Review: Finnikin of the Rock

Title:  Finnikin of the Rock

Author:  Melina Marchetta
Publisher:  Candlewick Press
Your Age Recommendation:  15+
Publication Date:  February 2010
Available for Kindle?: Yes
Pages:  399

Copy:  eBook
My Rating:  5/5
Reviewer: Angela

Synopsis:

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.

Angela’s Review:

Here’s the thing with Melina Marchetta: If there’s one thing about her stories that I can say, without a doubt, it’s that she has this innate ability to pull and pull and pull, ever-so-gently, at your heartstrings until all of a sudden, in a sudden flurry, you realize her characters own a little piece of your heart and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it.

Finnikin of the Rock, her first foray into fantasy, was no exception to this rule.

The reader is introduced to the world of Lumatere, a place that’s been ripped apart at the seams. Kings have been murdered, people are missing, the people of the gods are at war, and Finnikin of the Rock finds himself at the center of it all. His past and his present seem to collide in ways that he is absolutely uncomfortable with, and he’s forced to deal with it all, all while attempting to reconcile feelings that are stirring regarding a certain girl.

As is usually the case with Marchetta’s words and myself, it took a while for me to feel really vested. There were bits that pulled me in almost immediately – Evajalin being a key to that, actually. She was so intriguing; there was so much quiet depth to her, it felt like I was missing something very important, something that defined her, as a character, for the whole of the book, and when that defining aspect of her, as a person, was realized, it came with literal tears and heart fluttering and all of the above.

Finnikin is an unwilling hero. He does what he does out of duty, not some sappy, overly emotional drive. And even once he has (finally) admitted to himself that there’s something to love, that life isn’t just a list of duties and expectations, the transition is quiet, observable in his behavior as much as his speech. That’s another thing I love about Marchetta’s writing: Her characters are full and flushed out, and you’d know immediately if they did a single thing, no matter how small, that was out of line with their personalities. Her characters are just that well defined.

The story, and the world of Lumatere, is engrossing; I found it teetering on the precipice between terrifyingly dark and astonishingly beautiful. Slavery and sickness paired with a beautiful mythology; Sleep Walkers and displaced boys who find their identities within the pages.

It was beautiful. And intense. And sort of impossible at points.

All of this is why Marchetta is an author I know I can trust. Where others may make you feel cheated by ending things on terrible cliffhangers, or leave characters standing in the midst of their own potential without exploring it, I know she will execute her stories in insanely lovely and accurate ways.

I look forward to the follow up novels, without a doubt.