Goodreads Mobile | see what your friends are reading

Feb 18, 2012

Lora rated it:

There's a reason why books like Twilight don't receive those. They don't give those to just any book, and when you factor in excellence . . . well, a lot of titles just don't make the cut. But it is clear to me why Melina Marchetta's third tribute to YA literature received a Printz award back in 2009. It is because it is excellent, to the very meaning of the word.

If all YA contemporary writers wrote like Marchetta, I doubt I'd play in any other genre playground very often More...

36 comments like (82 people liked it)

Aug 14, 2011

Janina rated it:

I’m at a loss for words. This book has made me cry and laugh out loud. It has made me fall in love with its characters, no matter how small their role. It is a book that I’m not likely to forget at any time.

Jellicoe Road deals with death and loss, with abandonment, drug-addiction and suicide. Each character has her or his own terrible past to come to terms with, and sometimes I wondered: How do these people manage to live on when even I almost can’t cope with what they’ve been throu More...

16 comments like (36 people liked it)

Feb 17, 2011

Flannery rated it:

A lot of people think that Henry David Thoreau* went to Walden to live a solitary life. I felt like that until I actually went to Walden Pond. Imagine my surprise when some friends and I decided to go for a hike, go for a swim and check out the scenery--we left Boston around 9...and we got there by 9:30. Yeah right, HDT, I could live deliberately in the woods, too, if I knew my transcendentalist cronies would bring me a Cinnabon and some pumpkin ale once in awhile.** Nevertheless, Thoreau’s ide More...

36 comments like (50 people liked it)

Dec 13, 2011

Lady Jayne *~*The Beach Bandida*~* rated it:

5 Stars! - Also reviewed at: Lady Jayne's Reading Den

I absolutely LOVED this book! Using a sentence from the book that sums up this story, for me: "I remember love." Too simple? It's powerful, multi-faceted and complex, actually, just like love... and life... is. I was swept away on the journey with Taylor and the others, and I cried for what they lost and found. In the end, out of the tragedies and hardships of life, I was left with a feeling of love, hope and wonder, that More...

14 comments like (16 people liked it)

Sep 19, 2010

Tatiana rated it:

I don't often give books 5-star ratings. Normally these are the books that either horrify me (Unwind, The Handmaid's Tale) or delight me with superb writing (The Queen of Attolia, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks) or awe me with imaginative world building (The Left Hand of Darkness) or make me cry (Before I Die). Jellicoe Road definitely falls into this last "made-me-weep" category.

Jellicoe Road is the location of a boarding school for kids that are often ne More...

39 comments like (47 people liked it)

Aug 15, 2011

Arlene rated it:

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

Well, it’s been over twelve hours and I still don’t know how to start to review this book. I thought I gave myself enough time for a better perspective and drier eyes, but hot DAMN I’m crying again! I don’t like to cry, and I don’t do it very often because I can’t stand how it feels. But would I trade the emotional experience of this book for steadier breathes and calmer More...

62 comments like (32 people liked it)

Mar 04, 2011

karen rated it:

i have got to stop being surprised when teen fiction is good. printz-award winning fiction (you know, the award for literary teen fiction that all the grown-ups read and say "this is for teens??"). australian teen fiction. complicated, multi-layered teen fiction.

this book is all of the above, and it is remarkable.

it has sex and drugs and rock and roll, it has violence and terrible crimes, it has shock and awe and guilt and terrible secrets and it opens with a death. More...

52 comments like (64 people liked it)

Oct 08, 2011

Aly (Fantasy4eva) rated it:

Sometimes, guys, simply reading a book once is not enough.

You find that reading it a second time offers you a whole other reading experience.

Those once slow 100 pages now whiz you by, and you realise it was not the pace that was at fault, but your confusion.

You savour it so much more. Make sense of certain references - crush on the plot, characters and writing, and fall in love with Jonah Griggs all over again.

It frustrates me so much to know tha More...

3 comments like (22 people liked it)

Jul 09, 2009

Bethany rated it:

Some books, you just can't describe. Some books, you just have to tell people to read, if they want to know. This is a book like that.

I had no idea what was going on for the first, oh, 150 pages? When I hit page 100 and I still wasn't into it, I thought about how some people have a 100 page rule--read the first one hundred pages of a book, and if you still don't like it, you can put it down. I actually considered putting Jellicoe Road down.

I didn't, though, becaus More...

9 comments like (34 people liked it)

Dec 26, 2011

Kat rated it:

You gut me, Marchetta. Absolutely gut me.

