Monday 11 May 2009

FANTASY REVIEW: Graceling - Kristin Cashore


BOOK BLURB:

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. With elegant, evocative prose and a cast of unforgettable characters, debut author Kristin Cashore creates a mesmerizing world, a death-defying adventure, and a heart-racing romance that will consume you, hold you captive, and leave you wanting more.


REVIEW:

This debut novel is perhaps a bit of an unusual tale to be brutally honest as it feels that it has elements of YA over the Adult fantasy that we tend to review yet with the context of the material along with the attitude of the principle character we had to place it within this category. Its interesting in a debut sort of a way however it doesn’t quite pack a hard enough punch as the principle protagonist seems to be more of a 2d character than the fully rounded that we’ve come to expect. This I have no doubt will be fixed within future novels however it did leave me feeling a tad unfulfilled especially when you consider how much of a power house the physical abilities of the protagonista actually are. Its quirky, its lead is female and above all it will probably help to broaden the female readership for the genre but as a new novel it isn’t that impressive. With luck the author will hopefully correct the character oversights in her next novel.

No comments: