Melina Marchetta

Finnikin of the rock

Ten years after he pledges an oath in blood to protect Lumatere, Finnikin's cursed kingdom is at the mercy of a murderous imposter. He and his mentor must enlist the help of Evanjalin, an enigmatic young woman who claims the heir to the throne still lives. As Finnikin fights for the truth, he must also contend with his own feelings for her.

Finnikin of the Rock

Maria

3.75/4 overall 

i enjoyed this a lot, it is definitely very different from marchetta’s other works, but she does such a good job of encapsulating the grief and tragedy of a people ripped from their home. 

heres what bothered me though and it might be bc i’ve been in a weird reading mood: a lot of the scenes or things that were happening just felt disjointed, or like they were being thrown at me and i thought maybe i hadn’t been paying attention, but then i would go back to read it again, and it would still feel so sudden. like why is this suddenly coming up. and there were scenes that still left me baffled like what was all that with evanjalin and the priest-king falling sick and the dream sequence? i have no clue what was going on there. i think i definitely have to go back and reread some parts.

Vicky  Nuñez 

Melina Marchetta can do no wrong. 

Having just finished this book I am speechless in how to express how much I loved it.

FINNIKIN OF THE ROCK is one of the most beautiful fantasy novels I've read in a while. It rendered me helpless to laugh & cry along the characters. And I seriously recommend everyone to read it asap.

Zahra

THIS BOOK DESERVES ALL THE STARS.

I loved everything about it. The plot, the pace, the characters, the writing. Especially the writing. Having read the author's other book, Saving Francesca, I've always loved her writing style. No beautiful prose or lyrical writing, nothing like that. She just has her way with words that got me attached to the story that it was hard for me to put the book down even for a moment.

Full review to come.

'A wonderful story full of hauntingly vivid characters and landscapes. The romantic touches are likely to cause swooning... This is addictive, highly recommended reading for teens and adults.' Sydney Morning Herald Finnikin of the Rock and his guardian, Sir Topher, have not been home to their beloved Lumatere for ten years. Not since the dark days when the royal family was murdered and the kingdom put under a terrible curse. But then Finnikin is summoned to meet Evanjalin, a young woman with an incredible claim: the heir to the throne of Lumatere, Prince Balthazar, is alive. Evanjalin is determined to return home and she is the only one who can lead them to the heir. As they journey together, Finnikin is affected by her arrogance . . . and her hope. He begins to believe he will see his childhood friend, Prince Balthazar, again. And that their cursed people will be able to enter Lumatere and be reunited with those trapped inside. He even believes he will find his imprisoned father. But Evanjalin is not what she seems. And the truth will test not only Finnikin's faith in her . . . but in himself. A brilliant, compelling and powerful new novel from the best-selling, multi-award winning author of Looking for Alibrandi, Saving Francesca and On the Jellicoe Road.

mercy

i don’t think i’ve read another fantasy book with THIS much heart and SUCH tenderness but honestly i shouldn’t have expected any less from the queen of making me bawl my eyes out melina marchetta

Rachel Kanyid

I liked this book for the most part, and I definitely loved the premise, but I felt lost while reading it. 
Maybe the writing style could have been a little less scattered? I'm not sure. 
It just didn't hold my attention, and I kept on having to go back and re-read pages to follow what was going on.

Annwyn Jensen

Such a good book!! Why didn’t I read it sooner?

baelgia

What made Finnikin of the Rock so absolutely stunning is not the weird Fantasy names of the characters and places; not the war or the curse or the prophecy; but rather, how the characters are developed and how the characters seem to breathe life into the pages.

Laura Luchian

Beautiful story, breathtaking! It takes you easily and you never know when it was that you lost to it... can't work, can't sleep, can't stop wondering what will happen. :) Speak of men' foolishnes and brutality, and yet about their honour and strength; speak of women' tenderness and deceivableness, and yet about their wisdom and a strength that is many times greater than anyone can imagine, even men. (Review goes for all 3 chronicles as a whole)

Shelby Goodwin

Hands down best book I’ve read this year. I was exclaiming, laughing, crying like a crazy person from start to finish. Thankfully my husband is used to these sorts of outbursts because I’m serious—they were certainly more abundant during this read. 

