I know the whole world is going a little nuts right now because of the COVID-19 virus and I think since everyone is being quarantined that it is the perfect time to do a buddy read! I do them with my friend Amanda every month and they are so much fun. Last month we read Graceling by Kristen Cashore.
Synopsis: Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight—she’s a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king’s thug.
She never expects to fall in love with beautiful Prince Po.
She never expects to learn the truth behind her Grace—or the terrible secret that lies hidden far away . . . a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.
I was really looking forward to a fantasy book and this one was what I was expecting, a long drawn out fantasy. I enjoyed the character development immensely because they were built upon so well that you truly felt like you had a good understanding of them.
That being said, I believe the book may have delved too much into its characters and left the plot a little lacking. I am a very plot-driven person so I was hoping for a little bit more action. There are definitely some cool scenes that I did enjoy but for a lot of the book, I just felt like I was waiting for something to happen and it never really did. When things did happen, they happened too quick and then it was back to the build-up for events to transpire that you would expect to have more of an impact.
I still enjoyed reading this book and having discussions with my friend as we went along. I am considering continuing the series so I wasn’t turned off too badly by it. The concept of having graces is really cool and I hope they continue to go into depth about that moving forward in the series.
Book Rating: 3.5/5
You can buy this book on Amazon and find it on Goodreads.
Disclaimer: I read this book because I wanted to and was in no way compensated for my review.
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Buddy reading is always fun and especially with a fantasy which is packed full of awesome characters, magic and intrigue! It’s a shame that this was a bit lacking in plot and more character heavy, which sort of messed up the pacing for you but it sounds like a great addition to the genre and I’m going to add it to my TBR as I’m intrigued to find out what happens. It’s nice to hear that despite the issues you had with the book, it didn’t put you off too much! Thanks for sharing x
As most fantasies have a lot of world building, I expected it to be a bit like it was and was ok with that. I think the series overall will be a good one. I am just more personally driven by plot but if you like character development then you are in for a treat! Let me know what you end up thinking when you read it 🙂
Great review! I have this one on my tbr, and it sounds like it’s for me as I love character focused books.
Perfect! I am sure you will enjoy this one then.
Not one of our favorites. We found it hard to get into this book.
Yea I can definitely see how this wouldn’t be fore everyone. I was in the middle on it too.
I’ve been wanting to read this but it’s not a high priority. I love a good fantasy, too bad about the plot though. Thanks for your review!
Thanks for checking out my review! Let me know what you think about it when you do read it 🙂