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4 stars! Spoiler free review!
I can easily see why this was a YA fave back in the day. I also personally feel it stands the test of time and holds up against new YA’s today. As someone who is starting to stray into Adult territory, away from YA, I still found this series engrossing and quick to marathon!
The writing is simple and easy to consume, she does a great job of setting up the magic system and world for you to fall right in line with Katsa in book one.
Katsa is a badass fighter as her Graceling gift bestows on her and she has met her match in Po the prince of another kingdom.
From their first meeting, you can tell their friendship will blossom into a romance, and I LOVED every bit of it. Their feelings felt real, raw, and relatable. Katsa also sets her boundaries and Po does not cross them, Po does the same. As I say in a lot of my reviews on romance, I love good communication and when boundaries are set and not crossed. Hence why I think their romance stands the test of time, no unnecessary egotisical-male and naive-pushover-female bullshit. Obviously my favorite part was their romance, but this book delivered in other aspects too.
The plot kept me on my toes! I didn’t read the synops really before going into this book, so didn’t know what to expect, but I was excited throughout the fast paced plot and wild fighting scenes. Some parts were slowed down a bit for the dramatic effect needed in a struggle to survive (also because there's so much foot travel), which is why I dropped it a star.
Overall a fun read and I'm excited to binge the rest of the series! If you feel like you're falling out of love with YA, but may want to dip your toes back in after reading the epic fantasies in the Adult genre, this may be a good one to pick up!
*These books don’t have to be read in order, but I did read it in order of publication*
Read by reviews for other Graceling Realm books!
Review for book 1: Graceling | 4 stars
Review for book 2: Fire | 4 stars
Review for book 3: Bitterblue | 3 stars
Review for book 4: Winterkeep | (on my TBR)