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.
No comments:
Post a Comment