Hey y’all! In contrast to Throwback Thursday, I like to use Fridays to look forward to an upcoming release that I’m excited about! Today’s is a slightly odd one, because it’s a release of a fairly old book as a graphic novel, and I’m really interested to see how it feels. This one is Graceling by Kristin Cashore and Gareth Hinds!
Expected Release: November 16, 2021
Why wait on this one?
- I still remember this story vividly, despite having read it years ago, and having read many other books since then. Scenes from this still wander into my mind. Memories of the way I felt when surprised by a twist or a prediction came true leave me breathless. I love and admire this story and these characters so very much.
- Of course this main draw of this is the new format of a graphic novel. There are scenes I immediately thought of gleefully, imagining the beauty and violence with which they could be rendered. This is not a terribly kind story at times, and I wonder how the artist will portray those moments. Will it be graphic, gory, as the moments truly were in the book? Will it be more subtle, with the emotions of the characters taking the brunt of the scene? And those adrenaline-pumping chases, the tender snatches of calm, the varied and raw beauty of the land itself… Can’t. Wait.
- And finally, since I did read it in 2008 as a young teenager, I’m so so curious to see how my reading of it will compare now to myself thirteen years later and pretty genuinely an adult. I have no doubt I will still love the story. But I’m so excited to step back in time a bit to think excitedly with my young self about how much we love this book.
Summary
The beloved New York Times best-selling YA fantasy by Kristin Cashore is now available as a graphic novel, with stunning illustrations by award-winning artist Gareth Hinds.
Katsa is a Graceling, one of the rare people born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she lived a life of privilege until the day her ability to kill a man with her bare hands revealed itself during a royal banquet. Now she acts as her uncle’s enforcer, traveling the kingdom and threatening those who dare oppose him.
But everything changes when she meets Po, a foreign prince Graced with combat skills who is searching for the truth about his grandfather’s disappearance. When Katsa agrees to help him, she never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace—or about a terrible secret that could destroy them all.
With “gorgeous storytelling” (School Library Journal, starred review) and characters “crafted with meticulous devotion” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), Graceling is a beloved classic that has continued to resonate with readers for over a decade.
My Book Joy 
Sadly, this is one of those books that I don’t remember anything about but younger me rated it five stars! 🙈 It’s definitely one of the books that I want to re-read and see what I think about now. I love that they’re making it into a GN!
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Hahahah I definitely have some of those. And then I wonder if I would still rate it five stars… 😬 The graphic novel might be a way to refresh the story for you but also have it be new!
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