Graceling, Divergent and A Friend of the Family Mini Reviews
by Jenners • 07/25/2012 • 2.5 Stars, 3.5 Stars, 4 Stars, Audiobook, C Authors, Contemporary, D Titles, Dystopia, F Titles, Fiction, G Authors, G Titles, Paranormal, R Authors, Young Adult • 47 Comments
Graceling by Kristin CashoreGenre: Fiction, Young Adult, Fantasy
Where I Got It: Paperback Swap
Why I Read It: Quite a few people raved about it
My Rating: 4 stars
Brief Description: In the land of Seven Kingdoms, Katsa is a Graceling (a person born with a special talent that is signaled by two different color eyes). Although a person’s Grace might not reveal itself right away, Katsa’s Grace became clear when she killed a man with her bare hands at age 8. With her talent for killing, she quickly caught the attention of her king and is now used as his enforcer/assassin. However, Katsa is growing weary of the punishments she is asked to enforce for a king she doesn’t respect. When Prince Po (who is graced with exceptional fighting skills) comes to the court searching for his kidnapped grandfather, Katsa discovers an unlikely friend. With Po’s encouragement, Katsa declares her independence from the king and travels with Po on his quest for the mysterious King of Monsea—who might not be the benevolent ruler that his reputation makes him out to be. But as their journey unfolds, Katsa and Po discover new aspects to their Graces and their friendship deepens into something else.
My Thoughts: This book kicked butt! If you want grrl power, just look at Katsa. She’s strong, powerful, opinionated, independent and stubborn. I loved her! Although this book felt like “fantasy lite” at times and I was surprised to find it was a standalone book, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I also loved how Cashore made Po the perfect partner for Katsa—strong in his own right but respectful of Katsa’s power and her need for independence. There is a lot of adventure and swashbuckling and fighting that moves things along, and I imagine that this would be the perfect introduction to the fantasy genre for young people. (Note: If you’re on the conservative side, you might want to know that Katsa rejects marriage in favor of having a lover. If this doesn’t sit right with you, you’ve been warned. However, I thought it was true to her character and handled tactfully and tastefully by Cashore.)
Update: Bitterblue (a sequel to Graceling taking place 6 years after the events of this book) is now available to read. You can bet I’ll be reading it.
Divergent written by Veronica Roth and read by Emma GalvinGenre: Fiction, YA, Dystopia
Where I Got It: Audible
Why I Read It: I just can’t quit reading these YA dystopia books
My Rating: 3.5 stars
Brief Description: Beatrice Prior lives in a dystopian version of Chicago (which is cut off from the rest of the world for unstated reasons) and populated by five factions. All citizens are born into a faction and, at age 16, can choose a faction according to their personality and interests. Although born into Abnegation (who value selflessness), Beatrice has always struggled with the tenets of her faction. She finds herself drawn to the Dauntless (who value courage). [The other factions are Erudite (who value learning), Candor (who value honesty) and Amity (who value peace).] As her choosing ceremony draws near, Beatrice has an unusual result during her aptitude test (which helps identify the faction that best suits you). She is Divergent—a result that she is warned not to reveal to anyone. After choosing Dauntless, Beatrice (who rechristens herself Tris) finds herself in a strange new world—where proving your bravery and courage seems to take a backseat to sadism and cruelty. With the help of a sympathetic instructor named Four, Tris tries to make sense of her new faction, the uncomfortable things that are happening around her, her feelings for Four, and the discontent that is rumbling under the surface of a world she always felt was placid and safe.
My Thoughts: As you might suspect, this is the first book of a planned trilogy, and Roth does a good job of getting the series off to a running start. I dug the whole faction thing for some reason and liked that Roth didn’t feel she had to explain everything right off the bat. In addition, the relationship between Four and Tris felt believable and wasn’t too whiny. The book is pretty violent, and though it isn’t quite Hunger Games brutal, it is up there. People die or experience really nasty “accidents.” If you’re a fan of YA dystopia, this was one of the better ones I’ve read, and I look forward to the next installment, Insurgent.
About the Narration: Emma Galvin did the narration and she was a good fit. She sounded like a teenage girl who had some backbone yet was still filled with uncertainty (just like Tris).
