Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

57 reviews

plumpeony's review

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adventurous dark emotional fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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katievallin's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

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noetical's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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niclantsov's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 The perfect YA high fantasy, if I do say so myself.

Graceling follows Katsa, our main girl, and her adventure to solve the mysterious reason why the neighboring kingdom kidnap the other's king's father (pls this is so confusing). Written beautifully like a lore, with a slow paced adventurous everything-is-at-stake journey, an exceptional characters, and a map that we actually use (not just for decorations 😉). 

This also have an unforgettable love story with a cathartic confession+ realization, it made me blush like a school girl and kick my feet in the air. 

The only problem(s) with this book is, I feel the 'bad guy' died too easy, and since page 1, this 'bad guy' was literally the main problem for these characters, and it just didn't sit quite well to me that they killed them off so easily. The second one is: his name is Po 😃😇🙃🤡, EVERYTIME I SEE THAT NAME IT REMINDS ME OF THAT GAME WE USED TO PLAY (Pou!) even though the spelling is different but it's pronounced the same nonetheless and it bothers me so 😞 
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klaudiao's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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unusualsnowunicorn's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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lildawnprince's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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lifa's review against another edition

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

3.25

This is a book I don't think I would have normally read or continued after the first few pages. The prose and world-building are very weak and the main thing that made me knock off stars. But it was exactly what I needed to read, something simple and straightforward that reminded me of easier days. I very much liked Katsa and Po's relationship and the freedom they value. The plot was good too especially by the end and the ending wrapped things up nicely. This book just came at the right time for me and I'm grateful for it. 
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carol16's review

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Squee - love this book sm - Review to be added to Goodreads 
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wardenred's review against another edition

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hopeful inspiring reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

"He's no more than a bully."
Katsa snorted. "A bully who chops off people's fingers or breaks their arms."
"Not if you stop doing it for him," Po said. "Much of his power comes from you."

I have vague memories about DNFing this book pretty early on years ago, since the beginning was just so generic and not very well-constructed. Touch, stabby heroine who's not like other girls and has weird eyes! Chapters upon chapters bogged down with flashbacks and exposition! Honestly, the second time around it was just as boring. But I've been seeing a lot of positive mentions of this series lately, and besides, I've been recced one of the book from further in the series for a highly specific request. So I chose to persevere, and once I was past 5 chapters or so, things did get a lot better. It turned out to be a quicker read than I expected, and I was rather engrossed for the most part.

Ultimately, though, my feelings are mixed at best. I really enjoyed the superpowers/graces and how their implications were handled. They're not just cool powers, but something that permeates the characters' entire lives and provokes experiences that shape their personalities. I liked the relationship between Katsa and Po: the gradual development, the building of trust, how they actually talked it out whenever they clashed. I also enjoyed Katsa's arc and her struggle to gain control over her life, though at the same time, she frustrated me a lot with that stereotypical "not like other girls" thing and the way it was handled/delivered. Also, the way she treats horses? Absolutely not cool, 0/10, much frustration. Not saying every character should adore animals, but there's a line between not adoring animals and not even treating them as living beings who can get tired or hurt, and that girl is so far on the other side of it.

The setting had a lot of interesting things going for it, though I wish some of them were explored deeper. I really liked the way the ethical implications of certain political tangles were brought to light, like how the responsibility is shared between cruel rulers and those who work for them and empower them through that. Really, I don't think the book ever completely stopped being tropey and somewhat generic, but the way these familiar tropes are explored and delve into felt really refreshing. So despite the rocky beginning, the occasionally clunky prose, and my grips with Katsa as the MC, for the most part I rather enjoyed this.
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