Finnikin of the Rock By Melina Marchetta Review #42

Author: Melina Marchetta
Publisher: Candlewick; 1 edition
Release Date: February 9th, 2010 (out now)
Pages: 399
Thanks To: Jessica @ Random House Canada
Rating:
Bio: Finnikin was only a child during the five days of the unspeakable, when the royal family of Lumatere were brutally murdered, and an imposter seized the throne. Now a curse binds all who remain inside Lumatere’s walls, and those who escaped roam the surrounding lands as exiles, persecuted and despairing, dying by the thousands in fever camps. In a narrative crackling with the tension of an imminent storm, Finnikin, now on the cusp of manhood, is compelled to join forces with an arrogant and enigmatic young novice named Evanjalin, who claims that her dark dreams will lead the exiles to a surviving royal child and a way to pierce the cursed barrier and regain the land of Lumatere. But Evanjalin’s unpredictable behavior suggests that she is not what she seems — and the startling truth will test Finnikin’s faith not only in her, but in all he knows to be true about himself and his destiny.

You know when you see something truly breathtaking and your in awe over how beautiful it is, well I think that is the right thing to say about Finnikin of the Rock. It is everything that makes a story perfect, but the book talks about a dystopian world. Melina Marchetta creates a story that has hauntingly real imagery, with words that flow nicely like a calm lake. She gives enough description to easily understand the situation and the word, and won't have readers falling asleep. The maps in the book are easy to follow, and I found myself looking at it quite a few times. The world is well built and it's easy to picture, it is also unique in the fact that you can see the cultural difference between each land as the characters travel through it. The emotion is strong and well put and will have readers at lost for words. The readers can really feel sad, angry and horrified as they read about the exile and fever camps, and hear of the five days of the unspeakable. But you will also feel hope that maybe, by the end of the book the people will regain hold of Lumatere. The characters are developed nicely, in a way that will have you make a soft spot for each one of them in your heart. Evanjalin and Froi were probably my favorite two characters. Evanjalin was such a strong, passionate and hopeful women/girl in the story. Anybody would envy that, and I certainly was proud to read about a strong women lead. Froi was someone who you hate at first, but then after hearing his POV you really feel for him. He's just a mischievous s little boy who envies people around him and wants to belong. Something that anyone can relate to. A lot of the situations were truthful, and how they were dealt with was faithful to how I can imagine them being laid out. Example of this is Trevanion's & Lady Beatriss relationship.
The story's narration, which was from different characters POV, was amazingly well crafted. The romance in the story (between Evanjalin & Finnikin) was really well developed. Probably the first real romance that I truly enjoyed the development of. It wasn't to slow and it wasn't to fast, it was just right. It felt honest and good.
Some of the plot twists were a bit obvious. What I would of liked to seen developed more was more knowledge of the impostor king. Who was he? I also think the battle to regain Lumatere should of been more descriptive and longer. It was a bit short, and was sort of a downer as it was what the whole book was leading up to.

Usually I don't read fantasy, I find it to confusing. I enjoyed Eragon but found it confusing. It might of been because I was young when I read it. But this novel wasn't confusing and probably the first fantasy I actually really enjoyed. I really hope there is a sequel, though this book does work as a stand-alone to. So when I was reading the author's bio, I was very surprised to find that this was her first fantasy: "I was told often that I couldn't write fantasy unless I had read all the greats and knew the conventions well, but I think the first step to writing good fantasy is knowing this world we live in well. I wanted to look closely at that---where loss of faith, loss of homeland and identity, displacement of spirit, and breakdown of community are common--- because these are the scenes in today's media that affect me most. In this sense, the book is a search for identity in the same way that my other novels are." -Melina Marchetta. You wouldn't think after reading this book, that this was her first fantasy. And if this review doesn't intrigue you enough, well then take it from Kristin Cashore: "The world of this book is dark and beautiful and utterly believable; and, as I’ve come to expect of Marchetta’s work, the characters are wonderfully complex. Here is an author who writes fantasy as well as she writes realism — and in the case of Melina Marchetta, that’s high praise, indeed!"

The last thing I want to talk about is the ending. BEST ENDING EVER. I mean I've read endings that are satisfying and good, but never really the best. This ending is the first that I really enjoyed and couldn't stop thinking about afterwords. It was romantic, funny and ends the book in a way that wants me to give it 10 stars. The last impression I had of this book, was brilliant. And I know my review probably won't sum up how amazing this book was, but I hope everyone gives this one a try.

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Yours Truly,