A Friend of the Family by Lauren GrodsteinGenre: Fiction, Contemporary
Where I Got It: Paperback Swap
Why I Read It: A few reviews from bloggers I can no longer remember made me put this on my wish list
My Rating: 2.5 stars
Brief Description: Peter Dizinoff is a successful doctor in ritzy little New Jersey town. However, Pete’s life is starting to fall apart and, as he struggles to make things right, he only succeeds in making them worse. His beloved only son Alec is living at home after dropping out of college and has entered into a relationship with a “friend of the family”—the oldest daughter of Pete’s best friends. Aside from being older than Alec, the girl, Laura, has a past that Pete can’t come to terms with. His wife Elaine doesn’t understand why Pete can’t accept Alec’s choices or stop punishing Laura for her past. Pete’s friendship with Laura’s parents (who happen to be his oldest and closest friends) is strained and threatened as a result of all this. In addition, Pete’s professional life is under fire when a patient’s family threatens to sue him for malpractice. Will Pete be the instrument of his own doom or he can save himself and his family from ruin?
My Thoughts: ACK. I really didn’t like Pete at all. In fact, I thought he was a bit of a stubborn and jerky jackass who caused most of his problems and then couldn’t fess up when things started going wrong. For that reason, I ended up not really liking the book. To be honest, I didn’t care what happened to Pete and thought that Grodstein was juggling so many different plot points that they started to unravel a bit and none felt resolved satisfactorily. Although I finished the book, I didn’t really like it all that much and was happy to be done.
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I had Friend of the Family on my list based on a review but am disappointed to hear you didn’t like it. I would love to read Graceling!
I wonder if it was the same review that got me to add it? I really didn’t care for it but I know someone liked it and got me to add it to my TBR at some point. Graceling is soooo good! Make time for it.
My daughter is halfway through Bitterblue and liking it. I read Graceling and The Hunger Games at about the same time, and still confuse Katsa and Katniss.
I could totally see mixing up Katsa and Katniss. I liked Katsa better. She’d kick Katniss’s butt. Glad to hear your daughter is liking Bitterblue.
Katsa is totally kick ass! I thought Bitterblue was a bit wimpier, but still worth reading. Because hello…more Katsa and Po!
Katsa rocks! I’m so glad to get more Katsa and Po in Bitterblue. I was mad when I found out that Fire didn’t feature them.
I have both Graceling and Divergent, and need to read them soon. They are just the type of reads that I am craving right now, and they both sound like they have intense and vivid heroines, which I really like. I am going to have to find these and grab them off the shelf for the end of the summer. They sound like quick and really interesting reads. Great job on the mini-reviews!
I’d definitely give the nod to Katsa over Tris. Graceling was a great book … I think you’d like it and maybe your kids would too.
What? A stand alone book? I want to read Graceling just for that! Even though there is a sequel….I love that it wasn’t necessarily written with “more to come” in mind. I enjoy those kinds of books too….but with my limited time….committing to just one book is much more realistic…and is easier on my housework (or lack there of…)
I hear you about the trilogies that seems to dominate books lately. It is nice to read a story and be done with it. Often the other two books just don’t live up to the first one.
I’m curious about Divergent, I like that genre and I’ve heard so much about the book. Graceling sounds good too. Nice reviews!
I do think Divergent was one of the better entries in that genre so it sounds like it will be a good fit for you.
Graceling is in my house somewhere and Divergent I almost requested from the library but went with Catching Fire instead. (Loving it btw)
Glad to hear these were both good reads and I adore girls who kick butt. Mini-reviews are perfect too. covered all the bases in a succinct manner. Great job.
Strong girl characters are great, aren’t they? And I get such positive feedback on mini-reviews. I need to just write them and forego the longer ones I think. Easier for everyone.
I like the sound of the first two.
The only one of the three that interested me was AFOTF, but think I’ll pass on it after reading your review.
Well, I just didn’t care for it but I know someone out there liked it and convinced me to read it!
Graceling sounds the best to me, out of these three books. I am feeling like a slouch compared to you, reading-wise.
Keep in mind these are reviews for books that I read earlier in the year!!! And Graceling is the best of the three books.
I really enjoyed Divergent and recommended it to a quirky student who has trouble finding books that interest him. He just devoured it. As a Chicago resident, I found the setting both troubling and engaging — I didn’t really have to suspend disbelief because Chicago is accurately portrayed and it was fascinating to see what the author did with it, but the post-apocalyptic vision was unnerving. What if???
I imagine that if you live in Chicago, this book would be even more disturbing!! I’m always glad to hear when a student finds a book that interests them!! YAY!
