{Audiobook} Review: Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

Title: Jellicoe Road
Author: Melina Marchetta
Narrator: Rebecca Macauley
Series: n/a
Length:  8 hrs 53 mins
Publisher: Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd
Publication Date: February 9th, 2009
Source: purchased
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible

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.

A long time ago, I read Finnikin of the Rock. What a great book!  (side note, I really need to read the books following that one). I've always been curious about On the Jellicoe Road, and Jen recommended the audio version, so I gave it a try.

If I were to have rated this book about an hour into the audio, it probably would have gotten 2 stars. If that. I did not like this story in the beginning. I was confused as hell. I didn't understand what this whole townie, cadet war thing was about. I mean really? And then there were little flash backs to the past in the beginning of each chapter, and they made no sense either. I was a mess. Then Carla saw my goodreads status on Twitter and assured me that everything will come together in the end.

She was so right. I would give Jellicoe Road 20 stars if I could. I mean, it's just perfection! I know that I will have to go back and re-listen, now that I know what was going on.

I wish there was a perfect way to describe this book without ruining it, but there isn't. I'm so glad I started out confused and unsure, because it made it even better when I started to pick up on everything. So I'm not going to say anything really about the story. You just need to experience it for yourself.

I was so close to finishing this one at work last week but I just knew that would be a bad idea. Thank goodness I waited until my ride home, because I cried the whole commute. lol. Not all sad tears, some happy, but wow, this book choked me up. I never would have guessed it would effect me that way, after disliking it early on.

I highly recommend this book to everyone. I will tell you that it's a story about friendship, and it will just melt and break your heart. :)

About the author:

Melina Marchetta was born in Sydney Australia. Her first novel, Looking For Alib awarded the Children's Book Council of Australia award in 1993 and her second novel, Saving Francesca won the same award in 2004. Looking For Alibrandi was made into a major film in 2000 and won the Australian Film Institute Award for best Film and best adapted screen play, also written by the author. On the Jellicoe Road was released in 2006 and won the WAYRBA voted by teenagers in Western Australia in 2008. It also won the US Printz Medal in 2009 for excellence in YA literature. This was followed up by Finnikin of the Rock in 2008 which won the Aurealis Award for YA fantasy, The Piper's Son in 2010 which was shortlisted for the Qld Premier's Lit Award, NSW Premier's Lit Award, Prime Minister's Literary Awards, CBC awards and longlisted for the Miles Franklin Award. Her follow up to Finnikin, Froi of the Exiles will be released in Australia in October and the US in March 2012.

Find Melina:

Website | Twitter | Goodreads 

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Labels: audiobooks, jellicoe road, melina marchetta, reviews

{Audiobook} Review: Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

Title: Jellicoe Road
Author: Melina Marchetta
Narrator: Rebecca Macauley
Series: n/a
Publisher: Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd
Publication Date: September 1, 2006
Source: purchased audio
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible

Abandoned by her mother on Jellicoe Road when she was eleven, Taylor Markham 17, finally confronts her past. Hannah, the closest adult she has to family, disappears. Jonah Griggs, moody stares and all, is back in town. If Taylor can put together the pieces of her past, she might just be able to change her future.

So, everywhere I go, people are fangirling over Melina Marchetta (and her books).  I've added several to my own TBR shelf, but until recently, I hadn't made time for them.  But then I discovered that there are several of her books up on Audible.  Cue the "uh-ohs".  ;0)

I'm easing myself into the Melina Marchetta fandom, and I started with one that I'm quite positive everyone has loved.  I'll probably pick up Finnikin next...loved her contemporary, so I'm sure I will marvel at her fantasy.  Also, I didn't know until I started writing up this review that both Jellicoe and Saving Francesca are being adapted for the big screen.  Yes, apparently I do live under a rock.  *sigh*

Katiebug already told us this morning what she thought this book was about.  And she was correct that the flower is significant.  Even thinking about it again threatens tears.  From the story-within-a-story aspect to the incredible friendships, this book was absolutely breathtaking.  I probably cried much more than was warranted, but the laughs achieved from this book were definitely well-deserved.  Sure, the first bit was a tad frustrating as the author sets up the story, but it's supposed to be confusing...you're not supposed to know how these people's lives fit together yet.  And I loved that about the story from the very beginning.  That while these characters' lives are being splayed open for us, we're also getting glimpses, brief hints of how their lives are all intertwined.  And it doesn't start making sense until about half-way through, and by then, you're hooked.  You just have to know how they all ended up at the point they're at when we first meet them.

