JaReview: Saving Francesca

I think I’ve overdosed on reading. I was going through three to five books a week. And this week, I have yet to finish one. But the last book I read, Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta, was fun. I thoroughly enjoyed it, though I still can’t figure out exactly why.

The story centers on a girl, Francesca, whose mother is suffering a nervous breakdown. She has to deal with the repercussions of essentially losing someone who has been a huge driving factor in her life. And she struggles to find not only her place at home but also her place in mostly-boys school.

Melina Marchetta writes relationships well. I think I’ve said that about all her books. Some times there’s already a strong relationship in place (like a familial bond). Other times there’s a slow build up to a life altering relationship (that’s not necessarily romantic). Saving Francesca is no exception.

At the core, Francesca reluctantly develops a friendship with five people who become a tight knit group. Not all of them set out wanting to be friends. In fact a few seemed avidly against it. But that made it all the more entertaining because they were resistant to change, commitment phobic (“I don’t like using the f label”) and a little horrified at the prospect of being friends (“This doesn’t mean we have to be friends with him, right?”). Marchetta takes these six vastly different individuals and creates this intricate bond that’s solid and dependable yet maintains snark and avoids getting too touchy feely.

And of course there’s Will Trombal, Francesca’s pashing partner. After I finished, I went back and re-read all the Will scenes, trying to get a better grip on his character. He struck me as a bit bipolar the first time around. He seemed boring, flat and unable to communicate with any girl at times. Then at other times he would be cocky and aggressive (like preventing Francesca to go to the rugby match). But in rereading it the second time, I think that a large part of his strangeness Francesca felt was because of her. Through much of the book, she confuses him, throws him into emotional turmoil. I think he’s not nice, eloquent or charming around her because she makes him lose his wits.

She turns him around so much; he just reacts and functions instinctively. Just like in their pashing scene. Originally I thought it was the most unromantic first kiss in the history of teen lit. My initial reaction was – Cringe! Ew! But if you look at it with the point of view that for him, Francesca emotionally brings him to his knees. There’s no façade with her and he acts on instinct. Then it’s a bit less gross.

There were so many awesome male characters in the book besides Will. Thomas Mackee has at least two moments that were just…awesome. I would say he’s a bit like Joey (from Friends), really good comedy relief. But then he’s got depth too, as evidenced by a singular moment (in the library…hehe).

But I absolutely love her father in the book. “Just tell me where you are.” That’s got to be one of the bestest lines. Ever. It’s interesting because (much like Alibrandi) the story is told for her point of view. And so you end up viewing things certain ways. Like you think the dad’s a big jerk and doesn’t really love them, etc etc, but near the end its obvious what his real feelings are.

So I guess I was able to hash out exactly why I liked Saving Francesca so much. Tight-knit bonds between friends. Awesome lines. Great snarky moments. And an intense and interesting pashing partner. It totally hooked me.

~J~

{NIN} Review of Saving Francesca

Saving Francesca is Melina Marchetta’s sophomore release. Since I’ve become such an MM Fangirl, I had high expectations to be thoroughly entertained or enraptured one way or another. Unfortunately, I have to say that it was not the case with this book for me. That’s not to say that I didn’t like the book – rather…I just have really high expectations for MM books and it just didn’t grab my attention the way that Looking for Alibrandi and Jellicoe Road did. Though I suppose after JR, everything is just downhill from there. The thing about me and books is that if I really like/love the book, I’ll re-read it right away after I’m done, or at least re-read my favorite parts…which usually results in me re-reading the whole book anyways. But I didn’t really do that with Saving Francesca. Sure, I re-read a few parts but I really didn’t feel like picking it up again after I was done.

Saving Francesca is about another Italian-Australian girl, Francesca Spinelli dealing with the trials and tribulations of being a high school student and how it affects her family and social life. Whereas Josie Alibrandi had a ton of spunk and no filter on whatever came out of her mouth, Francesca has, in an effort to be accepted by her St. Stella peers, learned to “put a lid on it.” Her high-spirited mother Mia, the life force in her family, wants Francesca to break out and be who she is supposed to be and not who her friends want her to be.

