Graceling Book Review

I'm so sorry that this review will be as short as it will be but I read this book before going to Berlin and after that I didn't have time (school assignments) or energy (I barely slept) to write a review. So here is my belated, ridiculously short review of this New York Times Bestseller that you've probably all already read.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

This, for me, was a typical 4-star read. It was good, solid, a little slow, intriguing, but not a favorite. The concept is cool and interesting, the characters are fun, but the love interest kind of didn't work fangirl-y for me. I feel obliged to tell you what it's about first, though.

Synopsis:

In this world, some people are born with two different eye colors. This means that they are 'graced' and have a special talent. You can be graced with awesome things like baking or fighting or writing, or you can be graced with useless things like I don't know, clearing out cow dung or something. (I would definitely be that person with the useless grace, like remembering facts about the American Revolution or something.) Katsa, our main character, is graced with killing. She's the niece of the king of one of the seven kingdoms in the story and he uses her to do his dirty work. (I honestly don't know why I'm doing this. Everyone knows this book.) Find out more on Goodreads.

It's a good high fantasy book. I needed some time to get into the world because of all the names and kingdoms, but once you're past that, it's good. The action and the plot are well-written. I did not like the love interest that much in the end, but that's very much a personal thing. He just seemed like a cliché good guy with his family and his love for beautiful sights. I wish Katsa had not fallen in love with anyone. The other characters are nice, though, especially Raffin. He's incredibly cute.

This book, however, a classical high fantasy book, hits an interesting point in society with its ideas about marriage. And since my love for social issues is about equal to my love for books, I want to give a fair share of attention to the point of marriage.

Rating:

4 stars

This is a spoiler free zone. Leave the comment section unscathed.

Before we continue, I have an announcement. I have Spotify now. Late, I know. But rather late than never. (That was not an English phrase but I don't care.) If you click here you'll find my account. I mainly make playlists to listen to for particular books, so here's the one for Graceling, if you're interested.

Forget the fair share part, I'm done talking about the actual book stuff. Here comes my unpopular opinion on marriage and its relations with feminism.

I'm a traditional person. If I ever meet someone I love in that way, I will marry him.

(This traditional viewpoint on marriage and virginity does not mean I slut-shame or judge others on the intactness of their virginity. It also does not automatically apply to other conservative opinions that you might associate with it, like homophobia, making abortion illegal, or poor women's rights.)

I know many couples decide they do not want to get married for multiple reasons or do not want to marry under the same bank account. I understand that. We live in a very individualistic world, in which we do not want to be so dependent on another person.

Here's the thing, though.

What exactly is the difference between living in the same house, sleeping in the same bed, eating at the same table, with or without a marriage?

When you're a serious couple that considers marriage, you'll have kids eventually. Whether you like it or not, the most binding thing on earth is having kids together. (Writing this is so hard.) Separaring when you're married is no different from separating when you're not married. There's really only one little government procedure in between.

To me, not marrying is like saying, "Hey, if I ever get sick of you, at least it will be easier to get rid of you." Does this make me an unfeminist person and is Tumblr now going to yell at me?

I have no problems at all with couples who decide not to marry. That's your shit to figure out. I don't really prioritize marriage myself. Now you might tell me that's obvious, I'm fifteen. Not true. A friend of mine's goal in life is actually to get married because she's scared of being left alone.

Brief summary of why I don't care for relationships that could consider marriage:

The married people in my direct environment (aka parents, grandparents) don't look happy with each other. My mother said herself that she would've married someone else if she'd known how she would feel later. They discovered later in their lives that they weren't that great of a match after all. And they didn't even divorce like everyone does these days. My selfless parents just stick around to raise us and are, more or less, just getting by.

I fail to see the appeal in spending the majority of your adult life 'getting by'.

Same goes for my grandparents. All real relationships are so harsh and easily worn-out compared to fictional ones.

So readers, please help me. Do you personally know any real-life couples who literally love each other so much that they can't live without each other and would hold up the sky for one another or is this phenomenon a sweet myth that has been sold to me by books and movies?

Retracing an internet picture like I KNOW THIS SHOULD EXIST!