A Straight to the Point Review: Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

Jellicoe Road by: Melina Marchetta (Jan. 2008)

419 Pages

Publisher: Harper Teen

Genre: Young Adult

Source: The Library

Purchase: Barnes and Noble | The Book Depository | Amazon

Goodreads Summary: 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.

My Review

Everyone should take a chance on Jellicoe Road.

Here is why…

The opening sequence of the book will blow you away.

It will frustrate you in a wonderful way.

It’s a brilliantly written intense puzzling novel.

It’s full of secrets, tragedy, laughs, and hope, it has everything.

The characters are realistic and very much memorable.

The Bottom Line: Jellicoe Road will leave you with so many feels.

Review: The Distance Between Us by: Kasie West

The Distance Between Us by: Kasie West (2013)

320 pages

Genre: YA/Contemporary/Romance

Publisher: Harper Teen

Source: The Library

Purchase: Barnes and Noble | The Book Depository

Goodreads Summary: Seventeen-year-old Caymen Meyers studies the rich like her own personal science experiment, and after years of observation she’s pretty sure they’re only good for one thing—spending money on useless stuff, like the porcelain dolls in her mother’s shop.

So when Xander Spence walks into the store to pick up a doll for his grandmother, it only takes one glance for Caymen to figure out he’s oozing rich. Despite his charming ways and that he’s one of the first people who actually gets her, she’s smart enough to know his interest won’t last. Because if there’s one thing she’s learned from her mother’s warnings, it’s that the rich have a short attention span. But Xander keeps coming around, despite her best efforts to scare him off. And much to her dismay, she's beginning to enjoy his company.

She knows her mom can’t find out—she wouldn’t approve. She’d much rather Caymen hang out with the local rocker who hasn’t been raised by money. But just when Xander’s attention and loyalty are about to convince Caymen that being rich isn’t a character flaw, she finds out that money is a much bigger part of their relationship than she’d ever realized. And that Xander’s not the only one she should’ve been worried about.

My Review

YES. YES. YES. The Distance Between Us was a beyond words can describe delightful read. I thought it would be a typical teen romance drama, but luckily for me it wasn’t.

From the very first page I automatically loved the characters. Caymen is a sarcastic delight that had me laughing throughout the entire novel. Her sarcastic comments about the rich, the creepy dolls at the store her mother owns, and everything else had me smiling. Xander is beyond adorable and although troubled, (but what teenager isn’t?) a wonderfully awesome guy. Caymen’s best friend is kind of eccentric but cool, and Caymen’s mother is ever present and a huge part of the novel, not to mention pretty darn great. I could keep going on and on about how wonderful all of the many characters are in this novel, but I won’t, because I want you to discover them on your own.

This story has a pretty much perfectly written romance, I loved Xander and Caymen and all of their interactions, but it also has so much more. I felt like it really showed what it meant to be a teenager among different classes. It also emphasized the importance of family and how you love them but they can also be a pain. West did a great job at writing a young adult novel that was a light fun read but touched on important issues that teens struggle with as well.

If you are a young adult contemporary fan then I’m sure you will enjoy The Distance Between Us, heck, even if you aren't you will probably most definitely still like the book. If you want a relationship that will have you smiling or if you want a cute fun read where you will sigh with content while reading, then the The Distance Between Us should be your first pick. Therefore, I think you may as well just go ahead and read this one. I'm so glad Nicole from The Quiet Concert recommended this one!

Review: Life As We Knew It by: Susan Beth Pfeffer

Life As We Knew It (The Last Survivors #1) by: Susan Beth Pfeffer (2006)

337 pages

Genre: YA/Survival

Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers

Source: The Library

Purchase: Barnes and Noble | The Book Depository | Amazon

Goodreads Summary: Miranda’s disbelief turns to fear in a split second when a meteor knocks the moon closer to the earth. How should her family prepare for the future when worldwide tsunamis wipe out the coasts, earthquakes rock the continents, and volcanic ash blocks out the sun? As summer turns to Arctic winter, Miranda, her two brothers, and their mother retreat to the unexpected safe haven of their sunroom, where they subsist on stockpiled food and limited water in the warmth of a wood-burning stove.

Told in journal entries, this is the heart-pounding story of Miranda’s struggle to hold on to the most important resource of all--hope--in an increasingly desperate and unfamiliar world.

My Review

A friend I work with was shocked when I told her I hadn’t read this book. Actually, I hadn’t even heard of it. She promised me that it was exactly the kind of book that I would like and that I should read it. So I did, and I’m really glad I did. Life As We Knew It did not disappoint.

Here is my long list of reasons as to why you should read Life As We Knew It:

• Family is present and central in this book. This doesn’t happen very often in a lot of young adult books so this was a very nice change. I love the family relationships between mother and daughter and the siblings.
• The book is told in journal entry format. I love when authors differ from the norm in how they tell their story.
• There is this one scene with Miranda’s mother that blew my mind, was hilarious, and I could relate to it (I would have done the same thing she did). When they realize s*** is about to hit the fan her mom begins to stock up for the worse, and her trip with the kids to the local super market to get all the food and other supplies they may need to survive is chaotic and just plain entertaining.
• Life As We Knew It is one of the better survival stories I have ever read. It was interesting to see how the community, Miranda and her family, and the world reacted to the moon incident. It also seemed very real, like maybe I should have an emergency pantry stocked with food and water just in case. This is a survival story at its finest.
• Miranda grows throughout the book, making her so very real. She also never annoyed me, (which is a huge plus) and acts like a teenager when logical but also steps up as an adult when needed. I also liked all the other characters as well.

Here are the two minor issues I had with Life As We Knew It:

• There isn’t a lot of action and the book is kind of slow at times, but that didn’t keep me from being engrossed in Miranda’s story so it wasn't a horrible thing.
• It seemed a little weird that the scientists had no idea the moon was going to be hit hard enough to be pushed closer to Earth causing full blown chaos, but I’m no scientist and the book was too good for me to care about that small tiny detail.

So obviously I think you should read Life As We Knew It. Some people may not like the slower pace or how it is written in journal entries, but I still think it is worth a try. It is a great choice for all those survival story enthusiasts! I can’t wait to read the other books in the series, luckily I snagged them all from the library right after I finished this one.