Review of “Graceling” by Kristin Cashore by Sanvi Mitra

Review of “Graceling” by Kristin Cashore

Born in a world where she is feared for her power, Katsa has never experienced proper treatment before. Born as niece to the king of the land, luxury should be her right, yet she receives none of it. She is the king’s lap dog, running to where his dirty work needs to be done and sprinting right back to his castle, with a leash that she tied around her own neck.

Learning to accept the identity of oneself, self-discovery and opening up to others are some of the prime aspects of “Graceling” by author Kristin Cashore.

            With a 4.1 average rating on Goodreads, you would expect “Graceling” to be a quality read. And although most of its parts will pull you right in and make you connect to the characters, the novel has its downsides. Various things, one of them being the reasoning of the characters for their actions, is completely missing. Many would think it is to create suspense and mystery, and before reaching about a hundred pages you are convinced that explanations will come soon. They don’t.

            So you keep reading, and reading, but the suspense just creates more tension and the major explanations never come. This was hands down the most aggravating part about “Graceling”, with the tension building over and no reasoning in play. Albeit, there were still parts in the book where you would want to cry with the characters, grieve with them, relish in their joy, but it all still came down to this: why is this happening?

            With all the appraisal about “Graceling”, I was very excited to read this book. I have a spot for strong female protagonists, and the book’s blurb mentioned something of the sort, so the book was instantly in my hand and checked out.

Needless to say, I was disappointed in the end. I loved Katsa and her ability to fight, but I was appalled at her lack of mental strength. I expected her to develop, and she did in some aspects, but remained weak in her thoughts and emotions.

If you cannot stand a cranky character with mood swings, this wouldn’t be a top-notch book for you.

By Sanvi Mitra.