Review: Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta

"Finnikin of the Rock and his guardian, Sir Topher, have not been home to their beloved Lumatere for ten years. Not since the dark days when the royal family was murdered and the kingdom put under a terrible curse. But then Finnikin is summoned to meet Evanjalin, a young woman with an incredible claim: the heir to the throne of Lumatere, Prince Balthazar, is alive.

Evanjalin is determined to return home and she is the only one who can lead them to the heir. As they journey together, Finnikin is affected by her arrogance . . . and her hope. He begins to believe he will see his childhood friend, Prince Balthazar, again. And that their cursed people will be able to enter Lumatere and be reunited with those trapped inside. He even believes he will find his imprisoned father.

But Evanjalin is not what she seems. And the truth will test not only Finnikin's faith in her . . . but in himself."

I've been looking for a good fantasy series for awhile; I never really got into Game of Thrones (especially with the tv show now and questionable themes turn me off even more) and when I saw that my library had Finnikin of the Rock, I decided to give it a chance. Hot damn, am I glad I did.

My first thought when I ended the book was "this is how you write fantasy". I understand that fantasy worlds are often medieval in type, and questionable things happened in the medieval world, but you can write a successful book, or book series, without having characters die on every page and destroying female characters.

Yes, the book took a bit to fully understand everything that was going on. A couple of times while I was reading, I had to stop and be like "wait what" and re-read a sentence. But, I'm a werido and sometimes enjoy taking awhile to get into a book, if the book shows promise and that the further you get into the book, you find out more about the world, and thats what this book did. The further you got, the more pieces of puzzle you received.

I'm not gonna lie, the fact that they took Evanjalin's word regardless, even though most of the characters at some point were all "she's a liar!!!!! she doesn't have the sight!!!!" was a little annoying, and very repetitive. However, I did enjoy that Marchetta didn't create weak female characters; every female character in the novel was strong, not afraid to rule, and not afraid to be bossy, it was fantastic.

The slow-burn was also quite nice, even though the romantic theme seemed to be thrown in just to be thrown in. I think the book would of been fine without the romantic notion, but I understand how it fits into the plot in its own weird way. Could the plot have been re-worked to survive without the romance? Yes, but Marchetta wrote the romance tastefully, so it worked well, in my opinion.

This book is like, 4.25. Not a four, but not a four point five, I'm just going to create a rating because I can.

Review: The Young Elites by Marie Lu

"I am tired of being used, hurt, and cast aside.

Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever. A decade ago, the deadly illness swept through her nation. Most of the infected perished, while many of the children who survived were left with strange markings. Adelina’s black hair turned silver, her lashes went pale, and now she has only a jagged scar where her left eye once was. Her cruel father believes she is a malfetto, an abomination, ruining their family’s good name and standing in the way of their fortune. But some of the fever’s survivors are rumored to possess more than just scars—they are believed to have mysterious and powerful gifts, and though their identities remain secret, they have come to be called the Young Elites.

Teren Santoro works for the king. As Leader of the Inquisition Axis, it is his job to seek out the Young Elites, to destroy them before they destroy the nation. He believes the Young Elites to be dangerous and vengeful, but it’s Teren who may possess the darkest secret of all.

Enzo Valenciano is a member of the Dagger Society. This secret sect of Young Elites seeks out others like them before the Inquisition Axis can. But when the Daggers find Adelina, they discover someone with powers like they’ve never seen.

Adelina wants to believe Enzo is on her side, and that Teren is the true enemy. But the lives of these three will collide in unexpected ways, as each fights a very different and personal battle. But of one thing they are all certain: Adelina has abilities that shouldn’t belong in this world. A vengeful blackness in her heart. And a desire to destroy all who dare to cross her.

It is my turn to use. My turn to hurt."

Back in 2014, when I read the Legend Series for the first time, Marie Lu quickly became one of my favorite authors. I was pretty late to the game, and The Young Elites was basically coming out by the time I finished the trilogy. Lo and behold, another year later, I finally managed to read it.

Right away, the story hooked me. The idea that none of the characters were innately good fascinated me. They aren't the typical heroes; The Young Elites are shunned by society because of what they were turned into (something they couldn't control) and because of that, they aren't afraid to do what's needed, even if it is morally compromising. Adelina leads the group for being one of the most fascinating, and rightly so. Most of the book is about her story, and its interesting to see her battle with the darkness inside her, embracing it when she uses her power, and not knowing the results of her embracing the darkness that festers inside her. Her transformation at the end of the book was jaw dropping, and also refreshing, in a world where the female characters are typically seen as the morally good characters.

Another interesting component of the book was the friendship between Adelina and Raffaele, in that it was completely, totally, platonic. There was no one sided liking or such, which basically had me screaming from the mountains, because its an element that is missing from a lot of YA books. Raffaele himself is also an interesting character. Right away, he knew shit would go down if they accepted Adelina into the fold, and when it does go down, he does whats best for the remaining Young Elites. There's not "we can fix this!!!!" talk, which is quite refreshing.

The rest of the characters were equally dynamic. I wanted to punch Teren pretty much THE WHOLE BOOK, and I couldn't really form an opinion on Enzo because every time his name was said, I would think of Ezio from Assassin's Creed 2 (who lets face it, is pretty epic).

Marie Lu continued to impress, giving us this gritty, realistic fantasy world. I'm excited for the sequel, which knowing me, will take me till 2016 to read.

Review: The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

"Winning what you want may cost you everything you love...

As a general’s daughter in a vast empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers, seventeen-year-old Kestrel has two choices: she can join the military or get married. But Kestrel has other intentions.

One day, she is startled to find a kindred spirit in a young slave up for auction. Arin’s eyes seem to defy everything and everyone. Following her instinct, Kestrel buys him—with unexpected consequences. It’s not long before she has to hide her growing love for Arin.

But he, too, has a secret, and Kestrel quickly learns that the price she paid for a fellow human is much higher than she ever could have imagined.

Set in a richly imagined new world, The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski is a story of deadly games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart."

It was so, so exciting to be able to read a book and enjoy it so much. I've been seeing this book (and the series) getting so much hype around the booktube and blogger community, and it was so thrilling to be able to sit down and read this book and just appreciate it so much.

The writing was one thing that dragged me into the novel right away. Usually POV changes can annoy me fairly quickly if they aren't done correctly, but Rutkoski created such a clear definition between Kestrel and Arin's thoughts that it was easy to keep the two separate. With a plot that needed both sides of the story to be explained so we could see how both halves of the world lived, the Dual POV was very much needed, and it brought the story to another level by having it be so effective.

The characters and the world building were also done fantastically well. Kestrel and Arin were both well developed, and so were some of the side characters. Little moments between Kestrel and her father, and also Kestrel and her friends, not only developed Kestrel as a character, but also them. The world building was also great; just enough to keep you interested, but at the same time not enough so you were anxious to keep reading and find out more.

Surprisingly, I also enjoyed the elements of the love story in the book. It helped build on the plot, it didn't hinder it, and it also didn't hinder Kestrel as a character, and I loved how she used the fact that Arin loved her to her advantage. The plot twist at the end of the book threw me for a loop, and it was the perfect way to end the first book in a trilogy.

I can't wait to read the next two books, solid 4 out of 5 stars.