Book Review: Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

Through the story, Taylor struggles to unravel the secrets about her family and about the strange dreams she’s been having. She’s helped along the way by numerous people, even people she thought were her enemies. All the characters’ stories come together in a very cool way at the end.
My only complaint is that there were just too many heavy themes introduced. There’s child abandonment, drug abuse/alcoholism, prostitution, child abuse, child pornography, murder, several suicide attempts/threats, arson, tragic car accidents, cancer… the list just goes on an on. After a while, there was just so much going on, that the story began to feel just a tiny bit contrived.
But even so, once I started this novel, I couldn’t put it down–it was satisfyingly engrossing right from the start. I think this is definitely one of those YA novels that many adults would enjoy.
#lordoftheflies #jellicoeroad #issuesbook #YA #MelinaMarchetta