Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta

I loved this book and could not put it down. It was a book set it a world of different kingdoms with the good ones and the bad ones, battling each other or ignoring each other, and rich and poor. Finnikin is the protagonist who at the age of nine loses everything dear to him, including his homeland. After a curse and the five days of the unspeakable, Finnikin does nothing but try and right a wrong he feels responsible for. Then, it fast forwards years until hes a man with a plan to make a second homeland for his people. He has good intentions.

A girl, Evanjalin, is a burden thrown upon Finnikin and all he wants is to drop her off somewhere else so he can back to his life. The girl drives him nuts which makes it hilarious. Slowly, Evanjalin becomes a girl who has a vow of silence to a strong chick who tells all the men around her what to do. Both are hardheaded and stubborn so you know there is some awesome scenes and dialogue that had me laughing and waiting for the next crazy thing they do.

I really enjoyed Finnikin of the Rock, if you are fan of Kristen Cashore's Graceling and Fire I think you will like this one too.

At the age of nine, Finnikin is warned by the gods that he must sacrifice a pound of flesh in order to save the royal house of his homeland, Lumatere. And so he stands on the rock of three wonders with his childhood friend Prince Balthazar and the prince's cousin, Lucian, and together they mix their blood. And Lumatere is safe.

Until the 'five days of the unspeakable', when the King and Queen and their children are slaughtered in the palace. And an imposter king takes the throne.
And a curse is put on Lumatere, which traps those caught inside and forces thousands of others to roam the land as exiles, dying of fever and persecution in foreign camps.

But ten years later Finnikin is led to another rock to meet the young novice, Evanjalin. A girl plagued by dark dreams, who holds the key to their return to the Land of light...