Review: Quintana of Charyn by Melina Marchetta

  Quintana of Charyn by Melina Marchetta
  Publisher: Viking Australia
  Publication date: September 26th 2012
  My rating: 5 stars

 

 There's a babe in my belly that whispers the valley, Froi. I follow the whispers and come to the road . . .

Separated from the girl he loves and has sworn to protect, Froi must travel through Charyn to search for Quintana, the mother of Charyn's unborn king, and protect her against those who will do anything to gain power. But what happens when loyalty to family and country conflict? When the forces marshalled in Charyn's war gather and threaten to involve the whole of the land, including Lumatere, only Froi can set things right, with the help of those he loves.

My heart was filled with joy, and did a happy dance at the end of this story!  Quintana of Charyn was AMAZING!  I knew it would be, but I’m still stunned at how much I loved this story!  There are just no words adequate enough.   Still, I have to say, I’m sad to let this series go. 

For those of you who read Froi, you know we were left with so many things up in the air.  Quintana and Froi’s fates were unknown.  And after witnessing Phaedra and Lucian’s love creep up and grow right before our eyes, we were left with such a cruel situation at the end of Froi!! I was rooting for them the whole time, anxious to get back to their story each time the story switched focus.  They are my favorite couple in the series.  But I was invested in every relationship.  There are so many beloved characters, and with Melina’s gifted writing, she made me care about EACH and EVERY ONE!  I was even concerned about the traitors and their outcomes.      

Quintana had its share of revelations, plot twists, and action packed scenes that were filled with danger.  I was biting the sides of my cheeks in nervous anticipation!  But where Melina shines is in creating characters and relationships that are so compelling, you’re riveted to the pages to see what happens next.   My heart would shatter from cold brutality, and then would warm back up with immense kindness, love or fierce protection shown by someone completely unexpected.

What never ceased to surprise me were the bits of clever and subtle humor that’s laced throughout.  I’d be chuckling one minute, and crying the next.  The things that would come out of Quintana’s mouth were priceless!  When she outed Phaedra to Perri and Tesadora, I was laughing and cringing at the same time.  I loved the exchange between Lucian and Perri when Lucian supposedly wanted a peaceful and quite walk down to the valley.  I think one more word, and Perri might have cut Lucian’s tongue out!  I could go on and on.  You just need to read this for yourself!

If you haven’t picked up this series, I highly recommend that you do.  Melina Marchetta is one of my all-time favorite writers, and this does not disappoint.  I only hope that she plans on writing more books but I’m scared because I haven’t heard of anything in the works.

Favorite Quotes:

“Do you love me?” he asked instead. “Because if you don’t, I’d wait until you did. I’d wait weeks and months and years.”

“Bathe?” The Princess stared at Cora, all savage teeth. “If you place my head under water, I’ll-“

“Yes, yes.  You’ll slice us from ear to ear.”  Cora said, dismissively.  “We’ve heard it before.  Up you get.”

“Is that how you feel about your Mont?”

“I don’t want to talk about him,” Phaedra said quietly.

“He’s very handsome.”

Phaedra had to agree and, glancing at Quintana, she thought that perhaps the Princess wasn’t so bad after all.

“It’s a pity about his swiving, though.”

“Why are you smiling?”---

“Because today, I think I’m leaning on the side of wonder.”