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4.22 AVERAGE
4.22 AVERAGE
Jellicoe Road. En bok som blev så hyllad för något år sedan att det var i stort sett omöjligt att låta den passera. Jag har dragit mig för att läsa den. Mest för att det är otäckt att läsa en bok som i stort sett alla bara älskar, men också för att samma människor sagt att den är svår att komma in i. Jag vet inte vad jag förväntade mig, men det var fel. Läs mer på min blogg
THIS BOOK IS EVERYTHING. Jonah Griggs! Ben! Raffy! Chaz Santangelo! Jessa McKenzie! Jimmy Hailler! (Shut up about Jimmy already; he's not in this book!) Narnie, Webb, Fitz, Tate, and Jude. And of course, Taylor Markham, one of the most hard-working contemporary YA protags I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. This is the book that brought me to the Church of Melina. I re-read it every so often and bawl my eyes out every time. (P.S. Unrelated but when's Jimmy getting a book?)
I can see why people like this book, I really can.
But.... "you have to read half the book before it starts to make sense." Ugh. No. I feel like I made an investment that just didn't pay off. Maybe this would've been better in paper (almost undoubtedly). It took me far too long to realize that there were two narrators. Everything's jumbled in time to boot. I get why this was a thing, I just don't think it was at all worth the trouble.
Plus the whole "mystery" of the book wouldn't have existed if one goddamned adult had sat down with Taylor and told her things she had every right to know right from the start!! What the hell!! Tell the damn girl what's up with her life!
And the selective amnesia thing? What?
Taylor was a terrible character. She started off whiny and self-pitying but mostly ok and ended up a hellish, egocentric brat who somehow comes off as spoiled, of all things, despite having a rough childhood.
Everything is overly dramatic and syrupy. It was like reading a regular book put through a honey-gold filter. "There was wonder in x character's face" and everything is so fucking beautiful it "takes my breath away" or "makes me ache." Jesus fucking christ. It's like a poetic teenager wrote this. Everything is pretty but also, LYKE, THE BIGGEST DEAL EVAH.
It's actually written pretty well, though (structure notwithstanding). That's the only reason I made it through the first half and the only reason it's getting 2 stars. With 50 minutes left in the book, I was finally ready to DNF. And goddamnit, I'd come that far, I'd be damned if I didn't finish it (and I did). But I hated the story up to that point, I hated where the story was going, I hated the stupid things that the adults had done, I hated Taylor, I still didn't give a shit about any of the characters, and I'M STILL MAD ABOUT THE CAT.
Tl;dr: I regret finishing it. Hated the MC, didn't care about the characters or the story, still mad about the cat. Writing's pretty. But too pretty.
But.... "you have to read half the book before it starts to make sense." Ugh. No. I feel like I made an investment that just didn't pay off. Maybe this would've been better in paper (almost undoubtedly). It took me far too long to realize that there were two narrators. Everything's jumbled in time to boot. I get why this was a thing, I just don't think it was at all worth the trouble.
Plus the whole "mystery" of the book wouldn't have existed if one goddamned adult had sat down with Taylor and told her things she had every right to know right from the start!! What the hell!! Tell the damn girl what's up with her life!
And the selective amnesia thing? What?
Taylor was a terrible character. She started off whiny and self-pitying but mostly ok and ended up a hellish, egocentric brat who somehow comes off as spoiled, of all things, despite having a rough childhood.
Everything is overly dramatic and syrupy. It was like reading a regular book put through a honey-gold filter. "There was wonder in x character's face" and everything is so fucking beautiful it "takes my breath away" or "makes me ache." Jesus fucking christ. It's like a poetic teenager wrote this. Everything is pretty but also, LYKE, THE BIGGEST DEAL EVAH.
It's actually written pretty well, though (structure notwithstanding). That's the only reason I made it through the first half and the only reason it's getting 2 stars. With 50 minutes left in the book, I was finally ready to DNF. And goddamnit, I'd come that far, I'd be damned if I didn't finish it (and I did). But I hated the story up to that point, I hated where the story was going, I hated the stupid things that the adults had done, I hated Taylor, I still didn't give a shit about any of the characters, and I'M STILL MAD ABOUT THE CAT.