Taylor Markham is the narrator and main character of this story, and I think using the first person point-of-view made this story more real and just plain raw.  It's angsty, but not in an overly dramatic, whiney way.  There's real heartbreak here, and Taylor Markham has received her share of it.  But she's a strong, resilient girl, and it takes a lot before even the reader gets to see the fissures in the hard exterior she wears for the world.

Enter Jonah Griggs.  Or rather, re-enter.  His presence shakes things up a bit, as does the "battle" between the school, the townies, and the cadets.  But nothing rattles Taylor like the book.  She might finally have some answers...but is she ready for them?

Rebecca Macauley is fabulous as the narrator for the audiobook.  Fabulous.  From her accent to her snark, she was the embodiment of Taylor Markham.  And she voiced the other characters admirably, as well.  I felt like I'd been transported to Jellicoe Road as I listened.  It wasn't hard to envision myself there, amongst the feuding teenagers.  Not at all.

I can't believe it took me this long to read Jellicoe Road, but I'm glad I finally caved.  The love story was well-portrayed, and I enjoyed that the mystery of Taylor Markham was the focal point of the story and not the romance.  And the writing...oh, the writing.  It was as lyrical as it was sad.  And the way Marchetta wove one story into the other was just brilliant.  I can't wait to read my next Melina Marchetta novel.  She has earned herself a fan for life with Jellicoe Road.

Rating:  

About the author:

Melina Marchetta was born in Sydney Australia. Her first novel, Looking For Alibrandi was awarded the Children's Book Council of Australia award in 1993 and her second novel, Saving Francesca won the same award in 2004. Looking For Alibrandi was made into a major film in 2000 and won the Australian Film Institute Award for best Film and best adapted screen play, also written by the author. On the Jellicoe Road was released in 2006 and won the WAYRBA voted by teenagers in Western Australia in 2008. It also won the US Printz Medal in 2009 for excellence in YA literature. This was followed up by Finnikin of the Rock in 2008 which won the Aurealis Award for YA fantasy, The Piper's Son in 2010 which was shortlisted for the Qld Premier's Lit Award, NSW Premier's Lit Award, Prime Minister's Literary Awards, CBC awards and longlisted for the Miles Franklin Award.

Find Melina:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

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Labels: all the feels, audiobooks, aussie, contemporary, favorites, harper-collins, jellicoe road, melina marchetta, must-read, reviews, tough subject

Judging a Book By Its Cover #27: A Kid's Perspective on Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

Okay, so I totally stole this idea from Sara at Forever 17 Books, who got the idea from an article on Babble called Judging a Book by Its Cover: A 6-year-old Guesses What Classic Novels Are All About.  I just discovered her lovely segment, and I immediately requested forced my own five-year-old daughter Katie to provide me with some of her own cover art artwork and then asked her what she thought the book was about.



This week, Katie gave me her take on the following book:

"A girl sees a pretty black butterfly on an orange flower with a real tiny red pattern on it."

Cover Art

Jellicoe Road as envisioned by Katiebug

Either Katie was listening to this while I was, or she is just that good. :)  The cover on the audio was the same that pops up on Goodreads if you search the book, but the hardcover I got at HPB has this cover, and I'll be honest, I prefer this one, anyway.  The flower is pretty and it's important, so yeah.

Have you read this book or do you plan to?  What do you think of Katie's guess at the premise?  

Did your little darling create a work of art based on a book this week? If so, be sure to link up with Sara over at Forever 17 Books.

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Labels: aussie, contemporary, cover art, favorites, jellicoe road, judging a book by its cover, katiebug, melina marchetta, must-read