Fire by Kristin Cashore

Title: Fire (Graceling Realm, #2)
Author: Kristin Cashore
Genre: Sword and Sorcery, Young Adult
Publisher: Gollancz Fiction (6th January 2011)
Blurb:

HER BEAUTY IS A WEAPON – AND FIRE IS GOING TO USE IT.

Fire’s exceptional beauty gives her influence and power. People who are susceptible to it will do anything for her attention, and for her affection.

But beauty is only skin deep, and beneath it Fire has a human appreciation of right and wrong. Aware of her inability to influence others, and afraid of it, she lives in a corner of the world away from people – not only to protect them, but also to protect herself from their attention, their distrust, and even their hatred.

Yet Fire is not the only danger to the Dells. If she wants to protect her home, if she wants a chance to undo the wrongs of the past, she must face her fears, her abilities, and a royal court full of powerful people with reason to distrust her.

Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:

Fire is the second book in Kristin Cashore’s Graceling Realms series. In it we are introduced to a new world and new characters; it tells the story of Fire, a girl born with incredible beauty who sees it only  as a curse.

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Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Title: Graceling (Graceling Realm, #1)
Author: Kristin Cashore
Genre: Sword and Sorcery, Young Adult
Publisherr: Gollancz Fiction (1st July 2010)
Blurb:

In a world where people born with an exceptional skill, known as a Grace, are both feared and exploited, Katsa carries the burden of a skill even she despises: the Grace of killing.

Feared by the court and shunned by those her own age, the darkness of her Grace casts a heavy shadow over Katsa’s life. Yet she remains defiant: when the King of Lienid’s father is kidnapped she investigates and stumbles across a mystery. Who would want to kidnap the old man, and why? And who was the extraordinary Graced man whose fighting abilities rivalled her own?

The only thing Katsa is sure of is that she no longer want to kill. The intrigue around the kidnapping offers her a way out – but little does she realise, when she takes it, that something insidious and dark lurks behind the mystery. Something spreading from the shadowy figure of a one eyed king . . .

With elegant, evocative prose and a cast of unforgettable characters, Kristin Cashore creates a mesmerizing world, a death-defying adventure, and a heart-racing story that will captivate you, and leave you wanting more.

Rating: ***** (5 stars)
Review:

Gracelingis the first book in the Graceling Realm series by Kristin Cashore. This book was first published in 2008, so I’m a little late to the party. Graceling tells the story of Katsa, a girl who is isolated by her Grace.

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