Graceling

Published Information

Author:	Kristin Cashore
Series:	No series, but several books are in same world
Published:	October 2008
Genre:	Fantasy
Pages:	480

Ratings

Violence:	PG-13 (Talk of torture, detailed fights)
Sexual Content:	PG-13 (One specific, but not explicit scene, see below)
Language:	PG (Don't recall anything bad)
Reading Age:	High school
Buy Recommend:	Paperback (Very good but dark, will not re-read)
Overall Rating:	7 out of 10 (Good, believable story, fast paced)

Plot Summary

Graceling takes place in a medieval world where a small group of people are graced. That is, they have a grace that allows them to be experts in some field. And no two graces are alike. Some have fighting graces such as sword fighting, archery, or running incredibly fast. Others have passive graces such mind reading, or weather forecasting. Music, baking, climbing trees, etc, are all skills that can be presented in a grace. And if you have a grace, you are called a graceling and the king has the option to take you into his service in order to use your grace. Lastly, if you are a graceling, each of your eyes are different colors. Your eye color doesn't come at birth, but once the different color eyes manifest themselves, the king will take you into his service until your grace is understood. Then either he enlists you in his service, or releases you.

When she is 8 years old, her grace manifests itself in the form of killing a man when he tries to take advantage of her. It is understood that her grace is killing. The king, of course, recognizes a potential for power that he didn't have before and enlists her in his service. She becomes his thug and kills, maims, or hurts anyone who has displeased the king. Though she refuses to kill unless necessary.

During her first years with the king, she is feared by all in the kingdom, but also realizes she can use her talent to help people get out of predicaments they are in when they can't defend themselves. She forms up a council, without the knowledge of the king, to find situations where she can help.

During one of her excursions for the council, rescuing an old man from a prison, she runs across another graceling named Po who can use a sword almost as well as her. He ends up knocking him out and escaping with her mission intact. He turns up at her king's court looking for the old man, who turns out to be his grandfather.

One day, she is called upon to hurt someone who has disobeyed the king, but realizes that this is a circumstance where she should be helping instead of hindering. She makes the decision to separate herself from the king and begins working with Po to figure out who wanted to harm the grandfather. As they work together, they fall in love (of course), and begin to understand how to work together. And both of their graces are not as they seem.

Comments

The book is very well told and has some great opportunities for discussion with youth. The story is mostly about youth who have potential/talents/graces that they don't understand. Moreover, about youth that don't understand how they fit into the world with the gifts they have been given. As the book progresses, both Katsa and Po realize the potential of who they are and are able to take graces that are thought to be monstrous and turn them into great value for good. It is all about taking responsibility for your life even when you think the life you have is unfair, hard, or poor. By taking control of your life, rather than blaming circumstances or others, you find the true ability to make a difference in the world.

Note: there is one scene that is a sex scene where you know they are having intercourse and the feelings during the act are expressed while occurring, but nothing explicit is described. In movies, it might be analogous to hearing sounds in the bedroom and knowing what is happening, but not actually seeing it. I was close to putting the book down, and decided against it. If you are going to have your youth read this, please review the book first to see what you think.