At the start of the book, Francesca is starting school at St. Sebastian’s, a formerly all-boys school that just opened their doors to girls. Most of her spirit-repressing St. Stella friends (who aren’t really her friends) go to a different school, so Francesca is separated from them and forced to interact with the 3 other St. Stella girls she used to shun that are also attending St. Sebastian’s.

Mia’s mother unexpectedly falls into a deep depression and suddenly Francesca’s family is lost on what to do with themselves and how to go on living. Adding to that, Francesca is inexplicably attracted to the not-available and stick-in-the-mud Will Trombal.

I have to say, one of my favorite things about YA lit is clean and innocent first love-ish type things. Though, as Ja and I were discussing the other day, YA lit sure has a lot more…explicit happenings between guys and girls these days and it’s no wonder teens are engaging in a lot more…explicit behavior lately. And then we decided that we are prudes but what the heck, we like it clean and innocent (L.J. Smith fire-erupting kissing scenes are good enough for us!). Anyhoo, way off track on the point that I was trying to make – Francesca and Will didn’t seem to have much of a connection to me throughout the book. I didn’t see a progression in their relationship; rather…it seems like it just happened over very few interactions. For me, there was just no squeal-worthy moment that had me shipping for them.

There were a few great scenes in the book: Francesca putting Will in his place at the start of the book, Francesca’s developing friendships with 2 boys who previously irritated her (not including Will), becoming friends with the girls she previously avoided and how they are there for her with a Pride & Prejudice fest (Colin Firth!) to wallow in after she found out Will had a girlfriend, and the ending.

* As a side note, any mention of BBC’s production of Pride and Prejudice is always winnahz in my book!

I enjoyed the ending more than I did the journey through the book (besides some of the great scenes). I still recommend this book because of the underlying message in the book to know who your true friends are regardless of how others perceive them and, more importantly, to value yourself enough to be who you want to be.

JaReview: Looking for Alibrandi

I don’t think I’ve ever met a main character as annoying as Josephine Alibrandi in Melina Marchetta’s Looking for Alibrandi. Okay, well I probably have, but no one comes to mind right now.

Josephine Alibrandi is whiny, prone to theatrics and, in general, an “obnoxious creation.” Though you’ll find later in the book, a lot of your original inklings about her life are colored by her perspective. How she perceives herself, her role at school and her life in general is not necessarily as bad as she paints it. Though it could have been her never-ending “woe is me” attitude that fooled me into thinking there was actually validity to her constant bemoaning.

Not that I didn’t like the book (hehe…I’m so contradictory). While I found Jose really annoying, the relationships she builds within the story was fun to watch unfold. She is the product of an Italian single family home and doesn’t know her father. That is until he appears unexpectedly into her life. I liked the honesty and upfront nature of the beginning of their relationship. Neither of them wants to give any false impressions to the other. Neither of them expects to bond and love like father and daughter.

The fact that their relationship could have been all angst-ridden and melodramatic, but was more playful kept with the light heartedness of the novel. She doesn’t go all clingy and consumed with abandonment issues. Instead, she constantly tries to annoy him with her smart mouth antics, like reciting poetry she knows he hates and making sarcastic comments (“Of course I like pizza, are you going to ask me if I like pasta next?”). Likewise, her father doesn’t let her walk all over him because he’s consumed with guilt. Instead, he listens to her problems without offering unsolicited advice and rides her rescue on several occasions. I enjoyed the slow build up of the relationship and loved their witty banter.

Then there’s Jacob Coote. Despite the terrible last name (cooties?), he is your typical hottie bad boy. He’s got violent tendencies, jealousy issues, a “devil may care” attitude and enough moodiness to give Jonah Griggs a run for his money. But he’s also deeply protective of Jose. They’re interactions are hilarious. Spoiler alert: there’s a scene much like when Logan Echolls rescues Veronica Mars from the evil clutches of JTT. Totally squeal worthy. Despite the Logan Echolls likeness, Jacob doesn’t seem…evolved enough to take on the lead man role. It was almost as if he’s an early model of Jonah Griggs (Jellicoe Road was written after this book).

But ultimately, the book is about growing up and finding herself, not so much a romantic love story. It covered some deep issues and did have bittersweet moments, though, it didn’t leave me feeling emotional eviscerated like other books I’ve read. Even if Jose is quite possibly the most annoying bint in the literary world, Looking for Alibrandi was a pretty good read.

