GRACELING by Kristin Cashore 5 Stars Verdict: Enthralling from start to finish Katsa is born to kill, 'Graced' with special skills that make her a deadly weapon. From a young age, her uncle, King of Middlun, has trained her to carry out his dirty work by doing what she's good at - hurting others. Kasta resents her uncle, but struggles to stand up to him. Only when she meets Po, another Graced fighter, does she start to realise that she has a choice, and that her Grace can be a blessing too. I love a good book about individuals with abilities, and a traditional fantasy realm is as good a place as any to host these characters. The writing had an old fashion feel to it, and a few well done tropes - seven kingdoms ruled by a mix of tyrannical kings, as per standard - but GRACELING still stood out to me as an original story. Katsa's ability to survive that kept me enthralled. One challenge layered on to the next, and although the ending climaxed pretty suddenly w...