Graceling (Graceling Realm, #1) in What's the Name of That Book???

May 20, 2011 Jackie "the Librarian" rated it really liked it

Shelves: youngadult, magic, teen-books-adults-can-enjoy, fantasy

Is this book feminist? Or is it just faux feminist, whatever THAT means? I ask, because I saw a crack to that effect on someone’s review, and it made me wonder... Do books with strong male characters get this kind of scrutiny? No, they don’t, so I don’t see why this book should, either. I didn’t read it for an empowering feminist message. I read it because I’d been told it had a kickass heroine, and that I HAD to read it by friends and coworkers whose judgment I trust. Plus, cool cover! That is Is this book feminist? Or is it just faux feminist, whatever THAT means? I ask, because I saw a crack to that effect on someone’s review, and it made me wonder... Do books with strong male characters get this kind of scrutiny? No, they don’t, so I don’t see why this book should, either. I didn’t read it for an empowering feminist message. I read it because I’d been told it had a kickass heroine, and that I HAD to read it by friends and coworkers whose judgment I trust. Plus, cool cover! That is a GOOD cover. It tells you right off that this is a fantasy with swords, and a beautiful eye, and shiny gold lettering. It’s fierce!

I think the term used for the title is kind of lame, though. Graceling? Why not Graced? Why the diminuitive? Sorry, I'm quibbling... Anyhow, those who are graced have special abilities, such as uncanny weather sensing, or exceptional skills at healing. Some can even read minds, and nobody trusts those gracelings. Gracelings are visibly identifiable by their mismatched eyes.

Katsa, our heroine, is the graceling of the title, with one green eye, and one blue eye. She discovered her grace at the age of eight, when she killed a man, a despicable creep of a man, but still, she killed him, easily, without intending to. Her grace is the ability to kill, and she lacked control of her abilities at the time. She’s an amazing fighter, with lightning fast speed, unfailing accuracy at throwing knives and shooting arrows, and strength and endurance beyond men twice her size. She’s the niece of the king of the Middluns, Randa, and ever since her abilities became apparent he has used her as his enforcer.

She hates it, she hates feeling like a brute, and her emancipation from his rule is one of the key plot points of the book. The reader sees far sooner than Katsa does that she’s better stuff than she knows – she hates the inequities she sees around her, and starts a council to fight injustice secretly, since the kings aren’t doing it. In fact, the kings are the problem. She’s an interesting mix of deadly force and unworldly teenager who doesn’t know her own power, until her friendship with Prince Po, another graceling (he has one gold and one silver eye, and he’s hot), helps her see another view of herself. I guess that’s why some people see this as feminist, as it’s about a woman who takes charge of her own power. Very Buffy-like, and I’m always down with that.

But, just like with Buffy, what I care about is not an overt message, but the story, and you get a good one here. What the heck is going on over in Monsea, and who kidnapped the grandfather of the king of Leck, and why? Also, there’s a satisfying nontraditional romance in Katsa’s relationship with Po. I like a little romance in my fantasy, even ones I can see coming from a mile away.

The writing is straightforward, without overdoing the descriptions of lovely things like Katsa’s and Po’s eyes. And the island of Leck, which is quite dramatic in geography. The character development isn’t bad, and I really liked how Katsa awoke to her humanity. Okay, she was a little too amazing at times, she could have used some vulnerability SOMEWHERE to be more believable, but I went with it.

This is just a good, solid fantasy. If you like Tamora Pierce, or Robin McKinley, or The Hunger Games, you’ll like this one, too. This book makes me want to sign up for karate lessons. Go, strong women! ...more

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Sep 01, 2008 GraceAnne rated it it was amazing

I cannot do better than what John said: our heroine kills a mountain lion with her bare hands. A love story, a survival story, a story about the wielding and yielding of power.

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Nov 20, 2012 Lorena rated it it was ok

Shelves: fantasy

Meh. I thought the writing and plotting were clunky, and the female lead was another cardboard cutout of the standard paranormal/YA darling of the moment - the super-strong badass woman who has exactly 2 emotions: intense anger and confused, grudging lust. But she always does The Right Thing anyway, because otherwise, how would you know she's the heroine? I thought the copy-catting here was even more blatant than usual...gee, where have I read a story recently about a girl who is an excellent su Meh. I thought the writing and plotting were clunky, and the female lead was another cardboard cutout of the standard paranormal/YA darling of the moment - the super-strong badass woman who has exactly 2 emotions: intense anger and confused, grudging lust. But she always does The Right Thing anyway, because otherwise, how would you know she's the heroine? I thought the copy-catting here was even more blatant than usual...gee, where have I read a story recently about a girl who is an excellent survivalist and archer, has a hard time telling when dudes are in love with her, has a strong anti-authoritarian streak, and is named [s]Katniss[/s] "Katsa"? I thought Po was an interesting character, at least, but all of the rest were even more ridiculous that Katsa. Her uncle, the king, knows when a minor lord on the edge of his lands has harvested 3 more acres of trees than he was supposed to, and is mad enough to send his chief assassin to teach the guy a lesson, and yet doesn't know about most of the secret passageways and rooms in his own castle or that his niece is running a whole underground movement there? Or that his chief spymaster is cheerfully helping his niece out with all of this under his nose? I swear, I was prepared to be mad at the clumsy plotting that was such a perfect set-up for the spymaster to be an obvious double-crosser, but I was just gobsmacked when I realized that the author was actually playing it straight - the spymaster just apparently decided, based on nothing, to start casually telling state secrets to the king's niece, who is supposedly a "monster," and then to go along with helping her start a little rebel movement to address some of the stuff he's told her. Really??? Okaaaaay. There were a lot of plot elements like that - they seemed like the sort of things that should make up the outline of a plot, that the author is going to build upon and flesh out with things like "motivations" and "things that make sense for people to do." Only here, we just got the outline.

I will give the author points for not following a typical "happy ending = girl + boy married forever" formula. I'm honestly a little surprised by some of the backlash against this book for being "too feminist" or anti-marriage or pro-birth control or anti-children or pro-extramarital sex or whatever the specific reason is. I don't see what is so shocking about a teenager (especially in a repressive, male-dominated society) not wanting to get married and have babies, especially if she has to choose between that and consequence-free sex with a total hottie while traveling the world and kicking ass as she pleases. I don't have any problem with that, and I don't have any problem with actual young adults seeing that as an option for their own lives. I understand some people thought Katsa was a little repetitive on this point but, to be fair...she was repetitive about everything. And so was everyone else. I don't think I want to pick up the next books in the series. ...more

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Apr 07, 2009 Magda rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-fairytales, ya

Forgot I'd read this, saw it on a display, thoroughly enjoyed it again. I think this deals with some of the issues in The Hunger Games, but I like Katsa better than Katniss.

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March 1, 2010 ...more

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Nov 01, 2008 Jess rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, young-adult, adventure, morris-award-finalist, orca-2010-2011

In the spirit of something like The Blue Sword, this is a fantasy that's really all about the characters rather than the mythology of the world. Katsa has known from an early age that she is Graced - a condition that ordinary people distrust, even when the Grace is something fairly innocent, like being good with animals or in the kitchen. But Katsa? She killed a grown man as a child, and ever since her uncle the king has used her as his tool, mostly to punish and oppress, since no one can match ...more

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Oct 16, 2011 Rachel Piper rated it it was amazing

Shelves: own, fantasy

Bumping up to 5 stars on re-read.

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Jan 18, 2010 Jess rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, audiobook, young-adult, adventure, morris-award-finalist

I enjoyed this even more the second time around - it was fun to see the clues dropped for future plot developments, and to wonder what Bitterblue's story will be about. A very nicely done full-cast audio version, with a good amount of music and a solid narrator. I wasn't particularly enamored with the voice for Katsa, but most of the story is told by the narrator. I still think that I liked Fire better, but it's best to read them in order. Recommended to fans of Robin McKinley and the like. ...more

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Feb 13, 2010 Laurie rated it liked it

Shelves: 2010

Another YA fantasy novel with a strong female lead. I liked the story of this book better, and really liked the main character who struggles with having a supernatural power of killing. This book twists around a lot of the conventions of fantasy novels and has a lot of good women who seem to be damsels in distress but then take control of their situations. The writing was a little uneven at times, but the characters are all very compelling. I liked this one a lot and will also read the rest of t ...more

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Nov 29, 2010 Cathy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 5-stars

I loved this book! The story was fascinating and drew me in from the very beginning. The love between the two main characters is palpable and their interactions are described with perfect subtlety. The author ties up all loose ends as the book comes to a close and the final image of the book is quite powerful and will stay with me for a long time.

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Jun 15, 2011 GraceAnne rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I spent the time on the planes between NYC and Vancouver listening to the full cast audio of this book, via iTunes. This is definitely a five-star book for me, and I teach it with great enthusiasm. I had some trouble with the audio, in that I thought all the readers were overdramatic - the story is quite dramatic enough without exaggeration.
It is a terrific read though, and worth the listening. It kept me captivated over more than 12 hours in the air.

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Sep 11, 2009 Joanna added it

Shelves: fiction, youngadult, 2009, 2009favorite

Excellent fantasy! Thanks to Shelly for the recommendation!

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Apr 22, 2010 Bryan457 rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, juv-ya, fugitive, assassins, fights-n-fighters, romance, wilderness-survival, superhuman, re-play

I enjoyed this story greatly.
It has fantasy, fighting, romance, and sex, but all of it is "lite." No over the top heavy or gruesome stuff. The romance does not take over. The sex is not explicit. The fighting is not technical, blow by blow. ...more

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