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Author: Kristin Cashore
Narrator: David Baker, Chelsea Mixon, Zachary Exton
Series: Graceling Realm, book #1
Publisher: Full Cast Audio
Publication Date: June 24, 2009
Source: purchased
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible
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 her spell.
Cocky, she thought. 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 the 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.
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 her spell.
Cocky, she thought. 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 the 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.
**This review is kinda spoilery, but I'm late to this party, so you've all probably read it, anyway...**
This audiobook was really pretty awesome. It was the first one I listened to where there was a different voice for each character. Really nice to hear the age appropriate voices for the characters as well as correct sexual orientation. Sometimes, I can overlook it, but there have been other audiobooks that just made me cringe the whole time when the woman tried to sound like a dude or vice versa.
Those who are gifted are called “Gracelings.” That’s pretty cool. Better than “Superman” or “The Hulk.” I like how Katsa and Po meet…..by fighting. Where I come from, people get divorced for that type of thing. But luckily, Katsa has no plans to marry, ever. Except she does fall in love with her Chris Brown and they later seemingly adopt Po’s relative, Princess Bitterblue. I mean, really, if this Leck guy was so big and bad, how did he manage to let his own daughter escape? I like how Leck is pretty much in the distance the whole book. Of course they’re talking about him, what to do when they are face to face with him, but it’s not just fighting the whole time. The whole story is leading up to the big fight, which actually turns out not to be much of a fight at all. Go, Katsa! One strike, heeeeeee’s out!
Thankfully, Katsa and Po are not all kissy kissy the whole time. Mr. Clumsy himself takes a pretty bad tumble and gets left in a cave to fend for himself. Love it! She had trouble leaving him, which kinda grossed me out, but he finally convinced her to go on without him.
Fighting. Gramps was kidnapped. Po and Katsa have to figure out who the captor is. Then they hunt the guy. Meet cute little girl. Kill bad guy. Live happily ever after. Yeah, I’ll take it. It was a pretty awesome book.
I'm not sure that the next book in this series will be my next read/listen, but I am looking forward to reading the others!
This audiobook was really pretty awesome. It was the first one I listened to where there was a different voice for each character. Really nice to hear the age appropriate voices for the characters as well as correct sexual orientation. Sometimes, I can overlook it, but there have been other audiobooks that just made me cringe the whole time when the woman tried to sound like a dude or vice versa.
Those who are gifted are called “Gracelings.” That’s pretty cool. Better than “Superman” or “The Hulk.” I like how Katsa and Po meet…..by fighting. Where I come from, people get divorced for that type of thing. But luckily, Katsa has no plans to marry, ever. Except she does fall in love with her Chris Brown and they later seemingly adopt Po’s relative, Princess Bitterblue. I mean, really, if this Leck guy was so big and bad, how did he manage to let his own daughter escape? I like how Leck is pretty much in the distance the whole book. Of course they’re talking about him, what to do when they are face to face with him, but it’s not just fighting the whole time. The whole story is leading up to the big fight, which actually turns out not to be much of a fight at all. Go, Katsa! One strike, heeeeeee’s out!
Thankfully, Katsa and Po are not all kissy kissy the whole time. Mr. Clumsy himself takes a pretty bad tumble and gets left in a cave to fend for himself. Love it! She had trouble leaving him, which kinda grossed me out, but he finally convinced her to go on without him.
Fighting. Gramps was kidnapped. Po and Katsa have to figure out who the captor is. Then they hunt the guy. Meet cute little girl. Kill bad guy. Live happily ever after. Yeah, I’ll take it. It was a pretty awesome book.
I'm not sure that the next book in this series will be my next read/listen, but I am looking forward to reading the others!
Rating:
I loved the Full Cast Audio! I found it was really accurate for all the characters. I especially loved Katsa's voice. The part where Katsa didn't want to leave did anoy me a bit, but I really thought thw book was amazing. You should really read Fire, its a sort of prequel to Graceling and just as good.
ReplyDeletewasn't it great? Fire, huh? I just may have to read that one!
DeleteI love this book. I didn't get a chance to listen to it though. I think I may need to. I love full cast audios. I love your review. It made me giggle. glad you liked the book.
ReplyDeleteglad you liked it! my first one. :)
DeleteHow cool to have different people voicing each character! I think if I ever listened to an audio that I would kind of need that. I'm glad you enjoyed Katsa and Po! They are one of my favorite couples. :)
ReplyDeletethe full cast audio rocked! katsa and po were pretty awesome together. :)
DeleteI may have to do reread by listening to the audio ;)
ReplyDeleteit rocked!
DeleteI only schemed the review cause you said there were spoilers but I'm so happy about the ratings!
ReplyDeleteI really want to read this but I'm waiting until I can do a bit of research on it to see if it's worth the buy.
But now that I know there's a full cast audiobook, I might consider buying that instead of the printed version.
Thanks for the review!
I listened to the full cast audiobook, too! i really enjoyed that, especially Katsa and Po. (Katsa went a little nuts on the "I'm angry" parts, but overall I loved her voice.) I'm so glad you liked this--I enjoyed it so much I went and purchased the book after that, hah. :P I'm curious what you'll think of the sequels, though.
ReplyDeleteWendy @ The Midnight Garden
I really enjoyed reading this book, I loved Katsa but, I have also heard a lot of people call her a man hater lol but, it felt right for her character in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteKristin @ Young Adult Book Haven