Reviews with content warning for Physical abuse - Graceling

Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

therobinjoyce's review

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book was absolutely fantastic. I loved the characters, the world, the Graces, the intrigue, the adventure, the heartache, the romance.

I adored the storytelling and pacing and the way the author described everything. The writing style is just perfect. The plot was very sound for a YA novel and I adored the relationships Katsa had with all of the supporting cast (Po, Raffin, Oll, Giddon, Bitterblue). It was wonderful to read a fantasy YA novel where the Main storyline is not romantic but the romantic element is powerful and swoon-worthy.

I really enjoyed Katsa’s character and the personal growth she goes through though I will not lie, I am mainly here for the Po supremacy.

This book has so many feels and I’m still reeling from it. I cannot wait to get started on the next book in the trilogy, Fire, and see this fantastic world grow even more.

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melplays9000's review

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adventurous challenging emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I went into this book with no expectations and yet it still managed to surprise me with how good it was. This is advertised as a fantasy romance and that worried me a little because romance is not my thing.But while there was a romantic sub plot it was definitely not the main focus of the story and felt a lot like a very close friendship which I loved.

I loved Katsa as a main character. She was very bold and had a distinct personality, not at all what I expected from the synopsis. I loved that she was pre-established in her world before the story started and her background and situation really fit in well with everything that was going on. The friendships were amazing, new and pre-existing, I loved the companions and the relationships that were built along the way. I also really liked that this book was a self contained story and which can be read as a stand-alone or with gaps between books in the series like i will be reading it.

I cannot however, give this book the full 5 stars because it just lacked some of the intensity that I need to be fully invested. There were some tense moments but they were mostly resolved quickly and I just wasn’t on the edge of my seat for any part of this book really, which was something I would have wanted. The fights all came easily to Katsa because of her grace and while I liked how this was part of her character it got a little boring after a while.

Overall I did not expect to like this book as much as I did and I’m excited to see where the sequel takes me. 4 Stars

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erimore's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I read this book a long time ago and decided to pick it up again in honor of the new book. It was as fun as a I remember, but also longer than I remembered. There are about 3 different plots in the whole book and the end is slightly anti-climatic. It is a journey book, most of the setting takes place around long spouts of travel. More than anything this is character driven. I found the moral struggles that Katsa went through good and thought provoking. A fun book.

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anacereading's review

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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kcaicedo's review

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This was one of my favorite books in middle school, and upon re-reading it I remember exactly why. Katsa and Po were such lovable characters and felt so alive. I grew very attached to them throughout the book, and was sad when it ended because it felt like I was saying goodbye to real friends. Their relationship is very chaotic but in a way that's entertaining and kind of hot - but I guess that was the point. Katsa's arc was enjoyable, and I couldn't help but imagine how awesome this book (the entire series maybe) would be if a service like HBO picked it up and gave it a big enough budget. The audiobook was particularly enjoyable because I listened to a version that had an entire cast of voice actors, which was awesome.
In terms of diversity: I think the physical descriptions are vague enough that Po could be considered a POC, instead of just a tan white guy. It's a fantasy setting, and no one's race is explicitly stated, so why not? I always pictured the Lienid as ethnically ambiguous, and he could really be played by anyone, especially if they chose to make this series into a show or movie. Also,

Po is representation for disability when he loses his sight. A lot of authors would write that out, but it was incorporated into Po's grace sort of like Toph from Avatar the Last Airbender. It wasn't downplayed as easy, and it also wasn't poofed away. Raffin is confirmed to be gay in Bitterblue, which made me happy because I got that vibe from him and Bann in Graceling. I'm glad it wasn't just queer-baiting and turned out to be canon later. There are other casual mentions of LGBTQ+ characters throughout the series in a non-judgmental way, but it seems like it still isn't accepted by broader society within their world as men are expected to produce heirs.

Re-reading this made me want to go back and read the entire series again! Would definitely recommend for fans of lighthearted, adventurous, funny, magic/super-powers, and romantic fantasy.

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