A review by crufts
Graceling by Kristin Cashore

adventurous mysterious 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

In a world where some people are magically Graced with talents and powers, Katsa is a noble who has the Grace of killing. Ever since learning of her ability, her uncle King Ransa has controlled her life and ordered her to do his bidding as his pet assassin. But as she grows weary of carrying out Ransa's cruel orders, Katsa sees a chance for escape when she meets a mysterious foreign prince with a Grace of his own...

There's a lot to compliment about Graceling:

• The narrative hooked me from the start! I ended up reading the entire book in a matter of days. That's pretty rare for me!
• The fantasy setting is easy to absorb and understand; for example, the realm's kingdoms are mnemonically named (Wester = west, Nander = north, Estill = east, Sunder = south, Middluns = center, Monsea = mountains).
• Exciting, dynamic fight sequences, especially the unarmed combat passages.
• Interesting Good vs Good conflicts, where there's real tension because both sides have a point. e.g.
  Po concealing the truth about his Grace.
• Nice subversion of romance tropes when
  Katsa's childhood friend Prince Raffin
    doesn't end up as Katsa's romantic interest.
• The protagonist is exceptionally powerful, but so are the forces against her, so the stakes of the story felt balanced.
• The elements used in the later parts of the story are all foreshadowed and introduced near the beginning.

Graceling sticks to the fundamental writing principles that make a book fun to read. It's just a well-written story, plain and simple. I've docked half a star because the climactic showdown scene at the end could be improved by stretching it out longer, and there are one or two other issues, but this didn't detract much from my enjoyment overall.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Incest and Child abuse

Stacks of violence, especially from our killing-Graced protagonist.
There are a few fade-to-blacks between the romantic leads.
Some people suspect that a villain is abusing children.

A couple of villains actually try to molest children, but the heroes stop them before it happens. I consider this a good thing in contrast to other books where the villains are not stopped in time - the creepy characterization is still just as effective when the villain fails, and you avoid alienating your readers.