Graceling by Kristin Cashore

"His eyes. Katsa had never seen such eyes. One was silver, and the other gold. They glowed in his sun-darkened face, uneven, and stange. She was surprised that they hadn't shone in the darkness of tier 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 expectred her to join him he would be disappointed."

 Those three paragraphs on the dust jacket flap drew me into this book. Katsa lives in the land of the seven kingdoms where some people are born with an extreme skill, called a Grace. Some graces are harmless and have little influence, but others are more powerful, feared and even exploited. Katsa is a Graceling, easily identifed by her two different colored eyes. An orphan, Katsa lives with her uncle, King Randa of the Middluns. At the age of eight, Katsa'a grace made itself known in a horrific way when a cousin touches her in an undesirable way and she strikes back, killing him. Katsa has the grace of killing and is the king's thug and enforcer. But it is not a role she desires and is working secretly throughout the seven kingdoms doing good through the Council.


Katsa and the Council rescue the kidnapped Prince Tealiff, father of the Lienid king. Katsa's life takes an unexpected turn when Prince Po enters her life. Everything she knows about herself is turned upside down in this tale of romance and adventure. Fire is a companion to this book.

Read Kristin Cashore's blog.

This book trailer is a bit chessy, so don't hold it against what is a fantastic book.