~J~

{NIN} Review of Looking for Alibrandi

After reading Jellicoe Road, I immediately put all of Melina Marchetta’s other US-available books (b/c The Piper’s Son is out in Australia but not coming to The States until 2011 – arrrgh!!!) on hold at the library. Again, I hardly had to wait for her books, and I ended up getting Looking for Alibrandi, Saving Francesca, and Finnikin of the Rock all in one pop! Awesome…

So being anile for order, I started with MM’s first book, Looking for Alibrandi. Yeah, yeah, Jellicoe Road was #3, but too late…so better late than never.

Looking for Alibrandi revolves around 17-year old Italian-Australian Josephine Alibrandi, born of wed-lock and too smart-mouthed for her own good. She has never met her father and hasn’t really cared…until he unexpectedly re-enters her life. Additionally, Josie has her HSC (High School Certificate) exams to worry about (which apparently determines your destiny for the rest of your life - in Australia), 2 polar opposite boys to juggle, and a mother and grandmother to fight and make peace with.

This book was very different from Jellicoe Road. It focused a lot of the modern Italian-Australian experience and the (surprisingly) discrimination they sometimes face from “old” Australians, or however they term themselves. I’m not too up-and-up on Australian society and slang, so parts of this book just made me scratch my head in confusion.

What I enjoyed about the book was that it was light-hearted. I’ve been reading a lot of “heavy on the emotional roller coaster” type books (Before I Fall, anyone?) and it was a nice change to have a funny book to read. It did have its “growing older, growing wiser, still more to learn!” lessons in the end, but for the most part, it cracked me up.

There were quite a bit of evolving character relationships in this book: Josie and her mother, Josie and her grandmother, Josie and her father, Josie and Jacob, and more importantly, as the title suggests, Josie with herself.

I really enjoyed seeing Josie and her father’s relationship grow, from the first angry, “stay out of my life!” encounter to him happening upon her as she wandered down the street after a disastrous first date with one of her boys. Their relationship progresses in a nice and believable manner as she gets used to the idea of a father figure in her life and he learns what it’s like to have a daughter (for example, her father calls her an “obnoxious creation.” Hilarious!)

Jacob Coote is Josie’s main love interest. Josie and Jacob have one of the funniest asking-out scenes EVER. The banter between the two is hilarious, but you just have to smile at how cute these two are together. John Barton never really is a contender for Josie’s affections in this book; rather he represents what she secretly aspires to because she has identity issues with who she is due to the discrimination she faces for being “a wog.” Now, I’m not too certain what “a wog” means/is, but from what I gather, it is a highly offensive term for “newer” Italian-Australians, e.g. those who immigrated to Australia more recently than the other Caucasians.

While Looking for Alibrandi did not enrapture me the way Jellicoe Road did, I still found it an entertaining and worthwhile read.

{NIN} Review of Some Girls Are

Do you ever wish you were back in high school? I, for one, have never ever wished for such a thing and reading Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers has only served to reinforce such feelings.

Some Girls Are is about a ruling clique of 5 mean and sadistic high school girls who turn against one of their own. The leader of the clique, Anna, controls the group with an iron fist – from what they all wear (“Skirts and cardigans tomorrow!”) to who they target for their next hate campaign (“Liz is out.”). She never does the dirty work herself but uses one of her admiring brainless minions to carry out the torture.

The unfortunate victim this time is Regina Afton, once and former Anna-BFF and stooge. Regina was the primary minion for carrying out Anna’s terror campaigns against her fellow students, most importantly, Michael and Liz. An incident, in which Regina was the victim but the facts were twisted by backstabber Kara to portray Regina as an Anna-betrayer, causes Anna to believe she was gravely wronged by Regina, and therefore sets out to destroy her life.

Regina forms an unlikely friendship with one of her former victims, Michael, albeit it is desperate and pathetic on her side and begrudgingly on his side (because she pretty much follows him around and invades his lunch table). I really liked watching Michael and Regina's relationship develop from the first time she invades his lunch table to...possibly something more. There is certainly not enough Michael action in the book on the level of, say, Jonah Griggs, but there is enough there to understand Michael's character. I really felt for him...I felt his emptiness due to his mother being gone from him life (car accident), his conflicting feelings for helping out Regina - but what I admired the most was that he was that he didn't care what others thought of him and rose above it all. I didn't {heart} him as much as Jonah Griggs; I think I just {dig} him.

