Reread Review: Jellicoe Road
Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
Publication Date: August 28th, 2006
Rating: 5(million)/5 stars
Part of a series? Nope!
Goodreads / Buy links: Amazon - Barnes and Noble - The Book Depository
I'm dreaming of the boy in the tree. I tell him stories. About the Jellicoe School and the Townies and the Cadets from a school in Sydney. I tell him about the war between us for territory. And I tell him about Hannah, who lives in the unfinished house by the river. Hannah, who is too young to be hiding away from the world. Hannah, who found me on the Jellicoe Road six years ago.
Taylor is leader of the boarders at the Jellicoe School. She has to keep the upper hand in the territory wars and deal with Jonah Griggs - the enigmatic leader of the cadets, and someone she thought she would never see again.
And now Hannah, the person Taylor had come to rely on, has disappeared. Taylor's only clue is a manuscript about five kids who lived in Jellicoe eighteen years ago. She needs to find out more, but this means confronting her own story, making sense of her strange, recurring dream, and finding her mother - who abandoned her on the Jellicoe Road.
Taylor is leader of the boarders at the Jellicoe School. She has to keep the upper hand in the territory wars and deal with Jonah Griggs - the enigmatic leader of the cadets, and someone she thought she would never see again.
And now Hannah, the person Taylor had come to rely on, has disappeared. Taylor's only clue is a manuscript about five kids who lived in Jellicoe eighteen years ago. She needs to find out more, but this means confronting her own story, making sense of her strange, recurring dream, and finding her mother - who abandoned her on the Jellicoe Road.
Back in mid-2013, before my blogging or even Goodreadsing days, I was casually scrolling through Tumblr when I came across this quote:
I was intrigued, so I Googled it and found out it was from On the Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta. I immediately downloaded the book on my Nook and started reading it. I was finished a few hours later, and I was a sobbing mess. It's my favorite book, and I've reread it so many times, my most recent reread being this weekend, but I realized that I haven't dedicated a post to talking about it. So that's what this is!
*Warning: This is going to be majorly gushy, all over the place, and possibly spoilery.*
I loved this book from the very first time I read it, but I will admit it was a bit confusing, especially in the first half. Now that I've reread Jellicoe Road multiple times, I know how things play out, and I can connect things from the beginning to the parts closer to the end. And even though I have read it as much as I have, the emotions it evokes are still as strong, if not stronger, than they were the first time around. Marchetta's writing is brilliant like that. If you're a fan of Gayle Forman or Leigh Bardugo or Sarah J. Maas, to name just a few who do this, you know what I'm talking about; they break your heart in the most beautiful ways. And Jellicoe Road does that too. It hurts so good.
Marchetta weaves two storylines with two groups of kids from different backgrounds together so exquisitely. It was so easy to fall in love with these characters and become totally immersed in their stories. And their relationships with each other were so well written as well. The friendships, the romance, the family relationships, the character growth, all of it is amazing. I also love that the story largely revolves around the idea that family isn't just people you're related to by blood. You don't have to be born into a family or in a place to belong there. I think that's a really important message to send out, especially today when there are tons of non traditional families out there.
And finally, my favorite thing about this book is, drum roll please, Jonah Griggs! JONAH GRIGGS IS WONDERFUL AND PRECIOUS AND I LOVE HIM SO MUCH, K THX BYE.
And, yeah. Those are some of my feelings about the pure awesomeness that is Jellicoe Road. If you'd like to chat about it (because I'm ALWAYS up for chatting about this), hit me up on Twitter or leave a comment. Come talk feels with me!
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