Graceling

Starred review from July 21, 2008
In a land of seven kingdoms, people with special talents, called Gracelings, are identified by their eyes—Katsa’s are green and blue, one of each—although she’s eight before her specific Grace is identified as a talent for killing. (While in the court of her uncle, King Randa, she swiped at a man attempting to grope her and struck him dead.) By 18 she’s King Randa’s henchwoman, dispatched to knock heads and lop off appendages when subjects disobey, but she hates the job. As an antidote, she leads a secret council whose members work against corrupt power, and in this role, while rescuing a kidnapped royal, she meets the silver-and-gold–eyed Po, the Graced seventh son of the Lienid king. That these two are destined to be lovers is obvious, though beautiful, defiant Katsa convincingly claims no man will control her. Their exquisitely drawn romance (the sex is offstage) will slake the thirst of Twilight
fans, but one measure of this novel’s achievements lies in its broad appeal. Tamora Pierce fans will embrace the take-charge heroine; there’s also enough political intrigue to recommend it to readers of Megan Whalen Turner’s Attolia trilogy. And while adult readers, too, will enjoy the author’s originality, the writing is perfectly pitched at teens struggling to put their own talents to good use. With this riveting debut, Cashore has set the bar exceedingly high. Ages 14–up.

Starred review from October 1, 2008
Gr 8 Up-In this debut fantasy novel, Cashore treats readers to compelling and eminently likable characters and a story that draws them in from the first paragraph. In Katsa's world, the "Graced," those gifted in a particular way, are marked by eyes that are different colors. Katsa's Grace is that she is a gifted fighter, and, as such, she is virtually invincible. She is in the service of her tyrannical uncle, king of one of the seven kingdoms, and she is forced to torture people for infractions against him. She has secretly formed the Council, which acts in the service of justice and fairness for those who have been accused and abused. Readers meet her as she is rescuing the father of the Lienid king, who has been abducted. The reasons for his capture are part of a tightening plot that Katsa unravels and resolves, with the help of Prince Po, the captive's grandson. He has his own particular Grace, and he becomes Katsa's lover and partner in what becomes a mortally dangerous mission. Cashore's style is exemplary: while each detail helps to paint a picture, the description is always in the service of the story, always helping readers to a greater understanding of what is happening and why. This is gorgeous storytelling: exciting, stirring, and accessible. Fantasy and romance readers will be thrilled."Sue Giffard, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, New York City"

Copyright 2008 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from October 1, 2008
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* Feared as a killer since her childhood, Lady Katsa uses her unusual Grace (superhuman gift) in the service of her uncle, King Randa. She is beginning to rebel against his orders to kill or maim his more disloyal subjects when her path crosses that of Po. A young foreign prince with a mysterious Grace as well aswisdom beyond his years, Po convinces Katsa that she can stand up to the brutal king and put her giftto better uses. When Katsa joins Po on a quest, she throws herself headlong into a rescue mission and finds romance, self-knowledge, and justice along the way. Although many fantasy writers create intriguing alternate worlds and worthy adventures, as Cashore does in this well-imagined novel, she also offers believable characters with enough depth, subtlety, and experience to satisfy older readers. Katsa is a heroine who can physically overpower most men she meets, yet her strength is not achieved by becoming manlike. She may care little for fine clothes, but from her first kill to her first experience of lovemaking, Katsas womanhood is integral to her character. An impressive first novel, this well-crafted and rewarding fantasy will leave readers hoping for more.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2009
Lady Katsa was born with a hyper-developed talent for killing. She rebels against her thuggish uncle, the king, by forming the Council, a sort of social justice league, and is drawn into a mystery involving secrets, greed, and kidnapping. With creepy villains, romance, and a butt-kicking but emotionally vulnerable heroine, the story will appeal to fans of girl-power fantasy.

(Copyright 2009 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

November 1, 2008
Lady Katsa of the Middluns, the most central of the Seven Kingdoms, was born with a terrifying Grace (the Seven Kingdoms term for the hyper-developed talents that occasionally surface in their populations). Katsa's seems to be for killing, and her thuggish uncle, the king, makes her his brute squad. She rebels by forming the Council, a sort of social justice league, and it is through this affiliation that she is drawn into a mystery involving the kidnapping of an elderly cross-kingdom prince, the secret Grace of the king of nearby Monsea, and the kidnapped royal's wicked cute, super-sensitive grandson Po -- also, like Katsa, a Graceling. Katsa's assertion of her independence, and her harnessing of her Grace as subservient to her humanity, form the philosophical skeleton of the narrative, but for the most part this is a straightforward journey-adventure with a hearty dose of too-good-to-be-true romance. Creepy villains aside, Graceling is light fare, anchored in Katsa and Po's fairly simple relationship; with a butt-kicking but emotionally vulnerable heroine, it should appeal to fans of recent girl-power urban fantasies as well as readers who've graduated from Tamora Pierce's Tortall series.

(Copyright 2008 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)