A review by noodanica
Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta

hopeful lighthearted reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I love saving Francesca, so when I saw this book was written by the same author I was excited. However, the main character, Josie, is annoying. She’s is the worst character I have ever had the misfortune of reading. Jacob Coote is Josie love interest who she swears up and down she is in deeply in love even though the relationship is so one dimensional and boring. I felt no actual connection, positive or negative, between josie and any other character. Jacob is a massive wanker and Josie is a brat so I don’t understand the appeal in either of them. The twists are boring and predictable so I was yawing through this book, and it sounds like it was written like a bitchy 15 year old who thinks she’s so smart and worldly. The whole last chapter feels like a desperate attempt to make the reader feel like there was a point to the book while in actuality it was just pages and pages of listening to Josie carry on. Nothing interesting happens or can be gained from reading this book. There were times where I could tell Marchetta attempted to create emotional connections between the reader and Josie, but all she succeeded in doing was making me roll my eyes. If Josie said how much she loved Jacob or cried about not being with him forever one more time I would have thrown the book across the room. Imagining Josie’s mother having to put up with her bullshit every day is the most effective ad for birth control I’ve ever seen.