I am pretty sure my daughter would LOVE all of these. I am convinced that she reads as much as you. LOL. That being said, I am well on track for reaching my goal of five books this summer. Don’t laugh, I’m impressed with myself. I read Let’s Pretend this Never Happened, Sea Change by Karen Snow Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner and True Colors by Kristin Hannah… I just started writing great books for young adults by Regina brooks and confessions of a scary mommy. Aren’t you proud of me?
I am proud of you!! (Clapping) Keep up the good work. And I’m glad to hear your daughter is a reader as well. She (and you too!) might really like Graceling. It reads really fast. Perhaps you can do a mother-daughter read. I’ll send you my copy if you’ll shoot me an e-mail with your address!
Not read Graceling (it isn’t a trilogy??? who could imagine?), but I enjoyed Divergent. I’ve been dragging my feet on Insurgent because Rhapsody Jill said it was full of angst and was a typical middle book. But I’ll have to read it at some point. FOTF just annoyed the hell out of me, but was a quick read. I thought it was astute to the issues you see today when the parents micro-manage their kids.
Well, Jill is ALWAYS angsting over books, isn’t she? HAHA : )
And I think you’d enjoy Graceling — as might your daughter and son. Perhaps it could be a family read (thought Beth Fish says the audio was bad.)
Glad you liked FOTF more than I did. Perhaps it was you that made me add it to my wish list!
Having read a lot of reviews about Graceling it was good to read your thoughts. One of those books that seemed to receive much hype I have a copy on my tbr mountain.
Intrigued by Divergent – I think I’d find it frustrating that you never got to know why Chicago is cut off from the rest of the world. Perhaps in another book all will be revealed.
I too heard so much about Graceling. It was worth reading so that was great. Often books that have a lot of hype disappoint.
And I hope they reveal why Chicago is cut off in a future book — if not, I’m going to be peeved!!!
I listened to Graceling and so hated the audio that it ruined me for the trilogy. I just recently downloaded Fire and I’m going to give that audio a try.
I just listened to Divergent about 10 days ago. Awesome audio and great story. And you reminded me that I haven’t written a review of it!
I loved A Friend of the Family and thought it made me think. It would be a great book club pick.
Too bad about the audio for Graceling. The book was so great for me but if the narrator was bad, I could see it falling part.
Divergent was intriguing … so get writing your review! HAHA!
And I could see how AFOTF could generate some book club discussions. I would have been talking about how much I couldn’t stand Pete!
Too bad you didn’t enjoy Divergent. It isn’t my favorite YA dystopian, but it’s up there. If you don’t like the genre, it definitely won’t work for you
I didn’t NOT like Divergent. It was better than your average YA dystopia. I just don’t fall in love with those kinds of books as a rule. I liked it enough to continue on with the next one.
If you liked Graceling then you should also try either Touch of Power or Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder. They are both first in their series. If you’re less than patient about waiting for sequels then Poison Study is great because the whole trilogy is out already. And I super-loved that book!
This sounds kind of familiar … I think I remember you writing about this series recently. Thanks for the recommendation.
I really liked the first two books you mention here (Graceling is one of my favorite reads in fact). Not familiar with A Friend of the Family but since it looks like it’s adult, I probably wouldn’t have read it anyway.
In my opinion, A Friend of the Family is not worth reading anyway.
ummm . . . I really liked all three books in the graceling realm series.
I felt the same way about katsa and po. I really liked all three books. I’ve been meaning to get to Divergent. Most people seem to like it.
I’m going to read all of the Graceling books. I’m particularly happy about Bitterblue. And I need to get Divergent in there at some point as well.
you always review books I would have never picked up. Tempting me? I keep adding to my tbr list.
That is the beauty of book blogging — you get exposed and excited about books you would have never ever looked at before.
The only one that’s in my comfort zone is A Friend of the Family and I don’t think I’ll be picking it up any time soon after your review.
I really encourage you to step out of your comfort zone and give Graceling a try. I think you might be surprised how much you enjoy it!!!
I really enjoyed Divergent! I had to pop in and say hi – my visiting this summer has been very poor!
No worries! My summer blogging has been sporadic at best.
Bitterblue is great. Insurgent is well, a second trilogy child. I didn’t read A Friend of the Family but must say your review didn’t cause me to join any queues for it!
I’m excited for Bitterblue. At least I know the main character. I was so thrown off when I realized Fire wasn’t a direct sequel!!!!! Booo hisss!
And I’m going to read/listen to Insurgent at one point but I’m not rushing for it.
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