Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Reading Hammock’s Rating:	5 out of 5
Category:	Fiction
Fiction Genre:	Fantasy
Title:	Graceling
Author:	Kristin Cashore
Author Website:	http://kristincashore.blogspot.com/
ISBN-10:	015206396X
ASIN:	B001TODO54
Publication Date:	October, 2008
Publisher:	Harcourt Children's Books
Format:	Paperback | Digital | Hardcover |Audio
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Author Synopsis:

Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight—she’s a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king’s thug.

When she first meets Prince Po, Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change. She never expects to become Po’s friend. She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace—or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away . . . a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.

My review:

“Graceling” is very well written.  The author, Kristin Cashore crafted compelling three-dimensional characters and an interesting plot that includes many twists.  Also, I applaud the author’s proofreads, as I wasn’t able to find any mistakes throughout the entire 480 pages of the novel. I usually find at least one. 

I liked how easily I first connected with the main character, Katsa, and how I felt I knew her very well by the end of the book.  Cashore achieved this connection between the reader and character through her balanced use of dialogue and descriptions. 

“Graceling” also has a great number of action-packed scenes.  The story was refreshing, as there many twists in plot that I was not expecting.  Many books bore me off the bat when the expected happens.  That was not the case in this story.  When I thought the novel was over, there was an unpredictable turn in the story.  Usually novels over 400 pages drag on, but Cashore did a great job spacing out action throughout the novel, keeping it interesting.

I enjoyed every page of “Graceling” and would definitely recommend “Graceling”, especially if you are looking for Spring Break reading.    Run out and get your copy!

Shattered by Sophia Sharp

Reading Hammock’s Rating:	2 ½
Category:	Fiction
Fiction Genre:	Paranormal
Title:	Shattered
Author:	Sophia Sharp
Author Website:	http://sophiasharp.blogspot.com
ASIN:	B0056U9X20
Publication Date:	June 18, 2011
Publisher:	Dream Publishing
Format:	Digital
Amazon

Synopsis:

Laura Cubus was perfectly content with her life. A junior in high school, she felt perfectly normal. She had good friends, a great family, and did well in school. Nothing particularly exciting ever happened where she lived, and everything was stable.

But that all drastically changes when a new student arrives at Laura's school. Wild rumors swirl about his past, and Laura becomes determined to find out the truth. 

As she gets to know the mysterious student, he shares with her an ancient secret... one that may yet put both of them in grave danger.

And for the first time in her life, Laura is exposed to a completely unfamiliar world. She is swept away on an exhilarating journey that takes to a place where great destiny may yet await... and where supernatural powers run rampant. 

My review:

Sharp did an okay job with “Shattered”, the first book of the Dream Realms series.  While I found the novel intriguing, I was not as satisfied with it as were other reviewers.  For my taste, the book was not long enough to fit Sharp’s complex plot.  I do not plan on reading the other novels in this series, as I felt that “Shattered” is trying too hard to hook the reader into buying the entire series.  With a longer book, Sharp could have more fully developed all aspects of her story and hooked me into wanting to know what would happen in the next installment. 

Throughout the novel, Sharp uses the element of mystery to keep the story interesting.  While the mystery aspect worked, I felt that Sharp cheated me by not revealing enough about the characters, until the very end of the novel.  This overwhelmed the reader and made me feel that she intended to write a sequel to “Shattered”, instead of having a sequel naturally develop around the plot.  A longer book would have probably convinced me to continue reading the series instead of feeling overburdened at the end by revealed mysteries.   

As a result of the overused sense of mystery, I felt that the characters were underdeveloped.  One of the main characters, Logan was only mentioned as a mysterious person and did not seem to have any distinct personality traits.  Characters need time to develop naturally and come alive in a story. 

The novel ended in an action-packed scene, with a cliffhanger.  Usually, when I read the first book in a series, I have to immediately buy the next book.  Unfortunately, in the case of “Shattered”, I never became attached to the story’s two-dimensional characters and, therefore, will not be racing to the bookstore for the rest of the Dram Realms series.

 I would not recommend putting “Shattered” on the urgent reading list anytime soon.