Goodreads Description:
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.
The moving, joyous and brilliantly compelling new novel from the best-selling, multi-award-winning author of Looking for Alibrandi and Saving Francesca.
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.
The moving, joyous and brilliantly compelling new novel from the best-selling, multi-award-winning author of Looking for Alibrandi and Saving Francesca.
Author: Melina Marchetta
Genre: Contemporary, YA, Coming of age
Format: Paperback
Pages: 300 pages
Publisher: Penguin Australia
Source: Purchased from Dymocks
The first 100 more or less pages were the hardest. Its very confusing but get past those pages and the story picks up and gets better.
Publisher: Penguin Australia
Source: Purchased from Dymocks
The first 100 more or less pages were the hardest. Its very confusing but get past those pages and the story picks up and gets better.
On the Jellicoe road is a provoking, emotional and beautiful coming of age story! It takes a while but its worth the wait.
Following Taylor who's mum abandons her when she was eleven at a 7-11 On Jellicoe Road, lives at a boarding school in NSW and is looking for her friend and guardian Hannah who suddenly disappeared.
The book started out very confusing with Taylor having all of this 'dreams' and that it switches between the story and Hannah's unfinished manuscript.
It started out like an inception where you ponder your thoughts on how reliable the narration is as its freaking confusing.
Even so, the story gets better once it picks up. I like how the both stories connects as once it does and you understand the link to what's happening, and see the bigger picture which is its mind blowing.
Taylor is a complex but emotional and broken girl who is trying to find her friend and 'parent figure' Hannah. Along the way questions about the parents starts to unravel. I was not found of Taylor and could not connect to her character till the last one third of the book. Still she has been trough a lot and is strong and independent.
Jonah Grigg is just as emotional and broken as Taylor is and the more we learn about his dark past the more you feel for him.
I find the characters in the book one of the hardest to connect with. Even so I like how the author written them out as they were all complex with a lot of layers to unravel before you get to their core and you understand and maybe even care for them.
Reading this reminds me a bit of Holes by Louis Sachar where we have multiple stories that connect to a bigger picture but also with the style it was written.
Also when I was done with the book I re read the first 100 pages and it all clicks easier!
Also when I was done with the book I re read the first 100 pages and it all clicks easier!
Overall its a great story and I see why its names an 'aussie ya classic'.
Pick this up as its provoking, mysterious, sophisticated and breath taking beautifully written book.
I found this book really hard to get into because it was all hazy and hard to understand what was going on, but I appreciated the creativity of it all. Wonderful review Rou!
ReplyDeleteGOSH YES! everyone told me its hard at the start and i had just a hard time picturing what's going on but when I was done with the book it all clicks! Looking forward to reading more of Melina Marchetta books! Thanks for checking out :D
Delete