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.
She never expects to fall in love with beautiful Prince Po.
She never expects to learn the truth behind her Grace—or the terrible secret that lies hidden far away . . . a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.
With elegant, evocative prose and a cast of unforgettable characters, debut author Kristin Cashore creates a mesmerizing world, a death-defying adventure, and a heart-racing romance that will consume you, hold you captive, and leave you wanting more.
----------
**Books in the Graceling Realm series**
1. Graceling
2. [Fire][2]
3. [Bitterblue][3]
4. [Winterkeep][4]
[2]: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL11728428W
[3]: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL16262971W
[4]: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL15631967W
Kristin Cashore grew up in a rural area of the northeast Pennsylvania, as the second of four daughters. During her childhood she read constantly. She received a bachelor's degree from Williams College and a master's from the Center for the Study of Children's Literature at Simmons College, where she worked with Liza Ketchum and was named a Virginia Haviland Scholar. She has worked as a dog runner, a packer in a candy factory, an editorial assistant, and a legal assistant. She is a freelance educational writer who writes content for textbooks and teacher editions, as well as book reviews for The Horn Book Guide and other publications. Since 2008 she also wrote fantasy novels for Young Adults.
She has lived in Pennsylvania, Florida, Sydney, Boston, Cambridge, Austin, Italy and even London before settling, for the moment, in Massachusetts.