Graceling (Graceling Realm, #1) in The Not-So Austen Bookclub

Sep 22, 2008 Miss Clark rated it it was ok

Shelves: fairytale-fantasy-sci-fi-mythology, adventure

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I wanted so badly to like this book. It has so much going for it. It is original and inventive. I never once caught myself thinking, "Now, where did I read that before? Oh, right, in the last three books!" The idea of the graced, their skills and their mismatched eyes; of the seven kingdoms; of the characters themselves. All of them were uniquely Cashore's own. Her prose was clear and lucid, though there were passages that dragged and made me want to skip ahead. So, pacing was occasionally a pro I wanted so badly to like this book. It has so much going for it. It is original and inventive. I never once caught myself thinking, "Now, where did I read that before? Oh, right, in the last three books!" The idea of the graced, their skills and their mismatched eyes; of the seven kingdoms; of the characters themselves. All of them were uniquely Cashore's own. Her prose was clear and lucid, though there were passages that dragged and made me want to skip ahead. So, pacing was occasionally a problem, but not the actual words themselves. I thought it quite notable, especially as a debut.

However. Yes, that dreaded however.

But before we get to that, a quick disclaimer. I certainly have no say on what Cashore did or did not intend the book to say. I only can say with certainty what I find in the book and I hope you can agree that if, in addition to great writing and engaging stories, one desires one's reading material to have at the very least some simple ethics, it is more than reasonable that some readers will discuss and debate the ethics and social mores that certain features of this book present. Personally, I appreciate being able to discuss something that a book mentions and which allows me to think of it in an entirely different light.

I am fully aware that many might feel that this review is biased and unfair, written from a narrow-minded, hidebound mentality. How dare I allow my personal convictions to color my view of a book I read? Especially a fantasy book that clearly takes place in a world that is not this one. But before you comment to let me know that I am a horrible disgrace and disappointment as a human for allowing my personal convictions to color my view of a book that I have read, please take a moment to know that I am not allowing any comments on this review. I had nearly 50 comments on this review and I ultimately chose to delete them when the vitriolic, contemptuous comments kept coming. For those of you whose opinions differed, but who chose to share that contrary opinion with civility and tolerance, I would like once more to extend my sincerest thanks, especially to Ariel and Angie. For the others that commented to agree or say thanks for the review, I hope it helped.

So, back to that however. My issue is that firstly, what Po and Katsa have is not love. Infatuation? Certainly. Affection? Sure. But love, "true love," is wanting what is best for the other person and doing whatever one can so that the other is able to move toward the best. Thus, love is at its core sacrificial and giving. What is the purpose of Katsa's and Po's sexual relationship? It is of transient emotional and physical benefit, but how does it benefit them ultimately? I don’t believe that love equals sex, and the book seemed to infer just that.

But say she did love him. I'm all for girl power and females don't need a guy to be fulfilled. All for that. I even understand that at that point in Katsa's life she had just claimed her freedom and could not imagine entering any other station of life that would in any way limit or curtail her personal liberty. All well and fine. But then she goes ahead and enters into a physical relationship with a guy because she "loves" him, but just can't ever be "married" to him because that would limit her sense of self and her own freedom to come and go as she pleased. Granted, the concept of marriage within the confines of that secondary world might differ, it could be a total abnegation of self, but I never got that sense when they talked about marriages in their society. In fact, at its core, marriage (in our world) is a contract of personal commitment between two people, but Katsa, while perhaps legitimately shunning marriage in her world, still has no desire to ever commit to Po in any way. So it would seem that Katsa's issues had way more to do with herself and her own flaws and insecurities than the idea of commitment or even Po. Given his affection for her, he would never have limited her freedom. But flip the coin. What if it was Po who “loved” Katsa, but refused to marry her because then he would not be free? Where he was the one who would take whatever Katsa had to offer, but did not care enough to actually make any sort of commitment to her? That likely would not go over as well. It is strange what a double standard we have in relationships, esp. in a "feminist" age. We praise novels that show females as strong, independent individuals, even if that means they are also selfish and controlling, while we quite rightly condemn that sort of behavior in male protagonists. But then not only are we giving a sad view of a "strong" woman, as if that is the only way to portray a vibrant and intelligent female, we are also touting a weak and ineffective masculine image that indicates that no male can be resourceful or a leader or else he is preventing the girl from being who she ought to be free to be...etc. When we did we stop striving for an ideal where both men and women complimented each other, each being allowed their own strengths, and being equals rather than always rivals and competitors?

So, again, a talented new author, but I have deep reservations about some of the messages in this book and I doubt I will recommend it to many people. Which is a shame considering the quality of the rest of the story, which is easily three stars for the prose, though the plot had a few spots that seemed out of place.

