Quintana of Charyn

Quintana of Charyn by Melina Marchetta

After everything Lumatere has been through, it looks like it's on the brink of another war. Tensions have been rough with the Charynites in the valley ever since Phaedra's death.

Isaboe and Finnikin hear that Froi might have turned against Lumatere.

And Quintana is still on the run, trying to find safety, and everyone's after her, some who wish her to find safety, and many who do not.

When Quintana ends up in the valley, she's in the safest and most dangerous spot she can be. Everything depends on Isaboe's capacity for forgiveness, and to trust.

But everything's falling apart. Friends and families are fighting, and bickering. No one dares trust, and this is a plan that depends on trust, and faith.

Oh my. So many threads to follow as this trillogy comes to it's most perfect (oh, so perfect) conclusion. I like how we get little bits from Quintana's voice, in first person narration (although she's always talking to Froi during these parts.)

It's hard and it's messy, and it's utterly perfect. Because it's Marchetta, and it's a messy, brutal land that she's created. So, so heartbreaking. And perfectly wonderful

I don't want to say too much, I don't want to give it away. I couldn't even try to do it justice. If you've read the other two, don't worry-- this is an ending that's worthy in every way. If you haven't read them, go. Go now. Lumatere grows on you and sticks to the corners of your brain. I've read and reread these books, looking the devastation and beauty.


Australian copy of the book provided by... a super awesome friend

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Froi of the Exiles

Froi of the Exiles Melina Marchetta

I have been thinking about this book for months, trying to figure out this review.

It's been three years since the end of Finnikin of the Rock. Lumatere is trying to rebuild and heal, communities and families that were kept apart are slowly finding ways of being together again.

Because recovery is never easy.

The politics are worse, as Lumatere tries to find peace with the neighboring countries who turned their backs on the exiles, who didn't try to help. Plus, the ever-present threat from Charyn, which is driven ever more home by growing number of Charynites camping on banks of the stream that serves as a border.

Froi, who is now a member of the Queen's guard, is sent into a Charyn as a spy, but what he finds there is unexpected. Charyn is also living under a curse--no child has been born in nearly 18 years. Froi is sent into the heart of a royal court with a mad princess, a scheming regent, divided loyalties, estranged families, and a plot to fix everything that his very presence has ruined.

It's Marchetta, so nothing is easy or clean. No country is all good or all bad and rulers made horrible decisions based on the best information they have. Our heroes muck everything up royally and don't even know it.

Finnikin of the Rock drew me in slowly. I read it and thought "ok, it was good, not my cup of tea, but I see why people love it" but I just kept thinking about it, and turning back to reread certain sections. Before I knew it, I had reread the entire book and by the end of the weekend, it was one of my favorite books of all time.

Already in love with Lumatere and Froi, this one didn't need that slow build. It drew me in right away. I was initially disappointed because some truths about Froi's background are painfully obvious to the reader from the get-go. But there are always hidden twists and layers, so it didn't matter that I had already figured out a central piece. And as more and more goes wrong, and our characters fail us in the most human of ways.

Nothing is clean or easy and when I finished this book I screamed and threw it across the room.

And I mean that in the best possible way. Because the events are done oh-so-well and reactions are only too believable and my heart is stuck in Lumatere and I fear for everyone.

Also, I didn't realize this is the second book in a trilogy, so I THOUGHT SHE WAS GOING TO LEAVE IT THERE FOREVER. And that would just be too cruel for words.

But, in the end, Froi of the Exiles did have the slow build, because again, my initial reaction was wrong. Because after a day of stomping about, I kept thinking about it, and not just the skill that could evoke such emotions in me, but in everything else (I'm trying not to be too spoilery. Sometimes it's all in the reveal) and, once again, Marchetta drew me in and I realized that this is a worthy sequel.

I'm failing in conveying how good this book is.

Read Finnikin first, if you haven't yet, or if you're looking for an excuse to reread it, and then read Froi.

ARC Provided by... the publisher, for work stuff

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Finnikin of the Rock

Finnikin of the Rock Malina Marchetta

So... I loved Jellicoe Road and this was getting a lot of great buzz, but I wasn't going to read it. I'm kinda picky about my fantasy. I'm all over fairy tales. And fantasy that takes place in our world. But made up worlds and ancient prophecies usually aren't my thing. And if it has any sort of talking animal (dragons get a pass) then forget about it. Not that Finnikin of the Rock has talking animals, but if we're getting into my issues on fantasy... BUT this keeps showing up on people's best of the year lists so I thought I'd give it a chance.

