Froi of the Exiles by Melina Marchetta

Blood sings to blood, Froi . . .
Those born last will make the first . . .
For Charyn will be barren no more.

Three years after the curse on Lumatere was lifted, Froi has found his home... Or so he believes...

Fiercely loyal to the Queen and Finnikin, Froi has been trained roughly and lovingly by the Guard sworn to protect the royal family, and has learned to control his quick temper. But when he is sent on a secretive mission to the kingdom of Charyn, nothing could have prepared him for what he finds. Here he encounters a damaged people who are not who they seem, and must unravel both the dark bonds of kinship and the mysteries of a half-mad Princess.

And in this barren and mysterious place, he will discover that there is a song sleeping in his blood, and though Froi would rather not, the time has come to listen.

Gripping and intense, complex and richly imagined, Froi of the Exiles is a dazzling sequel to Finnikin of the Rock, from the internationally best-selling and multi-award-winning author of Looking for Alibrandi, Saving Francesca, On the Jellicoe Road and The Piper's Son.

Sometimes I feel like Marchetta books should come with a public health warning.

"Marchetta Fever," it would say.

"Symptoms include: pain, aching or burning in the chest region indicating a broken heart.

Uncontrollable weeping, both happy and sad, may occur frequently.  More serious cases run the risk of having their mind blown.

This condition has no known cure."

That's me.  That's me with every single one of these books.

I went into my local bookstore to order me some Marchetta this year.  Let me explain the community I live in.  The largest shopping center has, I kid you not, FIVE lingerie stores.  Stores entirely devoted to selling ladies underwear and such accessories.  It has one tiny bookstore.  A bookstore that is going out of business.  A bookstore that had no fewer than ten copies of  A Shore Thing and Confessions of a Guidette.  Did they have any Marchetta or Laini Taylor?  No.  One paperback copy of Froi of the Exiles was tucked away somewhere. This is a travesty.  This should be considered a Federal Crime.  The Unicorn Squad needs to get on that shit and put someone away in the Candy Cane House of Pain for violating awesomeness.

Marchetta's books are more than just readable, well-written, well-characterized novels of great spirit and imagination.  There is a beauty to them, a magic to them which wafts through every sentence of every page.  It's not just finely crafted writing, though it is that too.  It's a living, beating heart and beautiful but broken soul.

Does it matter that this book was 600 pages long?  Not to me.  Not when every page was breath-takingly spectacular. The themes are almost always the same.  Loss, pain, healing, family, loyalty.  I love the complication and depth of her characterization.

Whatever it is that Marchetta does, it speaks to me.  It touches me in parts of my heart that I had locked away and worked hard to forget.  Sometimes it hurts but she always, always remembers to patch me up again when she's finished.

So, if you're feeling a little lacklustre about your reading selection, why don't you try getting yourself a case of Marchetta fever?  It just might be what cures you.