Review: Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta

Book: Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta
Genre: YA Fantasy
Rating: *****
For: Fun
From: the library

I really loved this book. To me, this is what a perfect fantasy book should be. The magic isn't really over the top, the world building doesn't take over the story, the characters are real, the politics aren't complicated, the plot is intriguing and the story is moving. Did I say I loved it? I loved it.

The book starts out giving us a glimpse of some terrible event that happened a few years (ten or so I think) previous in the history of our characters. Finnikin, who was a child at the time, is now a young man wandering the countryside with his mentor trying to round up their scattered people. Their kingdom has been shattered by this event, and in fact, has been cursed and shut off from the outside. So not only do we have the scattered refugees on the outsides, but there are also the lost people who were left inside the gates. What's become of  them? The question haunts our Finnikin.

As the story opens, Finnikin and Sir Topher (the mentor and former King's First Man) arrive at a convent of sorts to answer a strange message Finnikin received about someone there who they needed to consult. When they arrive, they find out it's a young novice girl who has taken a vow of silence and who is having night visions that their prince is still alive and out there. They decide to take her with them so they can hopefully, finally, find the prince and restore their kingdom.

This is, to say the least, an unexpected turn of events, which, as you may guess, leads them to all sorts of adventures and twists and turns.

Well, I suppose I can officially say I'm a Melina Marchetta fan. I loved Jellicoe Road and I loved this one. I know there's more and I need to keep this experiment going! (And look, the next book is out in a couple of weeks!) I think she has an amazing way with words and a style that completely draws me and makes me a part of the book. I always have a hard time articulating how this happens with some books and not with others, and it's so frustrating, but just know, that for me, it happens in this book! I'm so glad I finally fit it in, after being anxious to read it for a long long time.

Bottom line: Loved it!

Other Reviews:

One Librarian's Book Reviews
Chachic's Book Nook
Angieville (who, GASP, did not like it!)
Janicu's Book Blog