Ten years ago, there were the 5 days of the Unspeakable. The royal family was murdered. The people people of Lumatere turned on their Forest Dweller neighbors, who worship a different goddess. They burned them out of their homes and burned their leader at the stake. Before they killed her, Seranonna cursed Lumatere. The ground cracked and swallowed people. People ran for the gates. Many were trapped. A malevolent mist surrounded the country, no one could get in or out. No one's had any news of Lumatere since then. People who left before Seranonna was killed and those who got out before the gate shut for good now live in exile camps, at the mercy of other kingdoms, ravaged by fever and often despised.

Finnikin is the son of the head of the Lumaterean guard. His father's been imprisoned since the Unspeakable. He's spent the last decade traveling throughout the kingdoms with Sir Topher, the former king's first man. He records the history and of the exiled Lumatereans and tries to advocate for them with their host governments. Then, a messenger comes whispering the name of the prince who might have survived, of Finnikin's best friend. Finnikin and Sir Topher travel to the ends of the land to a convent where they don't find the prince, but instead a novice who drives Finnikin insane, but just might lead them all home.

So, when I finished it, my first thought was "eh. I see why everyone loves it, but it's not for me." But over the next few days, I kept returning to favorite scenes and parts and I think I managed to reread the entire book multiple times so... I obviously liked it a lot more than I initially thought!

Something I noticed (and loved) in the first reading and just picked up more and more of in later readings was how relevant it is to current events. Yes, it's a fantasy, but it's a story of an exiled people.

"Then I will demand that you speak Lumateran when we are alone," Evanjalin said, interuppting his thoughts.

"Will you?" he mocked. "Any why is that?"

"Because without our language, we have lost ourselves. Who are we without our words?"

"Scum of the earth," he said bitterly. "In some kingdoms, they have removed all traces of Lumatere from the exiles. We are in their land now and will speak their tongue or none at all. Our punishment of the pathetic course of our lives."

"So men cease to speak," she said softly.

Men who in Lumatere had voices loud and passionate, who provided for their families and were respected in their villages. Now they sat in silence and relied on their children to translate for them as if they were helpless babes. Finnikin wondered what it did to a man who once stood proud. How could he pass on his stories without a language?

"And how Lumaterans loved to speak..." page 65

Overall it's beautifully done. And there is so much in here about a lost people searching for a home, racked by guilt over what happened during the Unspeakable that clearly resonates today in our world, but hope and love and heartbreak all so wonderfully done. It grew on me to where it's now one of my favorites, too.

Book Provided by... my local library

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Friday Afternoons

I have a great Poetry Friday post pre-written. I always discover it *after* I post on Poetry Friday and then I forget. Next Friday, too, I probably will write a new Poetry Friday post and then see this other one I have, waiting for me to post it. D'oh.

BUT! Tonight! I'm going to go see Megan McCafferty on book tour for Perfect Fifths, which is now out. As you may recall, I loved it.

Last night I stayed up waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay past bedtime to finish reading a book. As in 2am-past-bedtime. Can you just see me, sitting in my kitchen at 2 am with a cup of tea, bawling my eyes out? (really, I haven't cried over a book like that since The Book Thief, which was sad in a different way.)

Anyway, the book in question is

Jellicoe Road Melina Marchetta

It won this year's Printz. It totally deserved to. HOLY COW. What an awesome book.

There are two stories going on--one of a group of kids surviving a horrific car crash and their friends, and one of Taylor who has been chosen to lead the Jellicoe School in the annual Territory Wars against the Cadets and Townies. Her heart's not in it though, as Hannah, the closest thing she has to a mother, has disappeared. Also, the head of the Cadets happens to be a boy she hasn't seen this they ran away together 6 years ago, the last time Taylor tried to look for her mother.

It soon becomes apparent that the story of the survivors is the manuscript that Hannah has been working on for a long time. You then start to get the sense that the story isn't a story, but history, and you start to wonder which of the girls is Hannah and how Taylor fits into the puzzle.

At first, there is something off about Taylor and I seriously wondered about her reliability as a narrator, but the choices she makes, along with the leader of the Cadets and the leader of the Townies make this year's Territory Wars very different than years past, and in a way that made me really like Taylor.

The most devastating section is the end, when Taylor, and the reader, come face to face with what has happened between the two stories--after the end of Hannah's manuscript and before Taylor is sent to Jellicoe school, what happens between injects a sense of realism into the story and shows how special Jellicoe school really is.

I was blown away by this novel. Completely and utterly blown away. Parts are mystery, part drama, part heart-breaker, part hilarious, part realistic teen life, it rolls together in a package that is unbelievable. These characters should seem unbelievable, but their reactions to tragedy, to loss, to grief, to life, make them real. And that's the real story--how they cope (or don't) and how they survive severe loss. Some characters are a testament to the human spirit, and some are a warning sign of what can happen. Marchetta throws everything she can at her characters and their reactions are what makes this book so amazing, as we piece the story together...

Last night I dreamt of Webb.