 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Graceling
- By Kristin Cashore
- Genre: Fantasy
Common Sense Media says
Satisfying but violent fantasy debut for teens.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this is a book about a young girl who is talented at killing, and she does so often and in various, sometimes gruesome, ways. It is also clear that she and her boyfriend have sex on several occasions, though it is not described in detail.
What's the story?
In the world of the Seven Kingdoms, a few people are born with Graces -- talents beyond the ordinary. At age 8, Katsa discovers what hers is: killing. Trained by her uncle, the king, to be his enforcer, Katsa also secretly forms The Council, a group dedicated to helping the helpless. But when she rescues an old man who has been kidnapped by a neighboring king, Katsa meets a man who is nearly her match in fighting, and discovers a mystery that threatens all of the kingdoms.
Is it any good?
This immensely satisfying fantasy, with echoes of Orson Scott Card's Treason, comes from a first-time author, but you would never know it without reading the flap copy. Kristin Cashore writes like a seasoned veteran and avoids rookie mistakes and pitfalls: her fluid and effortless prose sweeps the reader along from the exceptional opening-hook chapter, with complex, fully-realized characters, an original and well-paced plot, and a thoroughly thought-out world in which it is set. She even manages to make the reader long for the sequel, not by resorting to the usual, tired device of a book-ending cliffhanger, but simply by making you want to spend more time with these compelling characters in this intriguing world.
Though the synopsis might make this sound like a Grrl-Power screed, and there are certainly elements of empowerment here, Katsa's Grace is not one of them -- she despises and fights to control it. Boys, at least those open-minded enough to consider a book with a female hero, will enjoy it just as much, if not more than girls. It's packed with gritty action and adventure, though it's unfortunate that the unnecessary sexual content will limit the appeal to pre-teens. Nonetheless, this brilliant debut vaults Cashore to the top of the list of authors to watch.
From the Book:
Most of the guards gave her no trouble. If she could sneak up on them, or if they were crowded in small groups, they never knew what hit them. The castle guard was a bit more complicated, because five guards defended his office. She swirled through the lot of them, kicking and kneeing and hitting, and the castle guard jumped up from his guardhouse desk, burst through the door, and ran into the fray.
"I know a Graceling when I see one." He jabbed with his sword, and she rolled out of the way. "Let me see the colors of your eyes, boy. I'll cut them out. Don't think I won't."
What families can talk about
Families can talk about the idea of Graces. Are they
possible? Do they stray over the line into fantasy? Is there anything
like Graces in our world? What Grace would you like to have? What
would you do with Katsa's Grace? With Leck's?
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- Teens & kids
AGE
An original fantasy book that will make you never want to put it down.
Katsa starts off as a, well to put it somewhat lightly, killing machine. She kills for others, sort of like a hired mercenary. Then she meets Po who changes her along their journey together. They do "make love" a few times but nothing is described. Katsa becomes a strong and independent role model for girls; she isn't afraid of standing out, being different. Comments? Questions? Concerns? Email me: ogormanscommonsense at yahoo. :)
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AGE
Graceling
I loved this book, I couldn't put it down. Katsa is a killer in the beginning, but she ends up being a saver. There is violence, because Katsa is graced with what she believes is killing. Po is the perfect match for Katsa, and I loved the plotline, because it had some twists. I would recommend this book to my friends.
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AGE
An adult fantasy disguised for kids
This book is marketed towards younger teens, but has content closer to what you'd read in an adult fantasy novel. The main character bashes motherhood and marriage, which were topics that seemed out of place in young teen fiction. By the end of the book, I was seriously missing the lack innocence in teenhood, and regretting the unattached, grittiness that I had read.
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AGE
Perfect for tweens and older, adults get a clue! We're much mature then you think
I liked this book a lot, I can almost come to saying I love it but I'm not going to go as far to say its one of the best books I have ever read. I give it a four star because it kept me on the edge of my seat, and I loved her difiance against king Randa, and I loved how she spoke her mind yet was able to have control over herself. I most of all LOVED the romance bewtween Katsa and Po. The love scene was perfect because Kristin didnt make it something bad and innapropriate. It was described as something amazing between two people and that was beautiful to me. And as for all you stupid crack headed adults who think "Oh this book is innapropriate for younge people" or "very violent" first of all I'm thirteen and the violence in this is kinda lame cause it isnt bad all, we can handle a lot more than y'all think so I recommend this to 13+
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AGE
Many of the parent and teen reviewers said the sex was vague or downplayed. I do not agree. My preteen was upset by the first sex scene, stopped reading the book and brought it to me, so obviously there was enough detail. He also wanted to know if sex is painful for women, an idea he got from the story. Do we really need to be giving young people this much detail in a culture where we are reaping the whirlwind of unrestrained teen sex? I also resent it that this book gave my child a wrong view of sex. Why should an author have the license to take what should be the privilege and responsibility of the parents to share?
This book was how I found the Common Sense website. From now on I will screen books more carefully.
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AGE
Ahem hum hem...'unnecessary sexual content will limit appeal to preteens'...more like their parents will take it away..uh, let me think...BECAUSE OF YOU. Limiting appeal at puberty? Snort.
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AGE
A great book!
Kristen did a great job capturing the moods in this book, overall. The only problems I would find that parents might want to know about is the sexuality and violence. I read this when I was 12 and was alright with it, skipping the short and quick sexual scenes, but for some parents this might be a concern. I reassured my parents that I skipped through any parts that were inappropriate and just went on like that. The violence for me personally wasn't bad at all, but some may say differently. Kristen DID do a wonderful job writing this book, but kids who read this need to be mature enough to handle the violence and sexual scenes. The main violence problem here is the main character, Katsa, is "graced" with killing, which causes many violent things to happen. Overall, I would say it is a great book! Appropriate for probably around 13 +, but iffy for 12 -
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AGE
Forgive my (spoilerish) ranting, but this is NOT a good book.
The violence isn't an issue in my opinion. It's a part of the book, it has to be. The main character is 'graced' with killing, she is a killer for her king. What bothers me is the horrible sexual messages here. I am a seventeen year old and I myself almost stopped reading this book because of how stupid it was. The main character, Katsa, is obsessed with wanting control over herself. I suppose it's understandable, one like her, with amazing power and yet caught up in the stifling box that is her life. That, is understandable, even possibly the 'no marriage because I will lose control' thing, but the alternative is NOT to have sex anyways! I can't believe a teenage book even has that in there.. At least a little remorse, a little trouble for committing the ultimate act of sin in our modern society and certainly in one like that would have been nice. Not only is that annoying, but the boy is almost portrayed as weak, and has a line somewhere like 'I'll take you however I can'. Seriously???
Ugh, this book is despicable, even more so because the plot could have been good otherwise.
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AGE
i loved this book!!! i became obsessed with it so quickly :) prince po and katsa are perfect for each other. the violence isn't that bad, there's many other books with that much violence, voted for younger ages.
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AGE
Good for older kids, but not for tweens.
As a YA novel, this book is very well written and includes engaginf characters. The nature of the story involves a lot of violence, but it is not seen in a positive light. The sexual relationship between two of the characters was the only real drawback.
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| Author: | Kristin Cashore |
| Book type: | Fiction |
| Genre: | Fantasy |
| Publisher: | Harcourt Brace |
| Publication date: | October 1, 2008 |
| Number of pages: | 471 |
| Hardcover price: | $17.00 |
| Publisher's recommended age(s): | 14 - 14 |
| Read aloud: | 14 |
| Read alone: | 14 |
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