But every once in a while, I read a book that I not only LOVE, but I mourn it after I'm done. I go into a little bit of a reader depression, where I think of the world and miss the characters. We all do this, right? I experienced this with GRACELING, by Kristen Cashore.
I've really surprised myself these past few months with how much I love YA fantasy. Fantasy would never be a genre I would have said was one of my favorites. Ever. But the YA fantasy I've been reading lately is sooooo good.
GRACELING is no exception. Katsa was such a badass, It was kind of refreshing to flip the common brooding boy/lovesick girl thing around. Not that Po was needy, he was actually PERFECT!! He will go down on my short list (again...this is relative, because it's kind of a long list) of best lead male's of all time. Of course, this book included my favorite love element...the separation. I can't help it, I love the reunion. I was also surprised with how much I liked Bitterblue. At first I was all "oh gah, we're going to add a child to this mix?" (spoken like a true mother, right?) But I loved this element, and loved Bitterblue's character. In fact, I can't wait to read her book. :)
The ending and 'sort-of'' twist. Not really even a twist, but a surprise, was perfect. It made me love the characters even more than I already did.
In my true review style, I don't give a lot of info except for the plea....YOU MUST READ THIS IF YOU HAVEN'T!! It's truly an amazing book. And if you're a writer, you have to check out Kristen's blog. She has the most amazing writing process. whoa! Whatever she's doing though, she must keep it up. :)
