• I’m a little confused about who exactly Finnikin is and how he relates to the Lumatere (going into this with no idea what it’s about. I didn’t even read the summary).
  • Oooooh, so I accidentally skipped the prologue. It makes way more sense now

    😂

  • Finnikin is not likable IMO. He’s kind of irritating.
  • Well I have high hopes for Finnikin, since he’s pretty sexist but recognizes he didn’t like Evanjalin “taking charge” hopefully he can change his paradigms and just be thankful she was also thinking of a plan and took initiative.
  • Finnikin: impatient, little perseverance (never seems to be patient for long), demanding but doesn’t want anyone to demanded anything of him.
  • It’s hard to work out Finnikin and Evanjalin’s relationship. It seems like they’re sometimes friends? But then other times they detest each other. But it’s also not loathing?
  • I feel like Evanjalin sees right through Finnikin and the reason he doesn’t like her is because he realizes he can’t pretend to be anything other than what he is in front of her.
  • I’m not sure what exactly is going on. They’re going to assemble his Father’s guard so then they can have an audience with the King of Belegonia or that was just the Duke’s deal, but they aren’t going to take it?
  • Wow, so I really have no idea what just happened. Evanjalin said to do what the guards want and now it’s clear Finnikin’s in prison, but why is she allowed in to talk to his father? And also where are the thief and Sir Topher? Also how are Finnikin and his father going to get out? Or his father is going to help him get out, but he’s always chained to 6 other men when outside the mines?
  • I’m confused about the mines. They’re said to be the harshest place to be, a place of fear. But Finnikin’s injuries haven’t been mentioned or posed a challenge?
  • The escape seemed a little too easy. A little too simple? No alarms were raised when they killed the guards?
  • I don’t understand the layout of the scenes. Like when they see the thief at the riverside naked and freezing. Finnikin and Evanjalin are standing by the river and they’ve cut the thief’s binds (who still doesn’t have a name half way into the book btw)— who’s going to be sold into slavery—and one of the slave masters hits the thief for talking to them and asking Finnikin and Evanjalin to kill him, and then the next moment (by the way there was no description like “Oh they moved to the other side of the river” or something) they’re going to throw a dagger at him and try to kill him but I thought they were standing right next to the slave and also won’t one of the slave masters intercede?
  • And now the slave is sold and they’re going to rescue him from his master because as Evanjalin pointed out yes it’s a lot easier to fight one master than a ton of slave sellers. But when was the thief even bought?
  • Finnikin’s vanity knows no end.
  • Were they even looking for the priest-King?
  • I think I figured out why this book bothers me so much. I don’t understand the motives or the plot points. All of a sudden they need to accomplish this goal or that goal when there’s no foreshadowing, and I don’t even understand how this will help the characters accomplish their goals. First they need Trevanion to storm the kingdom and then they all of a sudden need the priest-king? Sir Torcher use to be a main character, but now it’s like his opinion doesn’t matter?
  • Also are we just going to ignore the fact that everyone seems to trust Froi and no one has a problem that he tried to rape Evanjalin?
  • DNF @ Part 2. I think that’s like 300 pages in? I really wanted to like this one. I heard great things about it, but Finnikin is annoying af and Evanjalin, like we hardly know anything about her? The plot doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.