It’s interesting to see the way Regina can’t handle the torture she once doled out herself (Karma, baby) yet she is determined to fight back and get her revenge against her former friends. It seems that Regina just can’t let go of her mean girl ways and move on…until the Fab Four give her a reason to in the form of hurting someone that she actually cares about more than herself.

When I finished reading this book, my first thought was, “Man! I’m so glad that I’m not in high school anymore!!” Then my second thought was, “But…people weren’t like that in high school…is that what it’s like for girls now? Cuz if it is, man! I’m so glad that I’m not in high school anymore!!”

Reading the book left me speechless at the level to which mean girls will stoop to torture their victim. They say life imitates fiction so…this must exist somewhere in Middle America. The fact that it does really freaks me out. For awhile there, I was kind of, to put in bluntly, "messed up in the head" from reading all this mean girl drama. I think it's just hard for me to fathom this kind of behavior.

Does this give you an inkling on how GOOD this book was? The fact that it could cause such a reaction in me speaks worlds about the author’s ability to portray a disturbing story in such realistic terms. The story is fast-paced and the author makes excellent use of white space to emphasize the gravity of Regina's feelings as she goes through these torturous situations.

I highly recommend this book to those that can handle non-fluffy, edgy, and somewhat disturbing content.

JaReview: Some Girls Are

Some Girls Are, by Courtney Summers, made me incredibly glad not to be in high school. But if you find yourself in that unfortunately situation (called high school) you have my deepest sympathies. The story follows a girl, Regina, who gets frozen out of her clique. But it goes beyond a simple freeze out, as both parties play diabolical mind games on each other in an effort to one up the enemy.

The speed at which the characters go from BFF to sworn enemies leaves you reeling, much like the pace of the book. I picked it up and did not want to put it down. I even risked motion sickness to finish the last few pages on the bus ride home.

One thing I found innovative was the author's use of empty space. The short one sentence chapters seem strange but they truly engage the reader. It allows the reader to not only read the words on the page but get a feel for the emptiness and isolation the character is going through.

My feelings for Regina are conflicted. Part of me was disappointed that she didn’t do the mature thing, the uncharacteristic thing, and rise above the meanness and cruelty. She fought back constantly, perpetuating the madness. On the flip side, I wonder if I would’ve thought she would’ve been too weak if she had simple rolled over a took it rather than getting her own kicks in. I probably would’ve thought she was a pushover if she had.

Coincidentally, the male lead, Michael, just really didn’t do it for me. He rose above it. It being a history of abuse and bullying from the very girl who turns to him for help. He was the mature one. But there really was no squeal-worthy moments for me. No hook.

The story seemed so realistic in some ways (Regina not being perfect, other so-called good characters having vindictive sides) and then so unrealistic in others (extent of the cruelty and instant hatred among ex-friends). It illustrated exactly how fine the line is between love and hate. And showed how dangerous it is to let jealousy and insecurity fester. This is not a simple case of a fall out between friends, not a simple freeze out. It is not a simple anything. It is a complex battle of wills. They are enemies trying to completely destroy the other right down to their very core.

The book was an intense, fast-paced read, leaving me thinking that high school girls were e-v-i-l. By the end, I felt totally raw. But I suppose that’s the entire point right? That it left me feeling…

~J~

Battle of the Ninjas: Team Peeta vs Team Gale!!

The (friendly) face-off begins when Nin tells Ja to read an article from the brilliant Persnickety Snark, who wrote an article about why she’s Team Gale (which is really the only one to go with - if your name is Ja). Our two heroines battle out the age-old argument of Team Gale versus Team Peeta (which we personally think is a much more controversial argument than Team Jacob versus Team Edward, b/c frankly we don't like either but we side with Edward b/c hello...Breaking Dawn, do you need more convincing?)...

Ready...? FIGHT!!!

**********************************************************************************

Ja: Ugh...there's too many words. I didnt make it past the list. One question - Peeta's supposed to be good looking? Really? Like I know Gale is supposed to be hot, but Peeta?

