Book Review: Froi of the Exiles by Melina Marchetta

WARNING: THIS REVIEW MIGHT CONTAIN MILD SPOILERS ABOUT FINNIKIN OF THE ROCK

US Cover

At First Sight: Three years after the events of Finnikin of the Rock, Froi has found a home next to the Queen Isaboe and Finnikin, with Trevanion, Perri and the rest of the Queen's guard. They have given him a purpose in life, turning him in to a warrior and a weapon to avenge the people of Lumatere, to right all the wrongs that were done during the days of the curse and the exile.

So, when he's given the chance to do this once more, to infiltrate into Charyn -the neighboring kingdom, the one responsible for the atrocities that took place - and kill it's king, Froi goes, unaware that his life is about to change.

And so is the perception everyone has of Charyn. Known for it's savagery, Charyn has been facing it's own curse for the last 18 years and it's a curse that's about the come to a head, with potential to destroy everything. Which is why a lot of people from Charyn are leaving their country, and making a refugee camp in the valley between the two countries, asking to be admitted into Lumatere so they can start over.

Australian Cover

In Charyn itself, Froi is finding a lot more about himself and the Princess Quintana, and Charyn as a whole, and the terrible heartbreak they have been living in for the past 18 years, and suddenly things aren't black and white anymore.

Second Glance: I've made a really poor job of summarizing Froi of the Exiles, I know this but I don't want to spoil too much and I know that if I go into more detail, I will, but let me tell you that the story is about so much more than just Froi and Charyn yet they are both are at the core of everything, as is Quintana. 

There are at least other two strong sub plots going on, one revolving about Trevanion and Beatriss - their story was heartbreaking and made me cry but also filled me with hope, I LOVED it.

And the other is about the Queen's cousin Lucian of the Monts and his unwanted wife Phaedra of Alonso, and I have to say that Phaedra is my new favorite character, her story and her choices left me absolutely gutted, and it's in great part because of Lucian and her that I wish the third book of the Lumatere Chronicles - Quintana of Charyn - were here already.

Also, I want to point out that with Finnikin, I had a problem with the pace, I often felt like there were these lulls in the narrative where nothing happened and then everything seemed to happen at once. That pace problem is gone from Froi, it grabs you from page one and doesn't let go till the very end, flowing from one chapter to another, for one persepctive to another in such a way that there is no way to put down this book. 

Bottom Line: I'm not a fantasy girl, but I loved Froi of the Exiles, cliffhanger ending at all. At the end of Finnikin of the Rock, I would have been okay if there wasn't another book of this series, but after Froi, I can't wait for Quintana, to be back in this work and to see how it all turns out. This is truly an amazing book. Froi of the Exiles is already out in Australia and will be published out int he US on March 13rd, 2012.