Graceling never seemed like it should have been a love story (much less a hook-up), and I was loving it as a fine fantasy/ personal growth novel, but once they brought in the romantic/ anti-romantic elements, it lost me. ...more

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Sep 01, 2010 Amy rated it did not like it

Shelves: not-going-to-finish

Have you ever wished there was a flashing sign above a book before you picked it up? Something truthful you could rely on, "Read this!!" or "Classic!". Or in the case of this book, "AVOID."
So take this review as a flashing sign, AVOID.
Human nature likes to know thouogh why they should avoid something, and so I wil lay out my reasons and you can take it or leave it as you like.
You should also know that I didn't finish this book. And I won't. Ever. I made the mistake once of reading on when I s Have you ever wished there was a flashing sign above a book before you picked it up? Something truthful you could rely on, "Read this!!" or "Classic!". Or in the case of this book, "AVOID."
So take this review as a flashing sign, AVOID.
Human nature likes to know thouogh why they should avoid something, and so I wil lay out my reasons and you can take it or leave it as you like.
You should also know that I didn't finish this book. And I won't. Ever. I made the mistake once of reading on when I shouldn't have - a scene neraly identical to this- and I regret it thoroughly to this day. If that takes away from what I am going to say, so be it.
The Plot:
In theory, Graceling has a good plot. In a fantasy land of seven kingdoms, some people are born with a gift, or Grace. The Grace shows itself in the child's eyes, eyes two different colors. It also affects the person in some way, some Graced are unbelievably good at dancing, or perhaps sewing, or swimming. Or tree climbing. Or any number of imaginable things, with eyes anything from black and blue to yellow and brown. Katsa is one of these Graced, with one blue eye and one green, but her gift is the gift of killing. The neice of a king, she is used as a punisher to do his dirty work. Almost everyone fears her and very few people can be counted her friends, though she has founded the "Council", banding together those who would fight against the tyranny of the various selfish kings. Her life is suddenly thrown upside down when another Gifted, Prince Po, enters her life. Gifted with fighting, they make the perfect team as they set out to try and discover a kidnapper....
The Pros:
In several ways, this book had many pros. A strong main character, good twists, a unique plot. If it had remained only an adventure/fantasy/mystery with maybe a hint of romance...it would have been a good, I mean truly good, book.
The Cons
Unfortunetely, the book doesn't follow such a path. While trying to give away as little information as possible (because I do not want to hide this as a spoiler) there are certain things you should know going into the book. Things I wish I had known, because I would have avoided it then. Po and Katsa get into a very physical relationship. One truly wonderful reviewer of this book pointed out that though they claim to love eachother, they really don't, because if they did, they would have respected eachother. Instead, in the 'modern', 'no bounderies' mindset that the culture shoves down the throat of so many, when Katsa decides she dosen't want to get married but still wants to embrace her love for Po, they decide to become lovers. And so they become such, right smack in the middle of the book.
Some readers (myself included) might find the use of birth control equally obnoxious.
Amusingly, it just occured to me that there was a "sign" flashing over this book. My library's "Teen Reading List." Yup, you will find this book in your teen section of the local library.
If such moral conduct doesn't affect you, then I suppose there really is little else I can say. I know one well meaning person once told me that if I wasn't willing to put up with stuff like that, I was going to miss out on many good novels. Well, so be it. I refuse to finish this book and I would strongly encourage those of my goodread friends to avoid it. This message is especially for my little sister.
If you follow the pattern of the book, the supposed "answers" just aren't enough. Even pretending that Po and Katsa 's "love" lasted through their lives, there would always be heartbreak in their relationship. Katsa is a mess, mentally and emotionally. Just because a guy is willing to become her lover doesn't mean anything is fixed. Po will have to live with Katsa continually running off, because run off she will. Whenever someone put any pressure on her, she would be unable to deal with it and run off in search of 'herself'.
Perhaps that is the true theme behind it then, that real healing can't be found in a fantasy world because only true Love can bring it, and this....feel good love? It isn't enough. ...more

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Apr 09, 2010 Jessica rated it it was amazing

Shelves: own, all-time-fav, read-over-and-over, fav-shelf

I tend to have a hard time reviewing my favorite books, but I see this one has a lot of controversy, so I'm going to throw in my ten cents. BTW, only read this if you have read the book.

I don't see the problem with the Po and Katsa not getting married. Sure, I hope they do, because I think their daughter would have the prettiest eyes ever and have like the best Grace ever. But Cashore didn't go into the nitty gritty details of their relationship, so that part was not that terrible to get throgh ...more

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Aug 01, 2011 Naomi rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I really enjoyed this book. I also loved the idea of people being 'graced' with special abilities & i am looking forward to reading the next 2 books in this series but i do hope there will be more of Katsa & Po in them!! ...more

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Apr 02, 2009 Bodea rated it it was amazing

Wow, what an amazing book! A strong heroine, a realationship that doesn't instantly unfold, and a plot that keeps you on the edge of your seat. If you're into fantansy, this is defiitely a must read. ...more

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