Sunday, November 18, 2012

REVIEW: Graceling


Book: Graceling by Kristin Cashore
Release Date: October 1st 2008 (Harcourt)
Pages: 471 Pages
Source: Bought

His eyes, Katsa had never seen such eyes. One was silver, and the other, gold. They glowed in his sun-darkened face, uneven, and strange. She was surprised that they hadn't shone in the darkness of their first meeting. They didn't seem human....

Then he raised his eyebrows a hair, and his mouth shifted into the hint of a smirk. He nodded at her, just barely, and it released her from her spell.

Cocky, she thought. Cocky and arrogant, this one, and that was all there was to make of him. Whatever game he was playing, if he expected her to join him he would be disappointed.
In a world where people born with an extreme skill - called a Grace - are feared and exploited, Katsa carries the burden of the skill even she despises: the Grace of killing. She lives under the command of her uncle Randa, King of the Middluns, and is expected to execute his dirty work, punishing and torturing anyone who displeases him.

When she first meets Prince Po, who is Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change.

She never expects to become Po's friend.

She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace - or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away...a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.

Graceling is a pretty decent book, though I have to say it wasn't 5 star material. It's a good enough book that makes me want to read the sequel, but not as great that I'll rush over to the closest book store to buy the next book.

The Romance:
1     2     3     4     5
This scale is going to be a bit strange. 1 will show the lowest and 5 will be the highest as usual. But this will be how much it pops up. There probably is rarely ever going to be a 5, but a 3 will pretty much be expected for all the books I read.

Graceling only has a little bit of romance, and I find that grateful. In the beginning, it's pretty obvious that there is going be some friend-zoning and denial. There isn't that much romance showing up in the book, but you can tell those 2 people like each other a lot from their words. So, if your one of those big romance fans (and just to be honest) or those Forever Alone people, this is probably not for you. 

The Action/ The Adventure:
1     2     3     4     5
The Action scale is pretty obvious, how much action there is. If the action is good or if the action is bad, I'll tell you in my summary below. An expected rating is around 4 as I tend to read action and adventure books. 

This book has action but it's not that good. There are some play fights here and there along with some fighting with evil people. But all in all, its an "ehhhh." I had expected the book to have some more action based on the summary, but it's actually more of a quest of nobility.

The Speed:
1     2     3     4     5
The Speed scale tells you how fast the story goes. For example, if the introduction is boring and the whole book is going at snail pace, it'll probably be a ranking of 1.

The pace of this is quite slow. The were lots of details that needed to create the setting and the plot, but it was almost too much to bear through. The book was a pretty big pain to read but as it progresses, it does get a bit faster which is why I put in a 3/5 instead of a 2/5. This book kept me mildly entertained and is probably a good book for those of you who have a longer attention span than I do.

The Plot/ The Perspective/ The Storytelling:
1     2     3     4     5
This isn't based how much of something shows up as the book progresses, its based on the quality of the plot. Sometimes the plot is just unentertaining while others are the on-the-end-of-your-seat. This is probably the scale that you should pay the most attention to.

Graceling has a good setting in which the idea of people graced is actually pretty fun to think about. The fact that it's in the medieval times makes it even more entertaining. The summary also makes it sound fantastic. But the truth is, the plot is a big "so-so." It could have been better, it could have been worse. To me, it was  lacking in parts and not as exciting as I hoped. However, it was still worth reading. The storytelling is pretty good, and probably deserves more than I gave it.

The End:
1     2     3     4     5
This is going to be a limited scale as I don't want to spoil it. I promise I won't reveal any secrets, but if you want it to be a surprise,  STOP READING.

The ending for the book is actually a pretty good ending. I'm sure many of you will enjoy this ending as it does end beautifully; however, I am a person who likes a complete wrap up. This book ends with a simple sentence that feels like it should have been in a poem. I feel like it doesn't completely match with the book, but still, it's a pretty good end.

The Summary:

This is a pretty good book. It's entertaining and you will probably like it. The only thing was:  this book wasn't really my style and it kind of deceives you in the summary. There wasn't enough action. I also thought it dragged a little bit. But overall, it is still a decent book. If you're ever bored and looking for entertainment you might want to read it. 

Final Rank: 
1     2     3  3.5   4     5

No comments:

Post a Comment