Review: Froi of the Exiles by Melina Marchetta

Book: Froi of the Exiles by Melina Marchetta
Genre: Fantasy (marketed as YA, but I think it should be adult)
Rating: ★★★★☆
 For: Fun
From: the library

This story continues in the world that began with Finnikin of the Rock. It starts out three years later, after everything from the first story is pretty much settled. Well, mostly settled. Somehow, a guy from the enemy kingdom shows up and is captured, and when they learn from him what's going on over in his kingdom, they (our heroes) decide that their king needs to be assassinated!

And guess who gets to do the job? Froi! In the first book, he was a good for nothing, raggedy, boy thief that Finnikin and company just happened to pick up along the way. During these past three years, however, he as grown to be quite the smart boy, and not only does he know several languages now, he also has become quite the fighting machine. This, among other reasons, makes him the best choice to infiltrate the enemy kingdom and get rid of the bad king who is causing all the strife amongst the kingdoms.

When Froi gets there, he begins to learn things that change everything! The plot gets deeper and deeper until my head was quite spinning! So many crazy events happened in the past that now affect all the stuff going on that Froi doesn't know what he is supposed to do anymore. In fact, he himself is much more wrapped up in everything than he would have ever imagined.

The story is absolutely incredible, and while I sometimes had a hard time keeping everything straight, I was also loving every minute of it. I will never understand how authors can have such things in their heads! It's totally amazing to me. The book is surprisingly huge (nearly 600 pages,) and that's because this story is so complicated. And actually, it ends with things just getting going! Yes, one of THOSE books!

While the first book, Finnikin, had a nice ending spot, this book should really be considered the first part of a two parter. So beware that those of you who are especially bugged by this!

I totally enjoyed this book not only because of the very unique and intriguing characters, but also because of the wonderful writing that is easy to follow, even with the complicated plot. But, as mentioned above, even though this book is found on the teen shelf, I feel it is much more of an adult fantasy, not only because of the complicated plot, but also the disturbing subject matter. Who decides these things anyway? It baffles me!

Bottom line: I totally enjoyed it!

Other Reviews:

Janicu's Book Blog
Chachic's Book Nook
The Readventurer