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A review by aggressive_nostalgia
Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta
4.0
This is a complicated book for me to review, because my feelings were very mixed about it for the first half, and while I thought the second half was better technically, I had misgivings at the end of a completely different type.
Although the first part of this book was interesting, I found it slow and full of weird pacing – but the last third or so was mind-blowingly good. Another reviewer said that Finnikin is at its core a book about people, not about a world or a plot, and I think that's why I found it a success in the end.
The characters are each highly flawed in real and honestly ugly ways, and yet each have different flavors of bravery and honesty and beauty. They all undergo a journey in which they have to come to terms with themselves, and in which they have to make hard, sometimes awful, choices. Each character speaks with a distinct voice, and on the few occasions it splits off to a different narrator it still flows smoothly into the course of the story. I don't love all the characters, but I really believe in them.
The part of the book dealing with everything that comes after is a legitimate masterpiece, in my opinion. It is heartbreaking (a word I don't use lightly; I cried over it twice, which hasn't happened to me since the first time I read [author:Megan Whalen Turner]) and also surprisingly funny (sometimes outright hilarious, especially for one with a dry sense of humor). It's complex without being pretentious. The ending is hopeful, if not strictly happy in the traditional sense – and while it's not a cliffhanger, it does feel like there is more story to be told, because real people are never finished people. The climax of the novel is not the climax of their story.
Finnikindoes not pull any punches (meaning, don't listen to the audiobook within earshot of your kid siblings. Oops). There is no ready supply of simple forgiveness. There are no easy solutions served up by destiny. There are no purehearted innocents that rise up to be champions. There is lots of violence; there is swearing; there are frank, uncomfortable discussions of periods and sex (consensual and otherwise). I don't necessarily dislike this; I think Marchetta includes these elements because they make her characters more human, and not just for spice. The novel has lots of dark things in it, but unlike many superficially similar works, it never loses its focus on the characters by becoming about the dark things.
I did dislike some aspects of Marchetta's style; sometimes she used more flamboyant and figurative language than was necessary and her dialogue seemed unrealistically oratorical from time to time. However, it was not strong enough to put me off her books for good, and I'm pretty sure it would have bothered me less if I had been reading it in print rather than listening to the audiobook.
I struggled with this book not because I didn't enjoy it, but because it's hard. I am a person who holds up forgiveness and mercy as ideals, and I believe that justice is a far bigger concept than simply punishing wrongdoing, and those themes are not what win the day in this book (except maybe amongst the main heroes, but that is almost a variation of interpretation, certainly not stated outright). Grudges are held. Revenge is had. But redemption and healing are very present, too. This book explores what it means for broken people to do things for the greater good; that is a really complex idea. In the end, I can't help admiring this novel even as I am a little unsettled by it. Even as I disagree with it, it resonates with me.
I'd wouldn't recommend this casually. It's not a fun fantasy; it's a beautiful, dark, heart-wringing book that should make you think. And (flowery-prose warts and all) I do plan on picking up the next in the series (in print this time!).
Although the first part of this book was interesting, I found it slow and full of weird pacing – but the last third or so was mind-blowingly good. Another reviewer said that Finnikin is at its core a book about people, not about a world or a plot, and I think that's why I found it a success in the end.
The characters are each highly flawed in real and honestly ugly ways, and yet each have different flavors of bravery and honesty and beauty. They all undergo a journey in which they have to come to terms with themselves, and in which they have to make hard, sometimes awful, choices. Each character speaks with a distinct voice, and on the few occasions it splits off to a different narrator it still flows smoothly into the course of the story. I don't love all the characters, but I really believe in them.
The part of the book dealing with everything that comes after
Spoiler
the revelation of Evanjalin's lie about BalthasarFinnikindoes not pull any punches (meaning, don't listen to the audiobook within earshot of your kid siblings. Oops). There is no ready supply of simple forgiveness. There are no easy solutions served up by destiny. There are no purehearted innocents that rise up to be champions. There is lots of violence; there is swearing; there are frank, uncomfortable discussions of periods and sex (consensual and otherwise). I don't necessarily dislike this; I think Marchetta includes these elements because they make her characters more human, and not just for spice. The novel has lots of dark things in it, but unlike many superficially similar works, it never loses its focus on the characters by becoming about the dark things.
I did dislike some aspects of Marchetta's style; sometimes she used more flamboyant and figurative language than was necessary and her dialogue seemed unrealistically oratorical from time to time. However, it was not strong enough to put me off her books for good, and I'm pretty sure it would have bothered me less if I had been reading it in print rather than listening to the audiobook.
I struggled with this book not because I didn't enjoy it, but because it's hard. I am a person who holds up forgiveness and mercy as ideals, and I believe that justice is a far bigger concept than simply punishing wrongdoing, and those themes are not what win the day in this book (except maybe amongst the main heroes, but that is almost a variation of interpretation, certainly not stated outright). Grudges are held. Revenge is had. But redemption and healing are very present, too. This book explores what it means for broken people to do things for the greater good; that is a really complex idea. In the end, I can't help admiring this novel even as I am a little unsettled by it. Even as I disagree with it, it resonates with me.
I'd wouldn't recommend this casually. It's not a fun fantasy; it's a beautiful, dark, heart-wringing book that should make you think. And (flowery-prose warts and all) I do plan on picking up the next in the series (in print this time!).