Graceling

Kasta has the grace of killing. Funny that the word grace is used, because it feels more like a curse to her. She is used by her uncle to get rid of or persuade enemies to capitulate to his laws (most of which involve him receiving lots of money). Until Kasta meets the charismatic Prince Po, she can't see anything new for her life. But he changes everything. But can she trust him? Mwhahahahaha (evil laugh).

Well, watch out for my minor spoiler, but Kasta and Po have sex. Not that I'm really against that... Do you really want to hear my sex sermon? Of course you do! What I think is that getting married before having sex is a good idea, because marriage is a symbolic commitment that every lover should have. But if you want to do with out marriage, fine by me, you should still be committed though. This maybe hopelessly old fashioned, but it will save me some heart ache. So what bothers me about Kasta and Po is that Kasta doesn't think she can trust Po with her freedom, and if you can't trust him, how can you love him?

Kasta is a really good character and so is Po. But let's start with Kasta. She is really committed to things, when she gets going there isn't anything that's going to stop her, and most often she is fighting for someone else. She is willing to risk life and limb (literally) for people she doesn't even know. Po is great because he is completely there for the people he cares about. He is willing to put other people first in his life, without losing his sense of self. He cares enough to put aside what he wants to give them what they need.

So, long enough review you think? But I really liked this book. It had some issues, but it was well written (though definitely a debut novel) and interesting. I would recommend it, it reminded me of the Heir Books, which is always a good thing.