Book Lover Recommends: Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

At age eleven, Taylor Markham was abandoned by her mother. At fourteen, she ran away from boarding school, only to be tracked down and brought back by a mysterious stranger. Now seventeen, Taylor's the reluctant leader of her school's underground community, whose annual territory war with the Townies and visiting Cadets has just begun. This year, though, the Cadets are led by Jonah Griggs, and Taylor can't avoid his intense gaze for long. To make matters worse, Hannah, the one adult Taylor trusts, has disappeared. But if Taylor can piece together the clues Hannah left behind, the truth she uncovers might not just settle her past, but also change her future.

My thoughts

My first word upon finishing this book was "wow!" and then I sat a bit in stunned silence. This book.. I don't even think I have words to describe it. I think amazing might do, though it doesn't really seem to cover it proberly. No wonder this book won the Printz Award for excellence.

When I started reading Jellicoe Road I was so confused, and that made it pretty hard to get into it. But I thought I'd give it a few more chapters, before I gave up. And I'm so glad I did! While I was still somewhat confused after a couple more chapters, I was so intrigued by the story and the writing that I couldn't stop reading. Then suddenly everything started to make sense, and the book became this big puzzle where you need all the pieces to understand the full picture. And when you've collected them all you can just sit back and admire this masterpiece.

Marchetta brilliantly weaves together past, present and dreams, and I loved how everything was slowly revealed and put together. There were some minor plots that seemed random at the time, but in the end turns out to be essential or profound to the story - and I was totally taken aback. Most impressive was how all the threads were tied and connected in the end, and how all questions were eventually answered.

All the characters in the book were equally amazing. None of them were perfect, and they were so real. They all had their part to play and had importance to the story. I was kind of surprised by many of them; and how some of them were actually so very differently than how they first appear. There were also some major growth to some of the characters, like Taylor, she really grew into an awesome person, and I liked how she eventually figured out what exactly was important to her, and how she looked past the things she was missing and valued the things she already had.

Jellicoe Road is a truly amazingly perfect book that I don't think I can recommend enough.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