Nin: How ever do you get through thick books if you can't get past the list in that article? *snicker*

Well, in any case, she argues very well for Team Gale ('s a girl's name), but I still am Team Peeta (pocket).

Peetas lame. You dont need a whole long argument for Team Gale. You just need a few sentences...
1. Gale's Hot
2. Peeta is lame, and not hot
3. If Gale were in the HG, Katniss soo wouldnt have had to save his ass, unlike the whimpy Peeta.

Actually you just need the first two lines...

I dunno...I dont do well w/ books w/ long paragraphs. Which coincidentally is why I've never gotten thru an Anne Rice book.

Heck yeah...Gale totally empowers Katniss. And Sandra Bullock is a genius, when she says that relationships stemming from intense circumstances never last (in "Speed").

Gale sounds like he's perpetually dirty, what from being covered by the mine dust all day.

heheheh... =D

I think Peeta is supposed to be hot in a school-jock, frat-boy kind of way. Which admittedly, is not very appealing to me, but that's cuz I don't dig that kind of look. But still Team Peeta!

“Sucksville, Panem.” Persnickety Snark is hilarious. HAHAHA....

Hey man...Aragon was perptually dirty in LOTR. And Russell Crowe is normally perpetually dirty in *all* his movies. And they both still got the awesome factor.

Hot school boy jock? No i dont think so. Peeta's probably like Michael Cena except bigger. Like dorky...OOOOH!!! He's Piz*.

"The fact that he’s tall, dark and handsome doesn’t really hurt either...I am kinda shallow." (Persnickety Snark)

Word. Up.

HAHAHAHHAHAHA!!! He's PIZ? You're TERRIBLE.

But Russell Crowe and Aragorn were dirty from kicking ass in battles. Gale is dirty from mining. I bet Gale ends up with the mayor's daughter. Remember how she trudged from her house to Katniss's in the blizzard to bring him morphine?

Dead or Dating someone else????** oh my god. No WAY. With the mayor's daughter? ugh...She's more like Peeta's style.

Ooh plus yes...Gale was all supportive and strong and had promised to take care of her family. That was awesome and showed how much stronger their relationship was. Gale is someone she can count on, whereas Peeta is someone she'd have to care for.

Yeah but both Aragon & Crowe prove you can still be hot & awesome whilst filthy.
No way. The mayor's daughter is too vanilla and whimpy for Gale.

Hm...Kinda like how Peeta is too vanilla and whimpy for Katniss.

Besides, Peeta didnt really fall in love w/ Katniss. He fell in love w/ the image and it’s totally superficial. He never even talked to her (really) before the Games. Gale is the one who truly knows her and loves her.

I take two steps forward, I take two steps back!
We come together 'cuz opposites attract
And you know it ain't fiction just a natural fact
We come together 'cuz OPPOSITES ATTRACT!!

*rolls her eyes* You're basing your entire argument on a Paula Abdul song? Dude...that's sad.

hehe....

I don't need a reason for being Team Peeta. It's my instinct. And they always say, go with your instinct. =D

cheehehehehh...

Dude...you arent Gibbs*** either.

Yeah I instinctively went w/ Team Gale. What can I say...he calls to me. and he's hot. And he's awesome.

So peeta gave her bread once. She (and her family) would've starved a long time ago if not for Gale and his awesomeness.

Besides dont you think it's a little...whats the word...slimey that he would use the whole HG fooling the audience thing to try and force a (pretend) relationship on katniss and coerce some action?

Hahaha...YES. That is the bestest argument ever. He used the whole HG they're gonna kill you, to cop a feel. hahahah....okay well not really cop a feel but definitely get some sorta action.

Wow...sometimes my own brilliance astounds me.

Your ability to twist a heroic plan to save Katniss (b/c let's face it, she is stupidly clueless and unobservant) into something perverted astounds me.

=D cheeeeee......

Peeta gave her HOPE. That's what that one little piece of bread was about. And you may live physically, but if your mind/spirit is broken, then what kind of life is that?

Dont you think its a little too convenient that the whole charade they had allowed him to make out w/ the girl of his dreams whom he basically stalked previously and who wouldnt give him the time of day before? Yeah...

If that little piece of bread was supposed to be hope, he should've given her a bigger piece.