Spoiler
Of all the fucking ways to put an animal out of its misery, you decide to DROWN the fucking thing?? How is that humane or remotely ok?? It was fighting and terrified the whole fucking time.Tl;dr: I regret finishing it. Hated the MC, didn't care about the characters or the story, still mad about the cat. Writing's pretty. But too pretty.
I feel like I didn't give this book a fair chance. I shouldn't start reading YA when I'm really in the mood for trashy fantasy romance. Once I really committed to the second half I loved it and ended up crying towards the end. If it's that powerful when I'm distracted, it's going to be worth a reread later.
This is very hard for me to rate this book. For the first 75% of this book, I had no idea what was going on. Then in the last 25% of the book, everything made some sense. I feel I am judging two different parts of the book.
The way this novel is constructive makes it very confusing. You spent most of our time reading this trying to understand what's going one. Because of this, you tend to really lose connection to the characters and the plot. Marchetta really banks on the latter portion of the book to tie everything together, which may work for some, but it did not work for me.
I had no connection to the plot, characters, or to the writing. Even though I significantly enjoy the last portion of this book, it wasn't enough to overcome the clunky beginning. This book requires at least two reads to really get the full effect of this book, which, to me, is unacceptable. I should want to reread a book to get even more from it and not re-reading it to understand the story.
The way this novel is constructive makes it very confusing. You spent most of our time reading this trying to understand what's going one. Because of this, you tend to really lose connection to the characters and the plot. Marchetta really banks on the latter portion of the book to tie everything together, which may work for some, but it did not work for me.
I had no connection to the plot, characters, or to the writing. Even though I significantly enjoy the last portion of this book, it wasn't enough to overcome the clunky beginning. This book requires at least two reads to really get the full effect of this book, which, to me, is unacceptable. I should want to reread a book to get even more from it and not re-reading it to understand the story.
cannot in good conscience continue reading this after the "It’s called coexistence.” Santangelo blocks my exit. “Once you and the Cadets get it right, we might even try to sell the idea to the Israelis and Palestinians." 'joke'. there cannot be any coexistence between the oppressor and the oppressed.
All the stars in the world-and then some.
I don't think there is anything else I can say about this book that you haven't heard already, nor do I think that the beauty of this book can be captured in words. On the Jellicoe Road tore me apart and then reassembled the pieces of my heart in the same way The Perks of Being A Wallflower did (and which I haven't reviewed for the same reasons why I find it hard to review Jellicoe Road).
You also probably know that you cannot judge this book by the first 135 pages. I admit that I had no clue what was going on, but the writing itself kept me glued to it. The first half gives you the unparalleled pleasure of discovery, of getting to know a world filled with adventures. You get to know Jellicoe (and fall in love with it) on your own accord. Marchetta doesn't spell things out, but makes you work for it. And what comes after the first part is one of the most rewarding experiences ever.
As for the second half, prepare a lot of tissues. The blows come bit by bit, unpretentiously, devastatingly. Genuinely and heartfelt. By the end I was not reading the same book, and I most definitely was not the same person.
I don't think there is anything else I can say about this book that you haven't heard already, nor do I think that the beauty of this book can be captured in words. On the Jellicoe Road tore me apart and then reassembled the pieces of my heart in the same way The Perks of Being A Wallflower did (and which I haven't reviewed for the same reasons why I find it hard to review Jellicoe Road).
You also probably know that you cannot judge this book by the first 135 pages. I admit that I had no clue what was going on, but the writing itself kept me glued to it. The first half gives you the unparalleled pleasure of discovery, of getting to know a world filled with adventures. You get to know Jellicoe (and fall in love with it) on your own accord. Marchetta doesn't spell things out, but makes you work for it. And what comes after the first part is one of the most rewarding experiences ever.
As for the second half, prepare a lot of tissues. The blows come bit by bit, unpretentiously, devastatingly. Genuinely and heartfelt. By the end I was not reading the same book, and I most definitely was not the same person.
This book - whoa. I could have read it in one setting if not for mid-terms coming up and all. At first, it may be hard to understand exactly what's going on, but what's so amazing is that you really won't care. You'll be caught up in the writing (which is incredible) and the characters (all of whom are compelling and sometimes funny and sometimes heartbreaking). You'll keep reading just because you can't stop. Then you'll start putting together the pieces and understanding some things and having eureka moments at random intervals. This book is so great, it immediately made it's way to my favorites. Romantic and tragic and a whirlwind of a novel, you NEED to read this one.
