book. It’s so great to find characters I love and a world I can lose myself in.

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bookcheshirecat's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

“She knew he was angry, but she couldn't stop laughing. "Forgive me, Po. I was only trying to get your attention." "And I suppose it never occurs to you to start small. If I told you my roof needed rebuilding, you'd start by knocking down the house.”

➽ I finally read Graceling and was surprised by how much I enjoyed it! I tried reading it about two years ago and had to put down the book, as I was bored and uninvested. Imagine my surprise when I genuinely enjoyed it this time around! I think listening to the audiobook really helped, as my library had the full cast version (I think there’s a different version with just one narrator?), that brought the characters to life vividly. The audiobook had me really engaged and looking forward to picking up the book again!

➽ The world of Graceling is interesting but not remarkable to me. Maybe this is because the book came out decades ago and since then there have been so many great Fantasy books. Nevertheless, I loved the concept of the Graces: extraordinary skills that go beyond what normal humans can do. Graced people are always born with two differently colored eyes (e.g. Katsa has a blue and green eye) and their abilities vary greatly. Katsa is skilled at killing and others have mystical skills like telepathy, but there are also ‘ordinary’ Graces like cooking or dancing. Unfortunately, Gracelings are often outcasts and feared regardless of their skill. In most countries, they have to serve the king and are sent back if their Grace isn’t useful enough. Either they become tools for their rulers to use or are feared and regarded with suspicion.

➽ Katsa really surprised me as a character. She’s the niece of the king of the Middluns and is used like a weapon by him because of her killing Grace. Therefore Katsa has a unique position as a skilled fighter in a world where most women don’t get the chance to learn certain skills. Given that this book was written in 2008, Katsa was a really well-rounded character that didn’t fall into the typical ‘Not Like Other Girls’ pitfalls. Despite being less feminine than is expected of her, she doesn’t scorn other women and I was glad that she bonds with a young girl in the second half of the book, as before that there aren’t any prominent female characters. Katsa struggles with her Grace and the isolation that comes with it. She doesn’t want to be a killer and takes back her agency so that no one else can use her. I understood her fears and struggles with the identity her Grace gave her.

➽ I also loved Prince Po and his dynamic with Katsa! He’s a Graceling from another Kingdom called Lienid and has a fighting Grace that allows him to keep up with, but not surpass Katsa’s abilities. I loved their banter and how charming and funny Po could be - you just had to like him. Unlike others, he doesn’t fear Katsa because of her Grace and accepts her as she is. I loved that he never tried to change her and didn’t ask her to compromise her beliefs in order to build a future with him. It’s clear from the beginning that Katsa never intends to marry - as in this realm it’ll always give the husband power over his wife, no matter if he uses it or not - and Po understand that. They build their own relationship, free from others’ opinions!

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gillian_aftanas's review against another edition

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adventurous dark lighthearted mysterious relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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martin27's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The beginning drags on for quite a while, and the middle struck me as just being bland. The ending was very good though. Really everything after the introduction of Princess Bitterblue is good and the rest is not bad but didn’t interest me that much. I expected a much more complex magic system than what the Graces actually are, which is a vague concept that for some people is the ability to read minds or see the future and for others is just being able to swim sort of fast. The world building as a whole is very weak. In fact it’s the weakest point of the novel, I think. The author’s voice is unique and has promise but the world that Graceling is set in just doesn’t have any depth.

It was fine and isn’t the worst book ever, but I’m not super committed to picking up any of the sequels. I will stress again that Katsa and Bitterblue have a great relationship that was really interesting, and I love that

Katsa, a woman who is committed to remaining childfree and unmarried, is not convinced that she actually did want children all along. Katsa loves kids and was very protective of Bitterblue, but that doesn’t mean she wants to have kids. It was a pleasant surprise to not have her shoved into a motherly role even when she has to take care of a kid for a third of the novel. Bitterblue is like a sister to her.

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alexandrabelze's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

i absolutely loved the pacing of this book. everything flowed perfectly together and i was never left feeling like things were moving too quickly or like we had hit a wall. cashore’s writing style is so unique, but i came to love it while reading. it fits katsa’s character so well! katsa and po’s relationship had me HOOKED mawma. i was also living for katsa and bitterblue’s (<3<3) relationship. so excited to read the rest of the series!

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