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Book Review: Jellicoe Road – Melina Marchetta


Jellicoe Road
Author: Melina Marchetta
Series: None
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Mystery
Release Date: August 26, 2008
Publisher: HarperTeen

Goodreads | Amazon | TBD

Summary:

“What do you want from me?” he asks. What I want from every person in my life, I want to tell him. More.
Abandoned by her mother on Jellicoe Road when she was eleven, Taylor Markham, now seventeen, is finally being confronted with her past. But as the reluctant leader of her boarding school dorm, there isn’t a lot of time for introspection. And while Hannah, the closest adult Taylor has to family, has disappeared, Jonah Griggs is back in town, moody stares and all.
In this absorbing story by Melina Marchetta, nothing is as it seems and every clue leads to more questions as Taylor tries to work out the connection between her mother dumping her, Hannah finding her then and her sudden departure now, a mysterious stranger who once whispered something in her ear, a boy in her dreams, five kids who lived on Jellicoe Road eighteen years ago, and the maddening and magnetic Jonah Griggs, who knows her better than she thinks he does. If Taylor can put together the pieces of her past, she might just be able to change her future.

 
First Sentence: My father took one hundred and thirty-two minutes to die.

My Review:

When I first started book blogging, one of the first books I’ve heard mentioned all over the place was Jellicoe Road. Even after reading Jellicoe Road‘s summary, I had absolutely no idea why it was so loved; I just knew that I had to read it and see what the fuss was about. It took me six long years to finally read it, but I get what the fuss is about. Jellicoe Road is a book that’ll stay with you for a very long time, and I don’t say this lightly. No wonder it won the Printz Award.

When you see your parents zipped up in black body bags on the Jellicoe Road like they’re some kind of garbage, don’t you know?
Wonder dies. (2)

I’ve seen so many people complaining about the first half of the book, saying that it was confusing and that’s the hardest part you have to get through to get to the good part. However, I didn’t find the first half of the book confusing at all. Sure, I had to reread two to three pages once or twice to understand what, exactly, was going on, but I was able to grasp things quite easily and take it as it is without thinking too much. When the explanations slowly came pouring in, it all clicked, but I certainly didn’t find the first half ultimately confusing or a turnoff.

As soon as the first round of explanations came pouring in, I easily predicted the rest of the book and everything just came together. However, predicting what was what, who was who, etc. etc. didn’t make Jellicoe Road boring or extremely predictable for me; I just wanted to continue reading on, eager to find out more.

I want to give every single character in Jellicoe Road a hug. They are all extremely precious, from Taylor trying desperately to put a brave front on even though all she wants to do is to crawl up tight into a ball and cry to sweet, dear Narnie who had to go through so much. I want to tell Jonah Griggs that I adore him and his support for Taylor and shake Fitz because WHAT ARE YOU DOING BOY.

I begin walking out of the room and they’re on my tail. “I want cow,” I tell them.
“Cows?” (193)

Even though I gave Jellicoe Road a rating of 3.5 stars – originally three stars but bumped it up half a star – I’m still thinking about the book. To be honest, as I was writing my review for Jellicoe Road and was searching up the summary for the book, I got goosebumps just reading it. Jellicoe Road is a book that’ll leave an impact on you, something that I never thought would happen to me because most books I’ve read rarely do that. If I’m still thinking about Jellicoe Road when this review gets published, I’ll have to bump my rating up to a solid four stars.

threepointfive

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-Kelly

Posted by Kelly on 5-13-17 · 4 Comments
Categories: 2008 book, book review Tagged: 3.5 star

« Let’s Speculate: Bookish Goodies
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Speak Your Mind

  1. Beth W says

    5-14-17 at 1:18 AM

    I’m so glad you loved it! I felt the same way. Out of curiosity, given you liked it so much, why 3.5 stars out of 5?
    Beth W recently posted…Book Review: The Darkest MindsMy Profile

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      5-25-17 at 6:00 PM

      I don’t know really – there’s just something that kept me from giving it more than 3.5 stars. Jellicoe Road has a lot of things I love in a book: strong friendships, a great mystery, and a perfect guy, but I just couldn’t give it more than 3.5 stars. Honestly, ten days after reading Jellicoe Road, I still don’t know if I want to keep the book on my shelves.
      Kelly recently posted…Book Review: Jellicoe Road – Melina MarchettaMy Profile

      Reply
  2. Kelly says

    5-21-17 at 1:50 PM

    This is totally on my TBR as one I HAVE to read, considering everyone and their dog seems to talk about it when you first start book blogging. My question would echo Beth’s above…why only 3.5 stars?
    Kelly recently posted…Book Review: Everything, EverythingMy Profile

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      5-25-17 at 6:01 PM

      Haha, that was EXACTLY why I read Jellicoe Road the first place; otherwise I wouldn’t even touch it.
      Like I just told Beth just now, I don’t really know why I gave Jellicoe Road only 3.5 stars – there’s just something that kept me from giving it more. Jellicoe Road has a lot of things I love in a book: strong friendships, a great mystery, and a perfect guy, but I just couldn’t give it more than 3.5 stars. Honestly, ten days after reading Jellicoe Road, I still don’t know if I want to keep the book on my shelves.
      Kelly recently posted…Book Review: Jellicoe Road – Melina MarchettaMy Profile

      Reply

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