8 comments like (15 people liked it)

Mar 04, 2011

Penny rated it:

I'm still on vacation with limited access to the internet so I have to make this quick. To be honest, I spent the majority of this book thinking, "this is a good book, but it's not that good". Because, I knew exactly what was going on. The "mystery" was never a mystery for me. But kept reading, waiting patiently for this book to blow me away--because I knew it would eventually, based on all the four and five-star reviews given by trusted Goodreaders (namely Reviewer X, Ta More...

4 comments like (11 people liked it)

Dec 02, 2010

Kim rated it:

First of all: many thanks to my friends over at The Corner, for making me want to read this book. ♥

I'm really glad I struggled through the first few chapters, even while feeling like an idiot because it was like standing in the middle of a group of people who were speaking a language I couldn't understand.

But then the fog cleared up and things started to make sense. And then...

This is the hardest review I've had to write so far, because I don't know what to s More...

29 comments like (36 people liked it)

Jun 08, 2011

Nic rated it:

Edit: Jonah Griggs <3 http://irresistiblereads.blogspot.com/20...

LOVED this book!!!! This would have to be one of the BEST books I have ever read.

I cannot possibly write a review to give it the justice it deserves, so I will keep it short. It has an incredible plot that blew my mind and is filled with real characters who are unforgettable. The way this story unravelled was amazing. It was filled with so many suprises that I never saw coming. I really didn't want this More...

18 comments like (17 people liked it)

Sep 09, 2011

Aly (Fantasy4eva) rated it:

I wasn't even sure if I should write this review. The hesitance came from the fact that I had no idea how to form the words that could possibly explain the actual beauty and brilliance of this book. When I think of it a lump forms in my throat and I imagine this distant place called Jellicoe Road, a place I wish I could be a part of, and meet the wonderful people that reside there; the kind of people you come across once in a lifetime.

I've decided to do this. I'm attempting this even t More...

1 comment like (10 people liked it)

Nov 29, 2011

Leanne rated it:

What can I say about On the Jellicoe Road that hasn't already been said before? It was heart breaking, moving, gutsy, daring, touching, lyrical, evocative, dreamy, and incredibly beautiful. (Yes, I'm sorry for not trusting all my AMAZING GR friends...the ending was so well worth it). The begging was confusing however, and I couldn't seem to get all the characters names straight. But I pushed on. Mostly because I had faith in my goodreads friends and also because I really, really wanted to fall More...

5 comments like (13 people liked it)

Nov 10, 2011

Kate rated it:

There is something about Melina Marchetta books that make them very difficult for me to review. After I read Saving Francesca, I sat down to write my review for it and just couldn't put my thoughts into words, so I gave it a couple days. then weeks. And if you were to look at my review today you would see it is still empty except for the 5 stars. I'm not sure what it is about her books that do this to me, but I find myself with very little to say about Jellicoe Road as well.

I found More...

5 comments like (6 people liked it)

Oct 31, 2011

Mayomi rated it:

PHEW!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't believe I finished Jellicoe Road in one piece. My body is still jerking from some of the series of events that happened in this book.

I really wish I'm in a right frame of mind to give this story the proper review it truly deserves, But right now my emotions are on a high
Running helter skelter into emotion land. All I can say for now is that this book is AMAZING. The Awesomeness of it has not be exaggerated at all, it meets all my expectations More...

10 comments like (9 people liked it)

Jan 07, 2009

Heather rated it:

I just finished reading this book, and WOW! First off, I feel compelled to admit that for the first half of the book, I didn't really care for it. I was confused by the different story lines and couldn't shake the feeling that I was supposed to know more about things than I did. If anyone else is reading the book and feels that way - STICK WITH IT! It all becomes crystal clear - even the cat has a purpose and a part in the story. I wish I had time to read it again right away. It's beautiful.

3 comments like (14 people liked it)

Feb 07, 2011

Amelia, the pragmatic idealist rated it:

When I began Jellicoe last week, I didn't have many expectations for it. I was just reading it to see what in the world all the fuss was about. Because I'd read (and ultimately gave up on) something by author Melina Marchetta before - Finnikin of the Rock - which was not a good reading experience. That book...just wasn't for me.
But see, I learned something. Sometimes it's okay have a "second chance" with an author. I wasn't expecting much with Jellicoe, and I ultimately ended up More...

8 comments like (12 people liked it)

Oct 28, 2011

Stacia ~ platonic rated it:

Simply incredible. I cried way too much, but it was so worth it. Will review tomorrow when I can wrap my head around what to write.

