Book Reviews!

So, as excruciating as it is to sit in a car for 12 hours with 4 other people as you drive to Florida, there is one positive thing about all that down-time, and that is reading!

On the way there I slept or drove and it was too dark to read (though I did listen to some of Gregor and the Prophecy of the Bane), but on the way back I read the most wonderful book:

First of all, isn't the cover gorgeous? My sister didn't think so, but I do. Here's the summary of the book from amazon.com:

Graceling takes readers inside the world of Katsa, a warrior-girl in her late teens with one blue eye and one green eye. This gives her haunting beauty, but also marks her as a Graceling. Gracelings are beings with special talents—swimming, storytelling, dancing. Katsa's Grace is considered more useful: her ability to fight (and kill, if she wanted to) is unequaled in the seven kingdoms. Forced to act as a henchman for a manipulative king, Katsa channels her guilt by forming a secret council of like-minded citizens who carry out secret missions to promote justice over cruelty and abuses of power.

Combining elements of fantasy and romance, Cashore skillfully portrays the confusion, discovery, and angst that smart, strong-willed girls experience as they creep toward adulthood. Katsa wrestles with questions of freedom, truth, and knowing when to rely on a friend for help. This is no small task for an angry girl who had eschewed friendships (with the exception of one cousin that she trusts) for her more ready skills of self-reliance, hunting, and fighting. Katsa also comes to know the real power of her Grace and the nature of Graces in general: they are not always what they appear to be.

And here is my review, I love love loved this book. I'm a big fan of strong female characters (girl spies, girl warriors, smart girls, etc.) Katsa is definitely strong, and I don't just mean in her fighting abilities. She questions her own humanity and intelligence at times, but she is not afraid to stand up for what she believes in. This is the Kristin Cashore's first novel, but it does not read like a first novel. Cashore is great at writing close friendships and relationships, both old ones and ones that are just beginning. There's a lot of action and suspense, and different storylines that keep the book open for a series, which amazon says is coming! Yay more Gracelings!