Sunday, January 2, 2011

Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta


Jellicoe Road was one of those interesting books that doesn't leave you right away. You wake up thinking about it later.

But with that said, I can't wrap my brain around how I truly feel about it.

Great writing. Yes.

Cool setting. Yes.

Confused through most of it. Yes.

Main characters deeply developed. Yes.

Interesting plot. Yes.

Didn't understand who all the secondary characters were or what had happened to them until the very last page. Yes. Literally.

I'm willing to admit my confusion may have been thanks to my own intelligence meter. I probably missed something important or just wasn't sharp enough to catch on. I feel pretty idiotic writing this review because I know most people who have read it adored this book. That's exactly why I stuck with it when after the first few chapters I put it down with the thought, "I am so lost right now it's not even funny."

Still, I can see the beauty in it. And I liked the main character. She was different and interesting.

I gave the book 4-stars on Goodreads and I'd like to read more Melina Marchetta. I was far from hating this book, but I'm not slobbering over it, either. If anyone else has read it, I'd love to hear your opinion.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I haven't read this one yet, but I absolutely loved Looking For Allibrandi. I definitely recommend it!

Ashley said...

Oh! I absolutely LOVED this book! I was completely blown away when I read it. I also read Saving Francesca, which is less abstract, more straight forward than Jellicoe Road, but also has some great characterization and writing.

Sigh... I want to reread this one, I just loved it so much...