Monday, November 22, 2010

Review: Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

Tags: YA, boarding school, family, turf wars

Summary

Taylor Markham’s mother abandoned her by the Jellicoe School when she was eleven. Now a Year 12 student, Taylor is in charge of the Jellicoe students holding their own in a traditional turf war against the townies and the visiting Cadets. At the same time she also worries about the disappearance of Hannah, the one adult she’s close to in her life.

Interspersed with Taylor’s story is the story about five teenagers that Hannah is writing. The stories interweave beautifully as Taylor discovers what all these people have to do with her past.

Review

Everyone wants to discover life-changing things, whether they come in the form of events, people, paintings, or books. If you’re lucky, you will experience these encounters more than once.

I was lucky. I read JELLICOE ROAD. This extraordinary book changed my life, and maybe it will change yours, too.

To tell the truth, JELLICOE ROAD kind of ruins you temporarily for all other books. For several days after I finished this book, I wandered around in a daze. I picked up books, halfheartedly read the first few pages, then put them down and wandered away. Nothing seemed to match the magical dream-come-true that was genius author Melina Marchetta’s third novel.

It starts out confusingly. What’s going on? Why is there so much tension between all these people? Who are they, anyway? What do they want? Why are they so serious about their situation? But then, invariably, you’ll get sucked in. It’s probably a little like how the average person might fall in love: you can’t pinpoint exactly when someone became special to you, all you can say is that it happened, and you can’t even remember back to a time when they weren’t special to you.

The narration and plot progression of the book reads like a dream: choppy and distracted in a whimsical manner. Don’t expect a conventional story arc, or you’ll probably get really frustrated. Best if you just let it happen as it does.

JELLICOE ROAD reads like someone laughing through tears. I couldn’t help but smile as Taylor, Jonah, and the others endeared themselves to me even before I could figure out what was going on between them all, even as their painful discoveries about their tragic pasts tugged at my heartstrings.

A story this magnificent, this heartbreaking, shouldn’t have this much hope…but it does. That’s the beauty of this book. Melina Marchetta has written a book that is so much more than a simple story in words: it takes on a life of its own.

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Cath Crowley

Writing: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Plot: 5/5

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 (duh.)

Cover discussion: 4 out of 5 - Something about colors and abstractions.... oh, does it even matter, since the inside is so precious?!

HarperCollins / March 9, 2010 / Paperback (reprint) / 419pp. / $8.99

Copy bought.

29 comments:

  1. Will be picking this one up! If it is meaningful and 5 star worthy coming from you, I'm all over it!

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  2. There are tears in my eyes as I read your wonderful review. I love Jellicoe Road and your review reminds me why. Hopefully your review will inspire many more to read it!

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  3. After reading your review and Lenore's, I have put this controversial book on my list.

    Have you read Peace Like a River by Leif Enger? It's YA crossover. Both my 16 year old son and I found it very moving and exquisitely written.

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  4. i'm SO glad you liked this, this is one of my absolute favourite YA books :)

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  5. Jellicoe Road is definitely one of the best YA novels I've ever read. I've read all of Marchetta's books (at least those published in the U.S.)

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  6. Can't wait to read this one! Thanks for the great review.
    Lisa ~ YA Literature Lover

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  7. Great review. I added this on to my Goodreads list. I have not heard of this one!

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  8. I can't wait to read this. It looks amazing! Great Review!

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  9. I loved what you said about just "letting this book happen." That's exactly what you have to do to enjoy Jellicoe. You're going to be confused. You're going to get information in bits and pieces. But that is EXACTLY how the characters are feeling too. Which is why it's PERFECT if you stay patient and trust in the author. Love it!

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  10. I absolutely agree with what you say about Jellicoe Road ruining you for other books. I couldn't get into anything for ages after I finished it and still have to actively stop myself from abandoning whatever is at the top of my teetering TBR pile in order to read Jellicoe Road again. It really is one of the best books I have ever read.

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  11. Ooooooh, I was on the fence about reading this one, but now I can't wait to read it! Thanks for the fab review. :)

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  12. Yay, so glad you loved it! This is one of my favorite reads this year and I've recommending it left and right ever since I finished reading it. It was really confusing at the start but absolutely amazing when you get to the end. *sigh* Jonah Griggs!

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  13. Awesome review. This is my all time favourite book :)

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  14. Yup. Simply wonderful. I don't think anything really even compares.

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  15. I agree that this is one of the most incredible books I've ever read. As confusing as it seems at first, the plot is both quite simple yet also incredibly layered and complex.
    There are few books that I long to read again and again just to enjoy the beauty of the prose. I've already read Jellicoe Road twice, and I'm sure I will read it more.

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  16. OMG, EXACTLY. It ruined me for other books too. I was just like "Nothing is Jellicoe Road-y enough now!" Also, I read it the day before it got the Printz, so I was RIDICULOUSLY happy when that happened.

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  17. Wonderful review, Steph Su. I just read and reviewed this book a couple of weeks ago and I loved it.

    I really like the cover as well, after reading the story the cover choice had a meaning. Without the flowers the five would have never been.

    I don't usually re-read books but Jellicoe Road deserves to be read again and again.

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  19. I loved this one as well! I admit it took me a few chapters to get into because of the confusing beginning you mention but once I did it was fantastic! Very thoughtful and thought provoking.

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  20. Well! I guess I better hurry up and add this one to my wishlist!

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  21. I tried to read this awhile ago, but I found that I couldn't get into it. I'm glad you enjoyed though, I may look into it again sometime. :)

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  22. I'm so glad you loved this book.
    It is magical and life-changing and all those things you said.

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  23. Totally agree with your review and 5/5 rating. Amazing.

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  24. What a great review. Look at all those 5's. It must be really good.

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  25. Hi! I just wanted to let you know I have an award for you over at: http://librarymosaic.blogspot.com/2010/11/blog-award.html

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  26. Great review! This is one of my all-time very favorite books! I really need to reread this one, to go back and visit the awesomeness that is this book.

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  27. I just finished Jellicoe Road last night. Thanks so much for the recommendation! It was one of the best books I’ve ever read. I didn’t find it hard to follow, but it was less linear than most YA. It was more like adult literally fiction in structure, although the subject matter and perspective was genuinely teenaged. You are right about it feeling dreamlike.

    Jellicoe Road reminded me of Looking for Alaska by John Green, also a Printz winner, and another YA favorite of mine. Those two books didn’t change my life, but they may have changed my writing. Inspirational!

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Hello! I'm so excited to read what you have to say. Due to high amounts of spam, I'm forced to disabled anonymous comments for the time being. Sorry for any inconvenience this causes, and I hope you can understand and still appreciate the content here!

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