Graceling, The Graphic Novel Review
Hey Space Cadets, I hope this blog post finds you well. I am reviewing another new book instead of cleaning up recommendations previously posted on my website. I found this book at my local library while browsing the isles in the kids’ section with my youngest son. I was trying to teach him the joy of just looking at the books, letting your wandering eyes lead you towards the first step of a beautiful literary adventure.
The solid green cover with horizontal blades acting as a mirror to show the main characters jumped out at me from the bookshelf. It was on the end cap and was hard not to notice. I don’t normally read graphic novels; I prefer proper books, but after I passed the book a few times, I bit the bullet and checked it out. It was a fun conversion of the Graceling Realm Series. This was the conversion of the first book in this series and boy, howdy was it good! The story was compelling, and the artist’s rendition of the scenes was fascinating. Follow me down this rabbit hole, and let’s see what this romp through the artistic renderings of Gareth Hinds, pulled from the mind of Kristin Cashore!
The Story
This novel is the story of Katsa, who is a Graceling. That means she is one of the rare people born with an extreme skill. These basically make the blessed, or graced, human superheroes in this setting. As the niece of the king, she lived a life of privilege until the day her ability to kill a man with her bare hands revealed itself. It wasn’t a subtle discovery; instead, she accidentally killed a man during a royal banquet in front of a crowd of nobles. She acts as her uncle’s enforcer in exchange for the crown’s protection. She travels the kingdom, threatening anyone who dares to oppose him.
She continues this détente with her uncle until everything changes. She meets Po, a foreign prince Graced with combat skills almost on par with her own. The prince was searching for the truth about his grandfather’s disappearance, and Katsa was the woman to help him find answers. When Katsa agrees to provide assistance, she never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace or a terrible secret that could destroy them all.
The art style was well done and gripping. I’m not an artist, and I’m colorblind, but I really loved this artistic imagery. This art style was simple, but my podcast co-host and comic book creator pointed out that all of the art was too simplistic. Every panel was center framed on the subject, which he considered boring. He felt that the anatomy was off and awful. While he thought the image perspective was shoddy at best, I enjoyed it for the same reason. Even cooler, my color deficiencies didn’t stop me from enjoying the story!
Now that we’ve addressed the art for the graphic novel let’s talk about the story. It was a simple, straightforward tale of a young woman finding herself and ultimately finding true love. There were some of the traditional tropes about overcoming adversity and beating “the man” who held her down, but otherwise, this was a fairly straightforward plot arc. The storytelling was good, and I was definitely engrossed in the adventure despite not being the target audience for the medium or the genre.
Because of the medium, there were not many nuances, which lent itself to less complexity in the pacing of the story. I feel like an author’s voice is hard to detect in a graphic novel because so much of the story is told through art. Still, the artist had a distinctive style, blending a more muted palette with the historic touches and cartoonish imagery. Despite my friend who makes comics professionally not liking the art, I enjoyed it and would try another graphic novel illustrated by Gareth Hinds.
The Characters
The main character is Katsa, who is the niece of the king of the Midluns. Because of how her Grace was so dangerous and appeared when she was 8, she was raised like a dangerous caged animal. Her Grace is weaponized until she becomes a weapon for the crown, for her uncle.
During the course of the story, Katsa conceptualizes her power as the ability to end lives through the question of whether there are other possibilities for her powers. She then meets Po, another royal prince who serves as her foil. Together, we see what life is like for those with the Grace. We get to decide if this was a blessing or a curse, which was a fun thought exercise.
During the story, we learn that Katsa has started a secret council with the intention of using it to do some good in the seven kingdoms instead of falling into her role of court enforcer as her uncle expects. Through this group, we get to see Katsa’s inherent desire for a better future that doesn’t involve her serving as a thug for the crown.
Katsa, the main character, will drive you a little bit crazy as you watch her close herself off from the world despite having a community there to support her. She is written as someone on the cusp of adulthood while clinging to her childish ways. I don’t read enough YA to give you examples, but I can say that she wasn’t a Mary Sue. You felt her journey viscerally.
The World
This story was set in the fantasy worlds of the Seven Kingdoms. Sprinkled throughout the various kingdoms are special superhuman individuals born with a Grace. This is basically a superpower, a special ability that is unique to them. These people are called Gracelings and can be identified by having eyes of two different colors. With this as the backdrop, we get the tale of the characters Katsa and Po and a world that felt lived in.
But this is a graphic novel, so the world is built with images as well as words. The choice of art and shading in this graphic novel really set the mood and helped show the darkness of the culture and the moments where goodness and light shone through. Don’t worry, though; nothing was too dark. The author and illustrator kept it just enough to keep you reading and age-appropriate for the target audience. Like I said in the introduction, the plot was simplistic and engaging. It didn’t reinvent the wheel when telling this tale. Instead, the dynamic duo of the artist and illustrator relied on classic fantasy tropes we all know and love. That well-trodden space gave the creators room to build the world and its characters.
Politics
This novel has no real-world politics and doesn’t stray outside of the standard power plays that happened in the medieval world. That absence gave you room for you just to dive in and enjoy some good old-fashioned historic fun!
Content Warning
This was a young adult story, so there was nothing that wasn’t PG-13 in this graphic novel.
Who is it for?
This book is for people who enjoy a good Young Adult (YA) coming-of-age story. Graceling shows the value of found family and the positive role that the power of love and the desire for family can have. If you’ve ever seen the world as it was and wanted it to be better… this hopeful graphic novel is for you.
Why buy it
I’m not the typical audience for a graphic novel, but this was a fun little story perfect for younger readers. This is a solid escapist story for when you want sword fighting and justice in a hurry. The art is compelling, the prose is clean, and the story arc had me unable to stop turning the page.