This book is an excellent example of why I keep reading even when a beginning fails to impress me. This book started off confusing and weird and with a narrator I hated. But the rough beginning was entirely worth it, by the book's end.
The story is set at the Jellicoe School, which is in a rural part of Australia. We get geographical hints that would probably make sense if I knew the first thing about Australian geography. All I know is that it's a small town whose economy centers around the school and the training grounds where Cadets come for summer training. As long as anyone can remember, there's been a war for territory between the Cadets, Townies, and the kids at the school. Taylor Markham is the leader at the school, but she's too busy worrying about the disappearance of Hannah, the closest she has to family, to care much about their war games.
The rough start to the book is partly because of Taylor's lack of investment in the war game, and partly because the war games are silly. They're posturing kids who would rather just hang out and listen to music together. The book later acknowledges the pointlessness of the territory wars, but that doesn't entirely cancel out the silliness. It makes me wish the author had found some other way of drawing the characters together.
There's a side plot in the book about events that happened 22 years earlier, tied to Hannah's disappearance. There's also a love story, strongly intertwined with the main narrative of Taylor's finding out where she came from. Mostly, though, the story is about looking back to find closure and perspective so that a person can move forward.
One of the things I most appreciated about this book is that, while Taylor is an annoying twit, the book acknowledges as much. Characters challenge her, and she faces consequences for her failure to emotionally grow up. Her growth as a character is an organic process, prodded along by events within the narrative, rather than a sudden epiphany or an event triggered by the plot.
My biggest complaint about the book is that it starts out confusing, and, while a lot of the confusing points are clarified, some of the narrative remains muddled. I'm not sure how the characters come to some of the conclusions they do.
Overall, though, this book is worth getting past the first few chapters to get to the good part. The characters are initially annoying so that they have room for growth, and the emotional impact at the end is stronger for it.
This is a YA book, but, if you're a parent of a younger teen who wants to read this, you may want to screen it. There are several deaths, and none of them are pretty. The damaging effects of drug use are discussed, and there are some sexual elements. None of it is lingered over in detail, but it's up to you to determine whether your kid has the emotional maturity to grasp the context.
The story is set at the Jellicoe School, which is in a rural part of Australia. We get geographical hints that would probably make sense if I knew the first thing about Australian geography. All I know is that it's a small town whose economy centers around the school and the training grounds where Cadets come for summer training. As long as anyone can remember, there's been a war for territory between the Cadets, Townies, and the kids at the school. Taylor Markham is the leader at the school, but she's too busy worrying about the disappearance of Hannah, the closest she has to family, to care much about their war games.
The rough start to the book is partly because of Taylor's lack of investment in the war game, and partly because the war games are silly. They're posturing kids who would rather just hang out and listen to music together. The book later acknowledges the pointlessness of the territory wars, but that doesn't entirely cancel out the silliness. It makes me wish the author had found some other way of drawing the characters together.
There's a side plot in the book about events that happened 22 years earlier, tied to Hannah's disappearance. There's also a love story, strongly intertwined with the main narrative of Taylor's finding out where she came from. Mostly, though, the story is about looking back to find closure and perspective so that a person can move forward.
One of the things I most appreciated about this book is that, while Taylor is an annoying twit, the book acknowledges as much. Characters challenge her, and she faces consequences for her failure to emotionally grow up. Her growth as a character is an organic process, prodded along by events within the narrative, rather than a sudden epiphany or an event triggered by the plot.
My biggest complaint about the book is that it starts out confusing, and, while a lot of the confusing points are clarified, some of the narrative remains muddled. I'm not sure how the characters come to some of the conclusions they do.
Overall, though, this book is worth getting past the first few chapters to get to the good part. The characters are initially annoying so that they have room for growth, and the emotional impact at the end is stronger for it.
This is a YA book, but, if you're a parent of a younger teen who wants to read this, you may want to screen it. There are several deaths, and none of them are pretty. The damaging effects of drug use are discussed, and there are some sexual elements. None of it is lingered over in detail, but it's up to you to determine whether your kid has the emotional maturity to grasp the context.