24hourlibrary 's review for:

Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

4.0

---

Jellicoe Road is a perfect example of why I don’t DNF (and the second time Melina Marchetta has pulled this off for me [first with Finnikin of the Rock], bringing me to trust her despite early annoyance with Jellicoe Road.) . Marchetta pieces together an emotionally hard-hitting mystery that feels like a gut punch and a hug by turns, including a frustrating first half that offers seemingly disjointed and useless information — until it isn’t. As characters sharpen in the eyes of the reader, the tragedy they are bound to face heightens and strengthens. Meanwhile, through the perspective of the narrator, Taylor, suffering from a mysterious lack of memory, readers meet a series of nuanced and fascinating characters, including the emotional and intense Jonah Griggs. At times drivingly romantic and other times simply powerful, Jellicoe Road is the apex of literary young adult fiction and an excellent example of a successful unreliable narrator and a strategic release of information. Well worth the 400+ pages and surprisingly fast-paced, this is a book you’ll want to reread as soon as the final page is turned.