Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta

Finnikin of the Rock (The Lumatere Chronicles, #1)

by Melina Marchetta

2008 Printz Award Winner Melina Marchetta crafts an epic fantasy of ancient magic, exile, feudal intrigue, and romance that rivets from the first page.

Finnikin was only a child during the five days of the unspeakable, when the royal family of Lumatere were brutally murdered, and an imposter seized the throne. Now a curse binds all who remain inside Lumatere’s walls, and those who escaped roam the surrounding lands as exiles, persecuted and despairing, dying by the thousands in fever camps. In a narrative crackling with the tension of an imminent storm, Finnikin, now on the cusp of manhood, is compelled to join forces with an arrogant and enigmatic young novice named Evanjalin, who claims that her dark dreams will lead the exiles to a surviving royal child and a way to pierce the cursed barrier and regain the land of Lumatere. But Evanjalin’s unpredictable behavior suggests that she 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.

Reviewed by Angie on

3 of 5 stars

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Finnikin of the Rock was one of those books that I was extremely nervous to pick up because everyone seems to love it. Well, I sadly don't understand the hype. It was a good book, and I enjoyed it for the most part, but honestly, a lot of it was boring. High Fantasy by nature tends to be slow, with a lot of build up, which I do enjoy, but in this case I had a hard time getting into it. I would say that I didn't became invested in the story until the three-quarter mark, which is a long time to wait for a plot to get going. I do think that part of my problem was that I didn't care for Finnikin at all. What really made this book for me was Evanjalin and I started to become fond of Froi also. Without them this would have been a pretty lame read.

Finnikin of the Rock is not just a fantasy, adventure novel. It's very much a tale about dealing with loss, reclaiming your present, and building a better future. The kingdom of Lumatere has gone thought a terrible ordeal where the entire royal family was slaughtered, an imposter king as taken the throne and is terrorizing the people, a curse has trapped many citizens within the city walls, while others are left as refugees, scattered throughout other kingdoms. Now rumors that the prince, and rightful heir, is still alive and Finnikin must find him and bring him back. The only one with the knowledge of his whereabouts is a novice of the goddess, who has taken a vow of silence and has the ability to "walk the sleep" of the people trapped in Lumatere.

Once Evanjalin breaks her vow and starts talking, I adored her! I wasn't sure if I should trust her at first, since she is not what she seems at all. Finnikin is suspicious of her as well after catching her in a few lies. However, I admired the way Evanjalin would do what needs to be done in order to move forward. She's smart, fiesty, cunning, and manipulative, which isn't always a bad thing. She doesn't take crap from anyone, and I was always interested in what she would do next. Like I said at the beginning, she is the best part of the entire book, and she's the one running things on the mission with Finnikin. Girl power!

Froi is another character that I came to really enjoy. I despised him the beginning. He was just another thief and does some pretty horrible things to Evanjalin. Eventually she puts him in his place though! She does some awful things to him in the process, but she always came back for him. As the book moved on Froi's loyalty to her cements and while he's still not the smartest or most likeable person, I still enjoyed him as a character. Our hero on the other hand...well, I don't know why but I just don't like Finnikin. He's stuck in the past and stubborn. Yes, he went through some awful things as a kid, but so did everyone else in the book! He just refuses to move on or accept his destiny.

The romance was also disappointing. It's not in the forefront at all. It is there, but beyond underdeveloped. It's not insta-love which makes its lack of page time worse. Finnikin is just all of a sudden in love with Evanjalin, which should come as no surprise since she's the only female character around. We don't even get to see their epic moment from Finnikin's POV. We see it through Froi's eyes, which was simultaneously interesting and disappointing. However, the last handful of pages were super adorable. I loved their little romantic banter.

Maybe my expectations were too high, but Finnikin of the Rock didn't turn out how I was expecting. It drags in many places, but there are action scenes scattered throughout. There's also some humor there which kept it from being too dark. While I couldn't bring myself to care for the title character, Evanjalin certainly steals the show, and her journey is definitely worth the time spent reading. It does end neatly and happily despite being part of a series, at least for Finnikin and Evanjalin. However, after finishing the final book, I actually ended up liking this one less. It feels very disconnected from the other two books, and feels more like an extended prologue. The only important bits to come from Finnikin of the Rock, in my mind, were meeting the characters and establishing the bond between Froi and Evanjalin. Neither of which required 400 pages.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

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  • Started reading
  • 21 June, 2013: Finished reading
  • 21 June, 2013: Reviewed