"Blast from the Past" - On the Jellicoe Road

by 12:30 AM 6 comments

"Blast from the Past" is my brand new feature - a post in which I talk about a book I read more than a year or so ago! Today I am featuring...


On the Jellicoe Road - Melina Marchetta



"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 the 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. "

When it was released - August 28, 2006

When I first read it - Sometime in 2007

What I thought of it - 

For those who know me, you would know that Melina Marchetta is my all-time favourite author and that this is my all-time favourite book. So naturally, I loved it.

The Good -

I love the whole idea of the "territory wars" - it's such a childish thing that started as a fun game and after many years passed down turned into a full-out war. The mystery and intrigue of the story reeled me in! I was dying to know who this person was and what that person had done, it was exciting! The romance between Taylor and Jonah is absolutely gorgeous and typical teenage reality. It is completely heartbreaking and absolutely beautiful. I just loved it all.

The Bad - 

It was confusing for a lot of the way through the book. It jumps between the present and two different pasts, which can be quite off-putting. But if you read until the end where it all comes together then it all makes sense. Obviously.

Fun Facts - 

On the Jellicoe Road is currently being made into a movie! It also Won the Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature!

Quotes - 

“What do you want from me?" he asks.
What I want from every person in my life, I want to tell him. More.

He stops and looks at me. 'I'm here because of you. You're my priority. Your happiness, in some fucked way, is tuned in to mine. Get that through your thick skull. Would I like it any other way? Hell, yes, but I don't think that will be happening in my lifetime.'

“It's funny how you can forget everything except people loving you. Maybe that's why humans find it so hard getting over love affairs. It's not the pain they're getting over, it's the love.” 



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6 comments:

  1. Adasfjkk I did not know Jellicoe Road was being made into a movie!!! My life is complete.

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  2. You have no idea how happy I am that Jellicoe Road is being made into a movie! This book is easily one of my favourite reads of the year, I was kinda worried I wouldn't love it as much as everyone else seems to, but it was absolutely amazing.

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  3. This is such a great feature! Anyway surprisingly I have never heard of this one before but it sounds really good! It is so awesome that the novel is being made into a movie! I love watching books turn to movies...it is so much fun! Thanks for the awesome review!


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  4. This has been on my TBR (and my shelf) for a LONG time. Really need to get to it soon! Also, great feature. :)

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  5. Words can not express how much I love Melina Marchetta!! Jellicoe Road was my first introduction to her writing and I haven't been able to turn away!!

    I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE her stories!! They're so beautiful!!

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Ooh yes, comments puh-leaaase :D