Author: Melina Marchetta
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 419
Read Time: Three Days
Tag Words: Australia, Cadets, the Territory Wars, The Prayer Tree, Best Friends, true love, death, grief, surviving, acceptance, leading, being strong, Favorites
My Summary:
Nothing is as it seems, and answers only lead you to more questions in this brilliant work by Melina Marchetta about overcoming grief, learning to accept the world around you, leading, even when you don’t know where to go, and finding love and keeping it.
My Review:
On my blog banner there is a quote in a script that some people can’t quite read. It says, “Sometimes a book becomes a part of your heart and soul. This blog is dedicated to those books.” Maybe I wrote the dedication in a crazy font so that when this day came I could just point and say, that’s what I meant. Or maybe I just liked the font, but either way, this book is what I was talking about, even if I didn’t know it when I made my banner.
It won’t make sense for a while, and once it all comes together you’ll be bawling. Still, you need to read it. You’ll sit still for a while when you reach a certain part, take a deep breath, and keep reading, tears streaming down your face. And then you’ll laugh, and a huge grin will break out over your face. You’ll close the book, hug it against you and after a while pass it off to the person sitting closest to you. You’ll say, “It won’t make sense for a while, and once it all comes together you’ll be bawling. Still, you need to read it.”
Notes on the Names:
I’m having an obsession with Tate because of this book, also Narnie and Jessa.
The names all fit together seamlessly.
Narnie, Webb, Tate, Fitz & Jude.
Taylor, Jonah, Raffy, Chaz, Jessa, Chloe, Ben, Tilly & Hannah.
Thoughts on the Cover:
It’s a cover you appreciate after you read the book.
Parental Book Review *spoilers*
Sexual Content:
Heavy.
Jonah and Taylor make love, and it’s Taylor’s first time. It hurts, but she knows it’s only the first time and it won’t hurt ever again. I say this to prove a point, it is sex between unmarried teens, but they aren’t doing it because “everyone else is.”
Narnie and Jude also have sex, but their love scene is more poetic, more heavy kissing than any description of the present moment, if that makes sense.
Language:
Heavy
Pr**k- 4
S- 20
D- 1
H- 15
Ar*e- 6
F- 9
Bast**d- 2
Jesus- 2
Christ- 1
Violence:
Heavy.
Death by car crash. Mother who is decapitated.
Jonah killed his father out of self-protection.
Jonah was at the train station the day he met Taylor to jump in front of it, but she made him get on, instead.
There is a serial killer on the loose in Australia at the time and he always takes two teens from the characters area every year. The serial killer never makes an appearance, or has any violent baring on the story, but he is mentioned often.
Fights break out between the Cadets, the Jellicoe kids and the Townies often.
Other Notables:
None.
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