Hi everyone, it's Farah and today I'm going to be sharing my thoughts on Jellicoe
Road by Melina Marchetta. I've recently read this and it stayed on my
mind for a while. I've read a bunch of Melina Marchetta books. I read the
Lumatere Chronicles, it's a trilogy, a YA fantasy. I also read Saving Francesca, a
contemporary coming-of-age. And now I've read Jellicoe Road and I am convinced
that she is one of my favorite authors. This story follows Taylor Markham who
lives on Jellicoe road it's a boarding house for... I want to say children in need,
children in difficult circumstances. She was left by her mother in a 7-eleven six
years before the start of this book, and then taken in by Hanna, who also
works nearby the boarding school. At the same time there seems to
be a territory war between the people from the boarding school, the Jellicoe
Road ,the Townies, the people who live in town, and the cadets who come and visit,
in the summer I believe. I'm not really sure. This book can start off
being really really confusing. For the first hundred or so pages, I was reading
without really understanding much but you were still trying to get to know the
character Taylor and understanding that she's got a lot of issues. There's this
big mystery about where she comes from, who her mother is, why her mother left
her, who her father is, etc... She's come from a really
difficult childhood and because of that it really affects her personality and
she pushes everyone around her, away but when Hanna ,essentially her caretaker,
disappears one day without a note or anything,
Taylor starts to fall apart. At the same time one of the cadets Jonah Griggs
returns with the cadets and you realize that her and him have history and he
seems changed. He seems different. And you're basically plunged into this world,
into this story, into this plot, sort of in the middle of it happening so there's
all of this backstory that you don't actually learn about until after the fact but
I feel like Melina Marchetta gave you just enough to confuse you at the
beginning, keep you reading, and then answering all of these questions. I felt
that the characters were very well developed and fleshed out but some of
the other characters, you can see that they have history, you want to see more
of it you want to see more of that history. You want to get a better, clearer
understanding of it, but she doesn't, Melina Marchetta
doesn't always share that and it's not necessarily a bad thing but it just
kind of makes you want a little bit more from the story. But you also start to
understand the nature of Jonah Griggs and Taylor's history as well together,
and her history with Hannah, but also at the same time you start to realize that
she gets all of these flashbacks. These little moments and memories. And as a
child, of course, you don't really have a great collection of memories because, you
know, memories fade as you grow up. She has all of these unanswered questions
about her past and she's got these collection of memories to go by and to
solve that mystery of her past by and the way that it all comes together is
really interesting. I love the interactions between the characters. I
love the mystery in the way that it develops. You start to get the story
about four other characters. You don't know if this is real or if it's
temporary. You don't know how it relates to Taylor at all. But it just
all comes together. Like I said I've mentioned the interactions between the
characters or high schoolers. They're all kids more or less but the interaction
between them is so true to themselves. You know how high school kids these
days when you read a YA a or you watch TV shows they're so mature. They're so
much older than their age but these kids can be kids. These kids can be immature.
These kids can be kids, you know? And it comes across, because when I'm reading
this, I'm reminded of my friends from high school I'm reminded of my friends
in high school and university. I'm reminded of my childhood and how I was around kids,
how the boys were in class, how they act and stuff, and I really loved that. And
that's the thing. This this book was hilarious at times. Like really really
funny, laugh-out-loud funny because of that. Because it reminded me so much of
my school days, but at the same time it could be so emotional.
There were times that just broke my heart, and one tear slipping... because
the writing style is so evocative, it's so heart-wrenching. This is all written
in first person POV and I thought that that was done really well. So when you see that
sort of breakdown of the self, when you start to get answers, it's almost like
you don't want to. When things start to clear up
it just becomes really really interesting. When I first started it, and
I was very confused, I didn't think I'd like it. I was like oh my god I think
this is... I think this is not gonna be a really good read. I think it's gonna be
one of the ones that just don't click with me. But as a contemporary, it
really really clicked with me, and resonated with me because it deals with
very basic human emotions such as the need for love and comfort and safety
and belonging. There's always this question of being alone in this world
and having someone care if you disappear. So yeah, I actually really enjoyed this
book, guys. It really left a profound impact. Yes. So, go read it if you haven't.
It's a really good one. I really enjoyed it. So those were my thoughts on
the book. I hope you guys enjoyed this review, and I'll see you with my next one.
Bye!
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