Synopsis via Goodreads :
At the age of nine, Finnikin is warned by the gods that he must sacrifice a pound of flesh in order to save the royal house of his homeland, Lumatere.
And so he stands on the rock of three wonders with his childhood friend Prince Balthazar and the prince's cousin, Lucian, and together they mix their blood. And Lumatere is safe.
Until the 'five days of the unspeakable', when the King and Queen and their children are slaughtered in the palace. And an imposter king takes the throne.
And a curse is put on Lumatere, which traps those caught inside and forces thousands of others to roam the land as exiles, dying of fever and persecution in foreign camps.
But ten years later Finnikin is led to another rock to meet the young novice, Evanjalin. A girl plagued by dark dreams, who holds the key to their return to the Land of light..
I was really excited to read this one because I had heard nothing but good reviews for it. Unfortunately, it didn't quiiiiite live up to my expectations. The writing had a classic fantasy novel feel to it and it kind of reminded me of The Lord of the Rings trilogy-- one of my all time favorite obsessions! The story itself, however, was nowhere near as outstanding as Tolkien's classic tale. Now, the story isn't bad. It's just very.... boring. Very boring. In fact, it was so dry and dull that I found myself flipping through the pages glossy-eyed and falling asleep. It wasn't until the last few chapters that it really started to get interesting for me. I mean, I know everyone wants to hump Melina Marchetta's leg because she's such an amazing writer or whatever, but based on what I have read in this book and in her Printz-winning Jellicoe Road, I think that she tries way too hard. Both of these stories were boring and hard to follow until the very end. This being said, the endings of both books really are excellent. I guess I'm just the type of girl who likes to enjoy an entire book rather than just the end. Must be a brunette thing.
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