Characters are utterly believable and lovable. Every.single.one. An extremely diverse cast, I feel like representation was absolutely achieved by this incredible author. The relationships were beautiful. The love story presented in this book hit me in my actual soul, my stomach dropped and flipped and filled with butterflies on multiple occasions. Absolutely no eye-rollingly stupid romance and thank goodness: YA fantasy lit needs more of this kind of romance. 

The plot was wonderfully engrossing and compelling. Plenty of twists and turns and although I did correctly guess the biggest reveal, there wasn’t anything predictable about this book.

I truly have zero complaints and I wish I could erase my memory and read it all over again. Just read it, ok? It’s freaking perfect.

задумка хорошая, а вот воплощение так себе. развивается все медленно, приключения скучные, персонажи плосковатые, магия объяснена невнятно. вторую читать неохота (хотя в отзывах хвалят). думаю, что попробую другую книгу этого автора - а то вдруг это та же история, что и с мэгги стифвотер, которую все обожают, а я не могу

Olivera Mitić

Anastaciya

I anticipated more... It was hard to read, the pacing was weird, I didn't connect with any of the characters. I don't care much what happens next in the series. Think I'll pass.

Luisina Rivoira

More like 4.5 stars maybe? I think I needed more development and information near the end, it kind of skipped over some things I was interested in knowing more about. Still overall the story is very engaging, with characters who have faults and feel real, which makes it impossible not to root for them. Brilliant writing! I have too many feelings right now and can't say more than that without becoming a blubbering mess. READ IT!

b.andherbooks

I listened to this on audio book and alas, the narrator wasn't exactly what I was hoping for, especially since this is one of my favorite books. BUT, I still love how listening to a favorite book helps my brain slow down and absorb the story in a different way than when I read it. 

Re-read 04.06.15 - 04.07.15. Just as gut wrenching and beautiful as I remembered, and having the knowledge of the final outcome made each scene even more heartbreaking and full of hope. The language in this book just makes me want to underline every single sentence and remember it forever. One of my favs.

A dark fantasy world reminiscent of Game of Thrones and post WWII-Europe.

Ten years ago an imposter king invaded and massacred the royal family of Lumatere and exiled one half of its citizens. With no where to go and with a curse preventing them from reentering the kingdom, these exiles suffer in "fever camps" and have no land to call their own. Persecuted, slaughtered, sick, and starving these exiles fear they have no hope. A son of the murdered king's Captain escaped the massacre as a boy and now travels with the King's First Man throughout the land to gather a census of the exiles and try to find them a new home. Finnikin of the Rock, bound by a blood pledge to the throne of Lumatere will soon find himself on a quest to bring the Lumaterans back to their true homeland as he finds out that an heir may still be alive.

Beautiful language, artistic setting, and excellent world building abound. The relationships between the various characters are emotional and all-consuming. These people have been through so much, yet their faith and love toward one another remain so strong. A scene between Finnikin and his father was so simply stated, yet made the heart weep. And don't even get me started on Finnikin and Evanjalin's relationship. Complicated, argumentative, and sizzling. Yow. 
“He just watched the way Finnikin’s hands rested on Evanjalin’s neck and he rubbed his thumb along her jaw and the way his tongue seemed to disappear inside her mouth as if he needed a part of her to breathe himself.” Erotic (yet tasteful) but I would still recommend for those aged 15+.

As someone who has no trouble with 900 page tomes, I wish Marchetta would have spent a bit more time building the mythology and world, but hopefully in the sequel!

Pamela Alvarado

There are no words. 

Somehow, this author managed to excel in writing beautiful prose, conveying a powerful message, portraying so amazing characters and making me swoon with the romance. I didn't feel as though this book was solely focused on one thing, be it characters, plot, a love story, or action. It adressed each as it should, as if it was life. 

At first, I wasn't sure this would make it to my favorites. I loved the prose, but it was a little slow for me. Maybe I just wasn't allowing myself to enjoy it... Meh.

But shit hit the fan pretty hard in part two and I completely changed my mind. Cannot wait to get my hands on Froi of the Exiles.

Finnikin of the rock

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