He gave her two loaves. =P

**********************************************************************************

Thus ended the epic Peeta Pocket vs. Gale's a Girl's Name battle (for now). Until possibly Mockingjay comes out and then we'll duke it out all over again.

**********************************************************************************
Notes:
*Piz is a fictional character in the highly awesome, yet sadly cancelled television series Veronica Mars. He plays Veronica’s lacking, rebound love interest after her temporary break up with Logan Echolls.

**Persnickety Snark speculates that Gale will probably wind up dead or dating someone else (the horrors…) in the third and final book. (She's probably right so you should hop on the Team Peeta train while you're ahead!)

***Gibbs is a fictional character in the fantastic CBS show NCIS. Well known for being uncannily all-knowing and usually successful when he goes with his “gut” or instinct.

I {Heart} Jonah Griggs! A {NIN} Review of On the Jellicoe Road

Full Disclosure: The American title is Jellicoe Road, but after reading the book, I felt that the original Aussie title, On the Jellicoe Road was a more significant and better title. Therefore, I will ostensibly refer to the book as On the Jellicoe Road. It’s like Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone as opposed to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Why change the title of the book? The author picked it for a reason and it must therefore have some significance. Read it and figure out why!

Anyhoo, enough of my soapbox-ing. I first found out about On the Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta via the Persnickety Snark (PS) book review blog. The blogger, Adele, had nothing but singing and glowing praises for this book and she made me want to find out why. Being the frugalista that I am, I checked it out from my local library. A benefit to the author being an Aussie is that she is not very well-known in the States and there are like NO HOLDS on her books, which means I got it right away. Since I am all about instant gratification, this was already a point in the book’s favor (just kidding). Normally, you’d think this meant that the book sucked but (1) I read PS and she convinced me otherwise, (2) I read the reviews on Amazon and they were great, and (3) I am inclined to think that the American youth is just clueless that this gem of a book exists. (Do you like how I threw in the word ‘gem’? It’s my first step towards eloquency!)

I will admit that it took me awhile to understand, comprehend, and get into this book. The storyline weaves back and forth between the past and present so you’re trying to get a handle on 2 casts of characters in 1 book. A few times, I had to go back and re-read chapters because I would confuse the characters.

Also, not being familiar with Aussie slang, I didn’t understand that “black” and “indigenous” meant “Aboriginal” in Australia, as you well know it means something else in the US. I never did learn what kind of dance “The Zorba” and “Wind Tunnel” are. And did you know that "pashing" is Aussie slang for "snogging" aka "kissing"?

I won’t bore you with a synopsis of the book since you can easily read that on Amazon; rather, I will wax poetic about everything I LOVED about the book.

Jonah Griggs

If my title did not give it away, then you are seriously dense. Jonah is the love interest in the book. He’s completely arrogant and rude at first, but you come to love him (or I did) as you learn and understand his story. I love that he is troubled and angsty, somewhat jealous but very protective of Taylor, and seeing their relationship progress in the end left me dying for more.

Beautiful Storyline

The story weaves between the past and present, between a group of 5 inseparable friends and Taylor's life in the present day. How the two tie together is wrapped up beautifully, piece-by-piece, throughout the book. Additionally, there is a side story in the present that is haunting as it indicates how life could have turned out for Taylor.

One minor note: something that is mentioned so often in passing (Jonah & Taylor's failed attempt to runaway when they were younger) turns out to be rather significant and really spooked me out...but if you blink, you’re going to miss it so PAY ATTENTION. Re-read if you have to. You’re going to want to anyways.

In reference to the Aussie title of the book vs. the American title...so much happens "on the Jellicoe Road" in this story that omitting just those first 2 words slightly changes the idea of this book. Especially since the author writes that refrain, "on the Jellicoe Road," several times throughout the book at significant points in the story.

Supporting Characters

Santangelo and Raffy

Good friends…great chemistry...you care what happens to them and warmed by their loyalty to their friends.

The Mullet Brothers

Say what? Yeah…MULLETS. You know on “How I Met Your Mother,” Robin says the ‘80s didn’t come to Canada until the ‘90s? Did mullets not come to Australia until the 2000s???

