Series Review: Graceling Realm by Kristin Cashore

Hey, everyone! Today, I’m doing something a little different with my book review, and I’m going to be reviewing a whole series. This won’t go as in depth with the books as I do with a single book, but I’ll talk about some of my thoughts about each of the book.

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The Graceling Realm consists of four books (so far), each one following different main characters. In Graceling, the story revolves around Katsa, a Graceling born with the skill of killing, and Prince Po, Graced with fighting.

Fire, which is set about thirty years prior to Graceling, has the main character Fire, a lady monster in the Dells, a home east of where Graceling takes place.

Bitterblue is set eight years after Graceling, so it’s basically the sequel. In the book, the story centers on Bitterblue and some other prominent side characters.

Lastly, in Winterkeep, five years after Bitterblue left off, we’re introduced to a new place, Torla, as well as some new characters, mainly Lovisa.

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My Ratings

Graceling (#1) – ★★★★★ (4.5)
Fire (#2) – ★★★★
Bitterblue (#3) – ★★★★
Winterkeep (#4) – ★★★★★ (4.5)

My Thoughts

1. Graceling – This book was pretty awesome. Besides the fact that King Randa is a jerk and King Leck, for that matter. What happened at the end was really surprising and I was extremely. . . mad? surprised? I don’t really know, but I could not stop thinking about it.
2. Fire – Fire introduces us to a new world, east of the Seven Nations, which is where Graceling takes place. This world was so intriguing. Though it does also seem quite scary with monsters everywhere, waiting. I didn’t like Archer, he was way too controlling, and I’m glad Fire didn’t end up with him.
3. Bitterblue – This book was slightly slow in places, but it was nevertheless really well written, as were all the other ones. I really enjoyed how Cashore incorporated certain characters into the story and all the secret clues.
4. Winterkeep – First of all, I need to say that your queen should not fall overboard and not have anyone notice until they get to the other side of the world. I mean, seriously?! Bitterblue needs some better guards! But, I know that they needed that to happen, so I’ll let it slide. In this story, we’re introduced to Torla, the newly-found continent far out east of the Seven Nations. I liked Lovisa a lot, an impulsive, brave teenage who is torn between her loyalty to her home and to her loved ones.

Favorite Book

I always enjoy the first books in series because you’re getting to know the world that’s been created and the characters. I feel like Graceling was the one with the best pacing; the others one were okay, but sometimes it was kind of slow.

Least Favorite Book

So, Bitterblue was a good book and I really enjoyed it, but I think it was the least action-y in the whole series. I also think it was kind of slow in some parts. But I did enjoy the ciphers that Cashore came up with.

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Overall Rating

4/5 Dragons

This whole series was really fun to read. There was action, adventure, romance, and more. Each of the stories do have some stuff that might be hard to read, like death, violence, and self-harm. Overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who likes a good fantasy read.

Have you read the Graceling Realm series? What did you think of my review?
Chat with me in the comments below!