Lynnie and I rarely have strong differences of opinion over
books but it does happen. Amy generally enjoyed this trilogy by
Kristin Cashore. But, Lynnie wasn’t
crazy about it and has no desire to read the last book in the trilogy any time
soon. Therefore, she has given me
permission to go ahead and post about the series even though she did not
complete it yet.
This trilogy takes place in a fantasy world of kingdoms. Gracelings are humans with eyes of two different colors that have a special super-skill or super-talent. These gracelings are turned over to the king to be used for his purposes based on their skillsets. The first novel in the series centers around one of these gracelings named Katsa. The second novel takes place a generation before the first, in a completely different kingdom where monsters live, and reveals the childhood of one of the secondary characters from Graceling. The third novel takes place 9 years after the first novel ended and follows the monarchy of a young queen coming into her own.
Amy
Lynnie
Amy’s review of Graceling
What a fun novel! I’m so glad I finally
got around to reading it. I enjoyed the world and the characters within it.
Yes, there were bits that dragged a little and there were bits where the
wording was more juvenile than I prefer, but the adventure and my curiosity
about how things would turn out kept me turning pages. King Leck seemed
ridiculously evil, almost comically so, but I let that criticism go in order to
enjoy the rest of the story. Its ending was an obvious setup for the sequel and
I look forward to reading it!
Lynnie’s review of Graceling
This book started slowly. Almost painfully slowly. Thankfully it did pick up a bit in the middle, but if it hadn't been a library book there's no way I would've purchased it. Several friends of mine had said they'd liked it and Goodreads/Amazon kept recommending it to me, so I gave it a try. I was not crazy about the writing style and overall the story was somewhat interesting, but I don't think it's a must read for those of you who love YA action-y books. There were definitely some interesting twists & a few edge of the seat moments, but most of it was fairly predictable, unfortunately.
Amy 
Lynnie
Amy’s review of Fire
This novel and its heroine were both inconsistent. Most of the time, I really enjoyed Fire and her courage and her sacrifices. I really cared about her and continued reading because I wanted to know how things turned out for her. But, other times she was mopey, whiny, immature, desperate, mindless, and tiresome. Sure, she was only 18yo and, I suppose, the author wanted her to appear as "complicated". But, these lapses in personality just seemed unbelievable to me.
Same goes for the story. Most of the time it was very engaging and I enjoyed all the other characters. However, there were several stretches where I felt like I was slogging through the mud of a convoluted tale from which the author had trouble emerging. And there were long, fairly boring sections too. When the story was good, it was really good. But, this was not as good as the first in the series.
Same goes for the story. Most of the time it was very engaging and I enjoyed all the other characters. However, there were several stretches where I felt like I was slogging through the mud of a convoluted tale from which the author had trouble emerging. And there were long, fairly boring sections too. When the story was good, it was really good. But, this was not as good as the first in the series.
Lynnie’s review of Fire
This book frustrated me. I liked
several of the characters, but overall, I didn't like the story & found
that it had very little to do with the "Graceling Realm" or the first
book in the series.
Yes, it had one overlapping character (the one character from the first book that I didn't care to learn any more about, of course). It took place in a different place than Graceling, with entirely different people & I felt that Kristin Cashore simply used the success of the Graceling name to sell the book when she could have used her own success instead. Bizarre.
2 stars for the characters I enjoyed & because I did finish it, but overall, I wouldn't recommend it unless you LOVED Graceling I think.
Yes, it had one overlapping character (the one character from the first book that I didn't care to learn any more about, of course). It took place in a different place than Graceling, with entirely different people & I felt that Kristin Cashore simply used the success of the Graceling name to sell the book when she could have used her own success instead. Bizarre.
2 stars for the characters I enjoyed & because I did finish it, but overall, I wouldn't recommend it unless you LOVED Graceling I think.
I enjoy Cashore’s characters and
creatures and places. It’s the stories
that bog me down. Again with the slogging sections! Plus, the crazy castle
environment in which Bitterblue lived and “worked” was just odd. The fact that she floundered for so long made
me itch. Bitterblue was too much of a drama queen and a clueless child for most of the novel. Sadly, I’ve liked each book in
this trilogy less than the one before.
Overall, it had its moments and it was fun. I enjoyed the way the characters from the
first two novels appeared in this last one.
The ending was satisfactory.
--Amy
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