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midnightbagel 's review for:
Jellicoe Road
by Melina Marchetta
*2.75*
Honestly, I was disappointed by this book. I had heard that it was such an emotional, moving and beautiful contemporary, which are my favorite kind, (like The Sea of Tranquility and Hopeless) Alas, this was not the case for me. I could see where people would get that, and I could tell that the author was trying to make it be like that, but I was just never invested.
Plot- The plot for this is very simple, yet very complicated all at once. The base plot is simple- Taylor's mother abandoned her a long time ago, and now she wants to discover her past. There's a lot more than that though, and at time it was very confusing. There were two parts to this story, the past and the present. At first, you're meant to not know how they connect, and then later it's revealed in a "shocking" twist, but I knew from the start how it all went together. This was a disappointment for me, because I wasn't shocked at any point in this book. I didn't like how nothing was really explained until over 100 pages in, I understand trying to keep "an air of mystery" but I think this one crossed the line a little too much. There was an interesting aspect of "territory wars," which I liked, but that's pretty much the only time I was really interested in the story. I found it quite boring most the time, and I was never really caring what was going to happen next, thus making me not want to pick it back up whenever I put it down. I wasn't invested into the emotional side of the story either. I felt like it could have been done very well, but I wasn't attached. I liked what she tried to do however, and I appreciated how well it all connected, I just wish it was executed differently.
Writing- This was definitely the book's strongest point. Marchetta has amazing writing. It's all very lyrical, and a lot of the time there are paragraphs where it feels like you're floating in a dream. At times, this can make the story hard to understand, but overall I really enjoyed this author's writing. I thought the dialogue had some humor to it a midst this darker plotline. I want to read more of her work, just to experience the writing again. It does my favorite thing: it's lyrical, but still feels real. It's not so poetic that it takes you away from reality, there's still some feel of the narrator's personality, and it's still believable.
Characters- I also had major issues with the characters. I was not attached to any of them. I didn't really care for any of them at all, not even the main love interest, which usually I'll harbor some feelings for by the end of the book. I can acknowledge that the author didn't make them all the same, but none of them stood out to me, nor did I really like any of them, especially the characters from "the past." It took me nearly until the end of the book to finally get it straight for who was related/in a relationship with who. I didn't care enough to pay attention to them, and they weren't memorable at all. I don't have much to say about them because I don't really remember them and it's only been one day. I do like that our main character got some type of character growth, and I really hold a lot of stock in that, so that did appease me. Even though separately I don't remember much about the characters, as a whole, I like how they were written. I liked their dialogue's with each other, and I liked how they interacted. Another major issue I had was there was really no descriptions on their physical appearance I can honestly say that besides Jonah, and Santangelo, I have no idea at all what any of the character's look like. That really bothered me, and it made me have a hard time getting into the story because I couldn't really picture any of the characters.
Overall- Sadly, I don't think this was the book for me. I thought it was average in terms of an "emotional contemporary." I appreciate what the author was trying to do, and I liked some of the unique things about it, but it just wasn't really my cup of tea. I didn't not like reading it, but just when I wasn't reading it, I didn't have any drive to get back into it. I don't think I will be recommending it to my friends, but I won't be swaying people away from reading it either. I'm still very interested to read her other works though because the writing was great, and I have faith that she can do much better.
Honestly, I was disappointed by this book. I had heard that it was such an emotional, moving and beautiful contemporary, which are my favorite kind, (like The Sea of Tranquility and Hopeless) Alas, this was not the case for me. I could see where people would get that, and I could tell that the author was trying to make it be like that, but I was just never invested.
Plot- The plot for this is very simple, yet very complicated all at once. The base plot is simple- Taylor's mother abandoned her a long time ago, and now she wants to discover her past. There's a lot more than that though, and at time it was very confusing. There were two parts to this story, the past and the present. At first, you're meant to not know how they connect, and then later it's revealed in a "shocking" twist, but I knew from the start how it all went together. This was a disappointment for me, because I wasn't shocked at any point in this book. I didn't like how nothing was really explained until over 100 pages in, I understand trying to keep "an air of mystery" but I think this one crossed the line a little too much. There was an interesting aspect of "territory wars," which I liked, but that's pretty much the only time I was really interested in the story. I found it quite boring most the time, and I was never really caring what was going to happen next, thus making me not want to pick it back up whenever I put it down. I wasn't invested into the emotional side of the story either. I felt like it could have been done very well, but I wasn't attached. I liked what she tried to do however, and I appreciated how well it all connected, I just wish it was executed differently.
Writing- This was definitely the book's strongest point. Marchetta has amazing writing. It's all very lyrical, and a lot of the time there are paragraphs where it feels like you're floating in a dream. At times, this can make the story hard to understand, but overall I really enjoyed this author's writing. I thought the dialogue had some humor to it a midst this darker plotline. I want to read more of her work, just to experience the writing again. It does my favorite thing: it's lyrical, but still feels real. It's not so poetic that it takes you away from reality, there's still some feel of the narrator's personality, and it's still believable.
Characters- I also had major issues with the characters. I was not attached to any of them. I didn't really care for any of them at all, not even the main love interest, which usually I'll harbor some feelings for by the end of the book. I can acknowledge that the author didn't make them all the same, but none of them stood out to me, nor did I really like any of them, especially the characters from "the past." It took me nearly until the end of the book to finally get it straight for who was related/in a relationship with who. I didn't care enough to pay attention to them, and they weren't memorable at all. I don't have much to say about them because I don't really remember them and it's only been one day. I do like that our main character got some type of character growth, and I really hold a lot of stock in that, so that did appease me. Even though separately I don't remember much about the characters, as a whole, I like how they were written. I liked their dialogue's with each other, and I liked how they interacted. Another major issue I had was there was really no descriptions on their physical appearance I can honestly say that besides Jonah, and Santangelo, I have no idea at all what any of the character's look like. That really bothered me, and it made me have a hard time getting into the story because I couldn't really picture any of the characters.
Overall- Sadly, I don't think this was the book for me. I thought it was average in terms of an "emotional contemporary." I appreciate what the author was trying to do, and I liked some of the unique things about it, but it just wasn't really my cup of tea. I didn't not like reading it, but just when I wasn't reading it, I didn't have any drive to get back into it. I don't think I will be recommending it to my friends, but I won't be swaying people away from reading it either. I'm still very interested to read her other works though because the writing was great, and I have faith that she can do much better.