*moves ahead a day in time*

After sleeping on it, I'm still struggling with how to write a proper review. There are some books which are virtually impossible to explain, and this is one of them. The GR book summary gives no indication what the book is really about, and truth be told, I'm not sure you'd want to know what the book is about before re More...

24 comments like (6 people liked it)

Aug 14, 2011

Nomes rated it:

I first read 'On The Jellicoe Road' in 2006. I had been DYING for it's release ~ and can still remember how tingly and giddy I felt as I walked home with my copy. Back then, I had 3 kids under 5 and couldn't wait for them to get in bed so I could curl up and savour my new Melina Marchetta.

On The Jellicoe Road is notorious for people finding the beginning confusing ~ and I have seen lovers of the book urge people to persevere to find it's magic.

It was not like that for me More...

18 comments like (41 people liked it)

Jan 21, 2009

Valerie rated it:

It's times like these when I wish I was a better reviewer. My review won't do this book justice. But I don't think even the best review would express how amazing this book is.

I'll admit, it took me awhile to get into it, partially because I was so confused. But as I started to figure things out, I started to get more and more into it. Then I got so into it I couldn't put it down. I started feeling the feelings all the characters felt. I felt joy, hope, sadness, despair, happiness, an More...

0 comments like (10 people liked it)

Mar 24, 2011

Lucy rated it:

You only think this book is about territory wars, but it's really about love and discovery and history and the way you define yourself by the people you choose to love.

This is a leap of faith book. It's not compelling for ~200 pages, but you need to push on, because around page 200, where it clicks--it's just brilliant. It's the only book I've ever finished reading and then immediately started reading again.

And let me tell you--those first 200 pages? Reading them in th More...

2 comments like (5 people liked it)

Oct 10, 2011

Aaron Vincent rated it:

Originally posted here.

Why? Why did I read this just now? I bought my copy a long time ago upon recommendation of people I thought my friends. If said people are real friends, they wouldn’t just recommend it, they should have tied me in a chair and forced me to read this. I reckon they don’t have to tie me in that chair too long because it only took a couple of pages before I fell in love with this amazing book. I frequently tell people that if only I could I would marry Paper Towns, More...

8 comments like (9 people liked it)

Jan 25, 2009

Sophie rated it:

Oh my god, I am bawling. Give this book the Printz. Please.

0 comments like (14 people liked it)

Apr 16, 2011

Hope rated it:

I was striving to find the “right way” to begin this review. I started thinking about how to kick this off when I reached the halfway point in the book yesterday.
I thought about starting with some kind of song. Some lyrics. Coldplay kept popping into my mind, but then I abandoned the idea and moved on.

Hence, the beginning of this review is just me telling you about how I don’t know how to begin.

When I don’t give a pretty great or well-loved book five stars, I like More...

5 comments like (5 people liked it)

Feb 15, 2011

Isamlq rated it:

Let me start with what's important: I want a Griggs. I know this akin to saying the protagonist is "hawt," and does nothing for a "critical" review. BUT I'm not being critical right now. <spoiler>This is all envy speaking. When Taylor said she was happy because she had an aunt and a Griggs.. in my heart of hearts, I was going, “I want a Griggs of my own too!”

My favorite moment is when Griggs goes off, “I’m here because of you. You’re my priority. Your happ More...

7 comments like (7 people liked it)

Jan 27, 2009

SheWunders rated it:

So I just don't get what others love about this book. It's a Cybil's Finalist and a ALA Printz Award Winner. So people LOVE Jellicoe Road and I usually follow popular librarian opinion, but I just can't get on this bandwagon.

I felt like the writing was very, very confusing. For the first 100 pages I really couldn't tell what was going on. Don't get me wrong - dramatic and interesting things were happening, but I couldn't even begin to see how they were related. The character developm More...

3 comments like (16 people liked it)

Feb 19, 2011

Galla rated it:

This is the third book I've read by Melina Marchetta, and I always find it hard to write reviews for her novels. Here's the thing: her writing is powerful and deeply emotional, and it's difficult not to gush, stare at the pile of tissues next to the reading chair and wonder how she managed to make you cry so often and like it, or otherwise succumb to a state somewhere between awe and stupor.

I've learned to have high expectations every time I start one of her novels. I don't give a More...

14 comments like (10 people liked it)

Sep 13, 2011

Glass rated it:

Jellioce Road is one of those book which will leave you happy and heartbroken at the same time when you finish reading the last page. But most of all, it's one of those expiriences that hunts you for the rest of your life. By the end of this book you're not the same person you were when you started reading it. It changes you and leaves you grateful for all the things you have and all the people you know and love.

12 comments like (7 people liked it)