Review: On the Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

Title: On the Jellicoe Road
Author: Melina Marchetta

Paperback, 300 pages

Published August 28th 2006 by Penguin Australia

Goodreads | Amazon: Jellicoe Road

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On the Jellicoe Road is one of the most amazing books I have ever read in my life. The story is so touching and the writing so captivating that you cannot help but fall in love with it. And it's also a book you have to experience, even if you've read all the reviews this book has, you will never ever begin to imagine how amazing it is.

The book is actually composed of two stories, one about a group of kids that are brought together by the biggest tragedy that has ever happened on the Jellicoe Road. The other one is the story of Taylor, a broken, asmathic girl with a mysterious past life; mysterious even for her.

I particularly love Taylor. I think she's super amazeballs. She has more guts than anyone I have ever know and the best word to describe her is kick-ass. All through the book we see her trying to unravel the mistery that is her past. She seems to have no one, her father is dead, her mother abandoned her at a 7-eleven when she was 11 years old, and since then she's been living in the Jellicoe School, were she was just got chosen leader. For the war.

Because you see, there's this territory war that has been going on for ages, between the "townies" and the "cadets" and the kids at Jellicoe School. And this war is taken seriously, each "team" has a leader. The townies have Santangelo, the Jellicoe S. kids have Taylor and the cadets have Jonah Griggs. <3

Taylor is the first girl to have been chosen since, like, ever. And the most probable reason is because she is ballsy. But don't worry the war is very mature (well, sometimes), the leaders meet at times to talk about their options and to trade locations and you know, negotiate. And as that happens, a real friendship and some other relationships start to blossom.

Every character from this book is absolutely kick-ass. I wish I had a quarter of the coolness these kids have. All of them are incredible despite the sad sad stories some of them have in their backgrounds. But the real tragedy is the other story, the one about the kids that were involved in/with the car accident. That story is so so heartbreaking, like nothing I've read before.

Despite I'm making it sound like a sad read, it is not. I am not a person who wears her heart on her sleeve but when I read this book it's like I'm a tornado of emotions. I cry and laugh and shout and swoon and smile and sob, and I get so emotional, it's not even funny. And a book that can evoke that kind of passion in me is a real keeper. And a forever favorite.

I've already said that I love the characters from this book, but I haven't really stated that this book contains one of my favorite favorite characters ever. Jonah Griggs. If there's a male character more perfect than he is then please point him out to me, and even then, I won't believe it. Because it simply does not get better than that. My dear Jonah is the one everybody else gets measured with, even though no one ever gets close to the amazingness he is.



Imagine Channing Tatum at 17, that's Jonah for me :)



I might have made it sound complicated but it is not. You just have to give this book a chance because it's not for nothing it won all those awards. It has mistery, and tragedy and friendship and romances and amazing quotes, and amazing characters and it is just unbelievably intense. It's a book difficult to forget and one that can be re-read an infinite amount of times without getting tired of it. This book is perfect.

My father took one hundred and thirty-two minutes to die.

I counted.

It happened on the Jellicoe Road. The prettiest road I'd ever seen, where trees made breezy canopies like a tunnel to Shangri-la.

epic.