Graceling- Kristin Cashore

His eyes. Katsa had never seen such eyes. One was silver, and the other, gold. They glowed in his sun-darkened face, uneven, and strange. She was surprised that they hadn't shone in the darkness of their first meeting. They didn't seem human...
Then he raised his eyebrows a hair, and his mouth shifted into the hint of a smirk. He nodded at her, just barely, and it released her from his spell.
Cocky, she though. Cocky and arrogant, this one, and that was all there was to make of him. Whatever game he was playing, if he expected her to join him he would be disappointed.

In a world where people born with an extreme skill-called a Grace--are feared and exploited, Katsa carries the burden of a skill even she despises; the Grace of killing. She lives under the command of her uncle Randa, King of the Middluns, and is expected to execute his dirty work, punishing and torturing anyone who displeases him.

When she first meets Prince Po, who is Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change.

She never expects to become Po's friend.

She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace--or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away..a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.


OMG I can not express enough how amazing this book is. I mean even the paper the book is printed on, it is a beautiful book. And here's a little story, when I first say the book in Chapters, I didn't have money on me to buy the book but I read the inside cover (above) and the next time I came in, I was looking for it. Unfortunately I had forgotten the name of the book, and sent me and the Chapters staff all over in search of this book. And that was even before I had read any more than the cover.

I absolutely recommend this book to everyone! Okay so maybe only people who love fantasy and YA, Graceling is the first book in a trilogy, followed by Fire which is more of the events before Graceling, and Bitterblue which is still in the process of being written which takes place after Graceling.

The relationship between Po and Katsa is so believable, and Kristin's writing pulls you in so well. If you are looking for an escape into another world, the Seven Kingdoms is the place for you, right along side Katsa and Po. This was another book that I could not put down, it is definitely re readable.