This book left me feeling melancholy yet hopeful at the end. The love story between Jonah and Taylor was super squeal-worthy, but I liked that the book wasn't completely focused on it. Rather, it was a sort of coming-of-age, learning to forgive and move on type of book. It was seriously the best book that I have read in a long, long time and has made me a Melina Marchetta fan.

I tried to get {Ja} to read On the Jellicoe Road ever since I finished reading it (about 3 months ago) and she kept putting it off because she wasn’t on a reading kick. I think she renewed the book like 3x before she finally got around to reading it, and as you can see from her book review, it was well worth the read.

So do not make the same mistake that {Ja} made - go forth and get thee this book now!

JaReview: Jellicoe Road

Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta can be described in one word that I rarely use – profound. The summary explains it as one girl's journey to find her mother, but I think that really dumbs it down too much. It goes beyond that. It shows persons resilience under tragic circumstances. And contrarily, how even the most resilient person can be completely and utterly broken over a single loss or event.

Personally, I think it is the best book of 2010 (so far). I don’t know that I’d call it completely realistic, I think it paints a significantly more tragic picture than what most people experience. But the darkness and tragedy itself seems so real, which I suppose is just a statement as to how awesome the writer, Melina Marchetta, is. It had a brilliant balance of fluffily happy and depressively sad to satisfy my tastes.

But this book has it all. Intriguing mystery. Turf wars. Star crossed love. Awesome side pairings. And of course the requisite hot and mysterious male lead – Jonah Griggs. I don’t {heart} Jonah as much as other people or think that he is "the MOST compelling" character ever written. The latter, though, is mostly because I fell in love with Gabriel Wolfe 14 years ago. But Jonah Griggs definitely holds his own. He’s got it all in spades- moodiness, adorable jealousy issues, arrogance and mystifying past. Those might not necessarily be construed as good things, but when combined with unwavering loyalty, sweetness, ability to overcome horrible circumstances and the desire to protect at all costs, you’ve got yourself one awesome package.

The author writes relationships and their dynamics so well. Not simply between to love interests, but also between friends. She’s got side characters that rival the awesomeness of the Henderson Brothers.

The “story within the story” was a bit confusing in the beginning. Though I guessed most of it within the first few chapters. But that didn’t diminish my liking of the book. Even though I had my suspicions from the get go, the “journey” was definitely well worth it. If it’s confusing to you in the beginning, chillax, because eventually it all makes sense.

So if you haven’t read this book yet, I suggest you do so. Right now. I’ll wait. And then later we can point and laugh at the unknowing masses that are missing out on such awesomeness.

~J~

Why the Great Outdoors is Detrimental to Your Health…

Whoever said fresh air was a good thing was totally misguided. Yes, of course, fresh air and the great outdoors is supposed to be awesome and all. Promotes a love a nature, gets people out and about, blah blah blah. But whoever said it failed to disclose the drawbacks. Fresh air can lead to momentary insanity in us City Girls.

Not that we’re like Carrie Bradshaw Clones or anything. You won’t find us trolling down Times Square rocking fabulous Manolos (though one can always dream).

Back to the point. On one sunny California day not to long ago, last weekend actually, we found ourselves hiking in the wilderness (of a well known and maintained trail). In a stroke of brilliance (and utter randomness) we decided that if we were a celebrity couple our name would be Ninja. For the first few letters in both our first names. We like to think it’s even awesomer than Bennifer. We might even have shirts made.

Flash forward to present time...

Some of that fresh air must still be trapped in our brains, because one of us (Ja) got the brilliant idea to start a book blog for all the YA lit we read. None of that deep "adult" stuff that makes you think crap and feel depressed for days. Nuh-uh, we like it light, and we like it FLUFFY. Hence, the voracious speed at which we kung-fu our way through beloved YA lit. Well, some of them are not so beloved since, given that it is written for teens that are uh...quite a few years younger than us, some of it is, quite frankly, to quote a particularly brilliant and eloquent individual, "sucky."

But we digress.

This book blog is a combination of our desire to better track books we’ve read, our thoughts on them, and our desire to simply use our Ninja moniker (this probably should’ve been listed first). We’ll try not to use too much Ninja-speak (example: “I digs!” and “Fun-ness!”) so that the masses can follow our reviews, but we make no guarantees. Because that's how we roll.

Enjoy!