Separated from the girl he loves and has sworn to protect, Froi and his companions travel through Charyn searching for Quintana and building an army that will secure her unborn child’s right to rule. While in the valley between two kingdoms, Quintana of Charyn and Isaboe of Lumatere come face-to-face in a showdown that will result in heartbreak for one and power for the other. The complex tangle of bloodlines, politics, and love introduced in Finnikin of the Rock and Froi of the Exiles coalesce into an engrossing climax in this final volume.
The last book of a series, I find, is almost consistently the best. In this case, despite loving the whole trilogy, I do love the third and last installment the most. It truly did bring the complicated storylines of Finnikin of the Rock and Froi of the Exiles to a complete close. The epilogue was outstanding, mysterious, leaving room for further interpretation yet at the same time, a sure closing. All the possible issues that were brought up throughout the trilogy were dealt with and resolved perfectly. But here I am going on about the end already. About the rest of the book...
Though I enjoyed the second book, the multiple point of views got in my way a little and made me slightly annoyed. In this one, the multiple point of views were all very well done. Detailed, descriptive, action-packed. It didn't make me want to hate on any of the characters. Instead, it helped me more thoroughly understand their motives and gain a deeper understanding of how complicated the plot was. Not to mention the dramatic irony that constantly came between Froi and Quintana. Like wow... Just wow.
The series as a whole definitely jumped to one of my favourites, if not my favourite. There was so much action and intrigue involved yet still a whole lot of emphasis on the relationships. There was just enough of everything. The characters were simply amazing. The reactions and actions of the characters, though I didn't like some of them, were all clearly explained and/or motivated. They were so realistic. Stubbornness, racism, uncertainty, anger. All things that I'm generally not too big a fan of in books, yet it fit the situations perfectly.
Lumatere. Wow, I'm gonna miss it. It's an absolutely beautifully crafted world. Of all the worlds in books that I have read, this might just be my favourite. The mountains, the different countries or provinces or whatever their called. The complexity of the different languages, the tension at the borders, the palaces, the great cities, the small towns, the mountains, the plains... Loved it.
If you're into fantasy and don't mind a complex and fairly long read, READ THE LUMATERE CHRONICLES. I found this book to be a lot easier to follow than the rest of the books in the series and I'm not sure if it's because of the writing style or because everything was closing up. Either way, after reading this series, Melina Marchetta definitely has a new fan in me. 5 stars, of course.
Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week has a specific topic to which bloggers make a list of their top ten books in that category.
I'm terrible with deadlines. See, I had last week's Top Ten Tuesday almost ready... And then I forgot to finish and post it. This week, I made it my goal to finish it on time. And here I was, Monday night, desperately trying to finish it. Procrastination ftw. This week's topic is Top Ten Book Turn-offs.
1) Tiny Words, Full Pages - The size of books generally don't daunt me too much. I'm willing to read a 600-paged, 3-inch thick book if it's good enough, but it has to have a decent-sized text with space in between each line. If it's hard to read the text, let alone follow the storyline, I can never seem to concentrate. Though that's just me.
2) Multiple POV's - I don't always hate these. Sometimes they're actually done really well and the characters are deep and realistic enough. However, most books that have multiple POV's do eventually get on my nerves. One character's chapter almost always seems to be more thrilling and action-packed than the other. And the other is generally frustrating with some stubborn person who refuses to change their views. It makes it a bit realistic at times but most of the time it just makes me want to skip certain chapters of a book.
3) Love Triangles - It's not that they're always bad... But there are those times when they're just so cheesy and stupid that they simply don't work. Oftentimes, the third wheel(the person who is basically the main character's competition) is made so ridiculously flawed that it's no wonder that the main character gets the girl/guy.
4) Popular Girls/Cliques - These are already annoying in real life. Do I really need to read about them?
5) Stupid Main Characters - Dramatic irony is one thing. Stupid unjustified decisions that seem to lengthen the plot merely because the author felt like writing a longer book is another.
6) Unrealistic Characters - Maybe they're almost like superheroes(even if they're not really supposed to be) or maybe they befriend people WAY to quickly to be real. Either way, if odd characters distract from the main plot, it's a big turn off for me.
7) Nothing Happens - You know those books where you're constantly waiting for something mindblowing and exciting to happen? And you keep waiting? And you're struggling through the book and you realize that you're already more than halfway through the book and nothing has happened? Yeah, hate those.
8) Train of Thought - My thoughts are hard enough to follow in my own mind, so when there's a story that jumps all over the place like the author just happened to ramble on about something and then change subjects, I find it hard to follow. It's cool sometimes, but not for a whole book...
9) Incorrect Facts - It's really funny when some author uses some facts of some sort to try to make a point or explanation in the story. It's even funnier when the facts are fake when they're not supposed to be.
10) Quotations - One or two quotes are okay. Or even a small quote at the beginning of the chapter. But when you quote a big hunk of poetry and then discuss it, it's a little too much. Or even slightly lesser cases. Basically, write your own stuff. Quotes distract from the story.
Those are my turn-offs. What are yours? Link me to your TTT in the comments below. :)
