Other mature content includes some drinking and a sexual relationship between the main characters with some detail, including talk of contraception. There are mentions of a king who tortures and kills animals and young girls with a mention that he's taken an 'unhealthy interest' in his 10-year-old daughter. Girls are sexually harassed and threatened by older men. Soldiers are killed with arrows, throwing knives, and swords. A main character with an arrow wound is seriously injured when he falls off a cliff into a lake. A mother is shot and killed with an arrow by her husband while their daughter hides from him. Violence follows Katsa even when she stands up to her uncle and leaves the kingdom, with only the occasional gory detail. She kills, injures, and intimidates those who don't do what he wants. The main character, Katsa, is a Graced fighter for her uncle, the king, at the beginning of the story. You can read this book or Fire first, but you'll need to read Graceling before Bitterblue and Winterkeep to understand this world filled with corrupt kingdoms and kings and Gracelings - those with amazing talents - who live among them.

Parents need to know that Graceling is the first highly acclaimed book in Kristin =Cashore's Graceling Realm series for mature teens and adults that includes Fire, Bitterblue, and Winterkeep. Stories of Katsa's early years where she killed a leering man by accident and snapped a man's neck at age 10 for the king.ĭid you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide. More stories about how the king forced others to kill themselves. Stories of a king who tortures and kills animals and young girls with a mention that he's taken an 'unhealthy interest' in his 10-year-old daughter.

A brutal fight with a mountain lion and near-death from hypothermia in the snowy mountains. Girls sexually harassed and threatened by older men. Other ambushes where soldiers are knocked out and drugged. Only the occasional gory detail, like an arrow through the mouth that nails a man to his chair. Ambushes where soldiers are killed with arrows, throwing knives, and swords.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore