Author: Melina Marchetta
Classification: YA Fiction, Fantasy
Source: Bought
Classification: YA Fiction, Fantasy
Source: Bought
Overall Grade:
A+
Would I recommend it?
I will not be your friend if you don't read it.
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My Thoughts:
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Summary (from Goodreads):
At the age of nine, Finnikin is warned by the gods that he must sacrifice a pound of flesh to save his kingdom. He stands on the rock of the three wonders with his friend Prince Balthazar and Balthazar's cousin, Lucian, and together they mix their blood to safeguard Lumatere.
But all safety is shattered during the five days of the unspeakable, when the king and queen and their children are brutally murdered in the palace. An impostor seizes the throne, a curse binds all who remain inside Lumatere's walls, and those who escape are left to roam the land as exiles, dying by the thousands in fever camps.
Ten years later, Finnikin is summoned to another rock—to meet Evanjalin, a young novice with a startling claim: Balthazar, heir to the throne of Lumatere, is alive. This arrogant young woman claims she'll lead Finnikin and his mentor, Sir Topher, to the prince. Instead, her leadership points them perilously toward home. Does Finnikin dare believe that Lumatere might one day rise united? Evanjalin 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.
In a bold departure from her acclaimed contemporary novels, Printz Medalist Melina Marchetta has crafted an epic fantasy of ancient magic, feudal intrigue, romance, and bloodshed that will rivet you from the first page.
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My Thoughts:
Amazing. This book is amazing. How amazing, you ask? Well, if your favorite YA paranormal author (Maggie Stiefvater for me) or YA contemporary author (Cath Crowley) wrote a book outside of their usual genre, would you read it? Would you read a mystery written by Walt Whitman, or J.K. Rowling's poetry?
Okay, so maybe I'm moving away from the point, because these questions provoke a whole new set of ideas which, while I would love to discuss them, are not exactly on topic.
In many of the cases above, you would most likely say NO. No, I don't want to read Stephanie Meyer's new literary fiction. No, I do not want to watch Michael Jordan play baseball. No, I do not want to buy a car made by Hewlett Packard.
But in this case, where author of contemporary young adult fiction, Melina Marchetta, creates a new fantasy novel, the results are spectacular, rather than disappointing and confusing.
This is probably because the main difference between the fantasy and contemporary genres is world building. In her contemporary work, Marchetta is great at building the world of a novel based on the characters in them, what they notice about their childhood home, whether or not they talk to the bum on the corner, what each piece of a city feels like to them.
In Finnikin of the Rock, the world building is more centered on the characters in the land of Lumatere, what happened to them, how they tell their stories, if they tell them at all, and what they must do in the future to secure their place in this imaginative world. It's like the best contemporary novel you've ever read, with sword fighting, magic, prophesies, royalty, intrigue, mystery, and a stunning romance.
While it does take a few chapters to get fully immersed in the story, and it can be difficult to imagine where each nation is located in this new world, once you are hooked, there is no turning back. You must follow Finnikin and Evanjalin to the end!
Please read this book. If not for the fantasy, which is not the strongest point of this novel, for the people of Lumatere!
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PS: This novel has a redhead HERO!!
Overall Grade:
A+
Would I recommend it?
I will not be your friend if you don't read it.
(Full Disclosure: Any books purchased from Amazon through the links on this page will result in a small commission to me.)
This one has been on my TBR list forever! I need to read it already! :)
ReplyDeleteYes, Suey! This book is so freakin' good!! Crack it open already!! :)
ReplyDelete