The Graceling Realm

There are three books in this series and I will rate them as a collection with 5 stars. First, I must say how impressed I am that "Graceling" was Kristin Cashore's first book published. Also, Kristin Cashore gets a shout-out from me because she spells our name the right way. :) Moving along ... I am a sucker for a book that is able to create a whole other world other than my own. I liked that despite it being in a time of seven kingdoms that the people living within them were more progressed than my real fellow Americans. Cashore manages to provide great depth to not just the main characters but also the sub characters. It wasn't drawn out for us either. We get to know them as people and conclude how we feel about them based on the experiences we watch them learn from. Each person was flawed and made mistakes which made them so relate-able.

In Graceling, Katsa is graced with killing. People can be graced with many things like cooking, swimming, being fearless. The graced are ostracized and become property of the king. Katsa doesn't enjoy being a weapon for her uncle the king. Katsa and Po face an unusual mystery regarding the kidnapping of Po's grandfather. They alone suspect a king known as a peaceful man across all seven kingdoms. Because of this, Po and Katsa face challenges on their journey across kingdoms from others who don't agree with their suspicions. I was surprised by several things in this book: the love story line, the results from the kidnap investigation, and the overall ending just to name a few. This is definitely worth reading.


In Fire, we go back in time before Graceling takes place. One important person from Graceling makes an appearance in this book. The presence of the person is very significant yet isn't overshadowing the main character Fire. The story Fire follows a "monster girl" named Fire. The sight of her draws desire from humans. I won't elaborate too much here because there is something to be said about surprise. :)






Finally, in Bitterblue, we follow the conclusion in what happened to the seven kingdoms ten years after the conclusion of Graceling. I discovered that I felt sympathy for characters I disliked. There were moments so terrible that my eyes welled with tears. Not everyone connects to books enough to cry, I am one who will. I never wanted to put this book down. Too much was happening that kept me on the edge of my seat. They worked so hard to uncover secrets within the kingdom that I had to keep reading to learn the secrets with them.

These books get 5 stars from me. Why? A book gets five stars when it captivates me. Another series that got 5 stars? Harry Potter. :)  I don't like to give out five's to just any book/series because that means serious business to a book worm like me. I intend to buy these books in print (I read them on my kindle from the local library). If I truly love a book, I buy it in print for my actual shelf at home. I hope to lend these books to friends (though not really because it makes me nervous) and I would like to see my kids read them when they're older.

Read the series! It's worth your time!