Graceling ( Graceling) (Hardcover) by Kristin Cashore

About the Book

With elegant, evocative prose and a cast of unforgettable characters, a debut author creates a mesmerizing medieval world, a death-defying adventure, and a heart-racing romance that will captivate readers.

Book Synopsis

Discover the Graceling Realm in this unforgettable, award-winning novel from bestselling author Kristin Cashore

A New York Times bestseller
ALA Best Book for Young Adults
Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature Winner
Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal, Booklist, and BCCB Best Book of the Year

"Rageful, exhilarating, wistful in turns" (The New York Times Book Review) with "a knee weakening romance" (LA Times). Graceling is a thrilling, action-packed fantasy adventure that will resonate deeply with anyone trying to find their way in the world.

Graceling tells the story of the vulnerable-yet-strong Katsa, who is smart and beautiful and lives in the Seven Kingdoms where selected people are born with a Grace, a special talent that can be anything at all. Katsa's Grace is killing. As the king's niece, she is forced to use her extreme skills as his brutal enforcer. Until the day she meets Prince Po, who is Graced with combat skills, and Katsa's life begins to change. She never expects to become Po's friend. She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace--or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away . . . a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.

And don't miss the sequel Fire and companion Bitterblue, both award-winning, New York Times bestsellers, and full of Kristin Cashore's elegant, evocative prose and unforgettable characters.

Review Quotes

"In this debut fantasy, Cashore treats readers to compelling and eminently likeable characters and a story that draws them in from the first paragraph. . . . This is gorgeous storytelling: exciting, stirring, and accessible. Fantasy and romance readers will be thrilled." --School Library Journal, starred review

"Katsa is an ideal adolescent heroine, simultaneously confident of her strengths yet unsure of her place in the world. Every character is crafted with the same meticulous devotion to human comprehensibility, making the villain all the more appalling in his understated, twisted madness. In a tale filled with graphic violence and subtle heartbreak, gentle passion and savage kindness, matter-of-fact heroics and bleak beauty, no defeat is ever total and no triumph comes without cost. Grace-full, in every sense." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Intrigue, death, love, a little sex, and pitched battles create a sure winner for mature fantasy fans."--VOYA (4Q, 4P)

"With a butt-kicking but emotionally vulnerable heroine, [Graceling] should appeal to fans of recent girl-power urban fantasies, as well as readers who've graduated from Tamora Pierce's Tortall series."--Horn Book

"Cashore strikes a strong balance between adventure, drama and romance--bloody battles and sexual tension co-exist in equal measure--and Katsa's combination of pride in her unique talents and vulnerability in her self-doubts make her a strongly sympathetic character. Readers will identify closely with this young woman, whose coming of age also involves coming to terms with a talent that is both a blessing and a curse."--BookPage, November 2008

"Graceling is the wonderful new book by Kristin Cashore about a girl with grace, but who is no Audrey Hepburn. Katsa's extreme special skill, her 'grace, ' is that she's able to kill people with her bare hands (ouch). In a world of seven kingdoms, Katsa is certainly considered a bad-ass and is respectably feared. Ultimately though, the graceling ends up being shamelessly used by her own family to fight and torture their enemies... until she meets Po . . . There's been a ton of early praise about this debut novel -- so much so that I think it's safe to say there's an official buzz."--Ypulse

"However, as in every season, a few other titles have risen to the surface as potential hits, based on pre-pub buzz, online chatter and word-of-mouth. We've singled out four for particular notice: three are inventive fantasy novels, and one is a harrowing memoir. Publishers and booksellers alike believe these books have what it takes to cut through the noise of a very full season."--Publishers Weekly online

"The teenage characters in this novel, like those we may know in life, grow into their graces. They realize that their monstrous individuality is not so monstrous afterall."--The New York Times Book Review

"Discovering one's true identity and powers is a common theme in young adult literature, but Kristin Cashore, with compelling characters and an ease in combining genres--fantasy, mystery, adventure, romance--develops this theme with enormous freshness."--Newsday

" 'Graceling' offers a fresh view of the process of learning self-mastery and has a knee-weakening romance that easily rivals that of 'Twilight'."--LA Times

ADVANCE PRAISE FOR Graceling:

"Here's a WOW of a book! Seeing half-wild Katsa learn humanity as she battles soldiers, storms, and her own obsessive nature--I HAD to know how it ended!" --Tamora Pierce

"Katsa and Po are wonderful: They make me want to cheer. Due to a strong heroine, a supportive hero, political intrigue, and action throughout, this is a book I'll share with my daughter." --Melissa Marr, author of Wicked Lovely

"I can't remember when I last was this impressed by a new fantasy. Kristin Cashore's voice is fresh and fluent...the end result is a story that you tear through so that you can immediately start again at the beginning and read it with the care it deserves. A truly spectacular novel." --Susan Hirschman, founder of Greenwillow Books

FROM THE AUTHOR:

"I've always been a daydreamer; as a child I always lived far from school, and distinctly remember cherishing the long drive, because it was good daydreaming time. Graceling grew from daydreams I had about a girl with extraordinary fighting powers who loved a boy with whom she was insurmountably incompatible." --Kristin Cashore

Cashore strikes a strong balance between adventure, drama and romance--bloody battles and sexual tension co-exist in equal measure--and Katsa's combination of pride in her unique talents and vulnerability in her self-doubts make her a strongly sympathetic character. Readers will identify closely with this young woman, whose coming of age also involves coming to terms with a talent that is both a blessing and a curse.--BookPage, November 2008

-- "BookPage" (11/1/2008 12:00:00 AM)

"A brilliant, unforgettable story. I consumed Graceling in one sitting, awed by its originality, breadth, and humanity. For a first novel - for any novel - this book is extraordinary."

--Catherine Gilbert Murdock, author of Dairy Queen

-- "Catherine Gilbert Murdock"

"I can't remember when I last was this impressed by a new fantasy. Kristin Cashore's voice is fresh and fluent. The characters are memorable, the plot filled with surprises--all of which are entirely plausible--and the end result is a story that you tear through so that you can immediately start again at the beginning and read it with the care it deserves. A truly spectacular novel."

--Susan Hirschman, Founder of Greenwillow Books

-- "Susan Hirschman"

"Katsa and Po are wonderful: They make me want to cheer. Due to a strong heroine, a supportive hero, political intrigue, and action throughout, this is a book I'll share with my daughter." --Melissa Marr, author of Wicked Lovely-- "Melissa Marr"

«"An impressive first novel, this well crafted and rewarding fantasy will leave readers hoping for more." Booklist (starred review)-- "Booklist" (9/1/2008 12:00:00 AM)

«"Katsa is an ideal adolescent heroine, simultaneously confident of her strengths yet unsure of her place in the world. . . . In a tale filled with graphic violence and subtle heartbreak, gentle passion and savage kindness, matter-of-fact heroics and bleak beauty, no defeat is ever total and no triumph comes without cost. Grace-full, in every sense." Kirkus Reviews, starred review ( 9/01/08)-- "Kirkus Reviews" (9/1/2008 12:00:00 AM)

«"This is gorgeous storytelling: exciting, stirring, and accessible. Fantasy and romance readers will be thrilled."--School Library Journal (starred review)

-- "School Library Journal" (10/1/2008 12:00:00 AM)

«With this riveting debut, Cashore has set the bar exceedingly high. --Publishers Weekly, starred review

-- "Publishers Weekly" (7/21/2008 12:00:00 AM)

With a butt-kicking but emotionally vulnerable heroine, [Graceling] should appeal to fans of recent girl-power urban fantasies. . . . -- "The Horn Book Magazine" (11/1/2008 12:00:00 AM)

About The Author

KRISTIN CASHORE has written for The Horn Book Guide, The Looking Glass: An Online Children's Literature Journal, and Children's Literature in Education. She received a master's degree in children's literature from Simmons College. Graceling is Ms.Cashore's first novel. She lives in Jacksonville, Florida.