Review Detail

Reader reviewed by Beth Revis

GRACELING was a book that I much anticipated. As a fan of the old school high fantasy for YA, I was really looking forward to the title.

And some of it didn't disappoint. I love Kristin Cashore's neat twist on magic, and her world building was excellent. Everything was logical--there was an explanation behind why the magic worked in the way it did that I greatly appreciated. Clearly, Cashore paid attention to detail and worked hard to make her story realistic on every level.

On the other hand, though, I could help but feel as if, at points, Cashore was more focused on making her characters feminist than realistic. It felt forced at times, particularly near the end, and I think I would have enjoyed the story more if I felt like I was being preached to less. It's not that the feminist morals were bad--they were just too obvious and didn't seem to fit in realistically with the other characters.

I don't think that you should ignore this book because of that, however. It was a truly original work, and one I'm glad I read. And, for the record, I felt that the companion novel, FIRE, was much better written, with clearer character motivations.