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Graceling (Graceling Realm, #1)
by Kristin Cashore
it is so hard to write reviews for books i actually like. no, love.
talking about this book is like trying to describe to someone a relationship from long ago that was bittersweet and is now over, but i have never had a relationship that involved so many horses and swordplay, not even metaphorically. and fewer people care about my love life than about this book.
(i see you ariel - you are glowering at me with tiny slitted eyes)
but this book is like a wonderfully sweet relationship. at the beginning, you can't even imagine how you ever got along without it.and your friends (ariel) try to talk you out of it "oh, don't get with that guy, he gave me herpes" or whatever... but at the beginning everything was shiny and magical and when things started to go a little bit awry, i wrote it off as a glitch - a bad day that didn't necessarily mean that we weren't super awesome soulmates.
(because it's true - the "girl time in the mountain" sequence was the weakest, but i really thought the book rebounded to perfection afterward. we can forgive one drunken dalliance, can't we? one lapse in judgment?? what happens n graceling stays in graceling? yes?)
i just loved so much about this book - i never ever get invested in the love story side plots of these teen fiction books - i have yet to be on a "team". but this time, i fully believed in their attraction, and i really wanted these crazy kids to get together and kick ass together forever. their fighting scenes, when they were fighting each other, were hugely erotic,and for once the male lead seemed worthy in a way that others have not been. their shyness, their tenderness.... i found it very sweet. and if i was a crying type of girl, i would definitely have cried at this one.
so i am seriously bummed that the sequel is about the early life and times of king lamewad and not about anyone i actually cared about. but i will probably read it anyway, completist that i am.
and eventually, because i think i have largely abandoned this metaphor, and it is very important to follow through, even though there were bumps in the road and people got hurt and friends were less free with advice in the future, the experience was a generally positive one, and the memory lives on as an Important Time where everything seemed possible. even liking a book ariel said was bad...
by Kristin Cashore
karen's review
bookshelves: and-so-this-is-grad-school, favorites, why-yes-i-ya
May 19, 12
bookshelves: and-so-this-is-grad-school, favorites, why-yes-i-ya
Read from October 03 to 06, 2010
it is so hard to write reviews for books i actually like. no, love.
talking about this book is like trying to describe to someone a relationship from long ago that was bittersweet and is now over, but i have never had a relationship that involved so many horses and swordplay, not even metaphorically. and fewer people care about my love life than about this book.
(i see you ariel - you are glowering at me with tiny slitted eyes)
but this book is like a wonderfully sweet relationship. at the beginning, you can't even imagine how you ever got along without it.and your friends (ariel) try to talk you out of it "oh, don't get with that guy, he gave me herpes" or whatever... but at the beginning everything was shiny and magical and when things started to go a little bit awry, i wrote it off as a glitch - a bad day that didn't necessarily mean that we weren't super awesome soulmates.
(because it's true - the "girl time in the mountain" sequence was the weakest, but i really thought the book rebounded to perfection afterward. we can forgive one drunken dalliance, can't we? one lapse in judgment?? what happens n graceling stays in graceling? yes?)
i just loved so much about this book - i never ever get invested in the love story side plots of these teen fiction books - i have yet to be on a "team". but this time, i fully believed in their attraction, and i really wanted these crazy kids to get together and kick ass together forever. their fighting scenes, when they were fighting each other, were hugely erotic,and for once the male lead seemed worthy in a way that others have not been. their shyness, their tenderness.... i found it very sweet. and if i was a crying type of girl, i would definitely have cried at this one.
so i am seriously bummed that the sequel is about the early life and times of king lamewad and not about anyone i actually cared about. but i will probably read it anyway, completist that i am.
and eventually, because i think i have largely abandoned this metaphor, and it is very important to follow through, even though there were bumps in the road and people got hurt and friends were less free with advice in the future, the experience was a generally positive one, and the memory lives on as an Important Time where everything seemed possible. even liking a book ariel said was bad...
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Comments (showing 1-50 of 77) (77 new)
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Oct 06, 2010 12:10pm
mmmm k.
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if this is the ya you choose to love, then i can only shrug and throw in the helping-karen-to-appreciate-ya towel. i am at a loss.
and my heart just wants you to like the exact same books that i like, and dislike the same ones that I don't like. is that too much to ask?
have a wonderful vacation away from goodreads with all the members of goodreads, karen. give everyone my best!
hurrah! i am not alone!ariel hates this book and hates me for liking it.
when i am in portland she is going to torch my house.
hahahahaai actually agree with you on that part, ariels, but i still loved it overall. i wish i had time to review it so you could shit all over my thread for four days without my knowing. that would be funny to come home to.
yeah? after 50 pages of trekking through the goddamn mountains, you wanted more than six sentences of a battle scene? yeah, me too.
no, there was a momentary dip in my affection. when i am off vacation, i will review this and hopefully ariel will see my points.
hahahahahahhahaariel felt betrayed by this book. it cheated on her and stole her credit card and used it to buy jewels for other girls.
at the beginning, you can't even imagine how you ever got along without it.and your friends (ariel) try to talk you out of it "oh, don't get with that guy, he gave me herpes" or whatever... Hahaha! I love this line.
karen wrote: "girls will fight with any prop..."I am intrigued by your ideas and wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
look, ariel, i am just trying to help fix this situation. come one, come all - ariel's nethers are clean clean clean!!!
Read the next book. even though it's not about the same characters it is such a great book. different in alot of ways, but awesome still the same. I love the way Cashore writes. The 2 books are definitily in my top 5
i bought it saturday, even though it is an SOS for tuesday. i like her writing enough that i will probably still like the book, and the third one looks to be more of what i want, so i am excited!
I really tried to get into this book - Tatiana recc'ed to me....your review makes me want to try again....
Mariel wrote: "This was good until the little kid showed up. I guess that bespeaks true of real love."oh, absolutely!
gnf - if it didn't grab you from the get-go, it probably won't. i was sold right from the outset
OMG. There's a word for me, and it's not OCD! It's completist! Thanks, Karen! Now I know what to call it, at last! Why I subject myself to books I can't stand just because I read the first one in the series! I'm a ... I'm a ... I'm a frickin completist.
karen if you have not read Fire yet i totally recommend it. i loved graceling so much and was super upset when i found out that fire was a companion not a sequel and therefore had none of the same characters. but i read it anyway cause i loved kristin cashores writing and thought i should trust her. i spent the first 100 pages hating it for not having Kasta and Po but then i realized what i was reading and immediately fell in love with it just as much as graceling. its so good. you'll love it. read it (:
