Book Review: Jellicoe Road

I'll admit that after a few pages of Jellicoe Road I wasn't dying to read more. I couldn't figure out how Marchetta was going to write 400 pages about the "war" happening between the Jellicoe School, Townies, and Cadets. It honestly didn't sound like much of a premise for a book. But after thoroughly enjoying Marchetta's Saving Francesca, I kept at it. And thank goodness that I did. 

Jellicoe Road tells two stories: that of Taylor Markham, a 17-year old attending the Jellicoe School, and a twenty-year old tale of a ragtag group of friends on the Jellicoe Road . Taylor never knew her father and was abandoned by her mother at a 7-11 when she was 11 years old. Hannah, a pseudo-guardian to the Jellicoe kids finds Taylor and takes her under her wing, providing her a place to stay until she was old enough to begin year seven. Soon after the story begins, Hannah disappears and Taylor is named leader of the Jellicoe School, thrown into "battle" with the Cadets' leader, Jonah Griggs (with whom Taylor shares an interesting past) and the Townies' leader, Santangelo.

Through pages of a manuscript that Hannah left behind, we are introduced to an entirely new set of characters from twenty years earlier: Narnie, Jude, Webb, Tate, and Fitz, a group of friends united by a tragic accident that become like a family to each other.

As Taylor's life seems to unravel, she discovers that the characters in Hannah's story are not just a product of her mentor’s imagination and that her own story intertwines with theirs in ways she never thought possible. Jellicoe Road is a heartbreaking tale of coming-of-age and coming to terms with the life we're given. When Taylor learns her own history, she finally realizes that she has never truly been alone.

At some points it seemed somewhat contrived how perfectly the pieces of the story added up (the mysterious Hermit, the Brigadier, etc.), but sometimes we have to suspend our disbelief in order to truly experience the magic of a story.


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Book Review: The Fallback Plan

Leigh Stein's The Fallback Plan is the story of Esther Kohler, a depressed twentysomething wandering aimlessly through her post-grad life. Many of us have been in Esther's shoes: we close the door on a significant part of our lives and face an endless hallway of doors, or perhaps, an endless hallway of blank space that appears to lead nowhere. Esther moves back in with her parents, the titular "fallback plan," and seems to be waiting for a catalyst to get her life moving again. 

It's when Esther takes a job babysitting for the Browns, a couple whose infant daughter recently died, that the story begins moving. Esther spends her days playing in the Browns' backyard with four-year-old May while May's mother Amy works on a mysterious art project in the attic. Esther loves spending time with May, but her life remains rather static as she navigates several ill-fated romantic entanglements and attempts to write a screenplay.

There's no doubt that Leigh Stein is a talented writer; however, I didn't feel like I could take anything away from her characters. I like to read novels that make a character's unique struggles into something universal, something that anyone can relate to. Unfortunately, The Fallback Plan did the opposite for me: Esther's post-graduate conflicts were so mundane that they seemed specific only to her situation. Even as someone who experienced depressive episodes in college and felt that awful sensation of standing still while the rest of the world continues moving, I couldn't seem to relate to Esther. And most of the secondary characters were like stick figures rather than actual portraits of human beings. 

The part of the book that resonated most with me was Esther's memory of a cruel and traumatizing prank at a sleepover she attended when she was thirteen. Unfortunately, the tale lasted just a few pages and didn't really play into the novel's story as a whole. I imagine that Leigh Stein's writing will only improve if she continues, I just hope that I'll find something more in her future novels.


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Book Pizza: Where Books and Awesomeness Collide

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Thought Pizza is a place for all kinds of likes: people who like movies, people who like sports, people who like making things, and of course, people who like to read. For those of us who like to read, I’d like to introduce you to a magical part of the Thought Pizza world – Book Pizza. Book Pizza is the book club here and we can’t wait for all of you bibliophiles to get involved. We’ll be selecting one book every month and anyone who’s interested can discuss it in a few different ways. First, you can participate in our Book Pizza forum here. Feel free to start your own threads and discussions; we want you to be involved! You can also talk about the book on twitter using the hash tag #bookpizza, but try not to post too many spoilers there.

Book Pizza’s pick for June is The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. From Amazon.com: “The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night. 

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands. 

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per­formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead. 

Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.”

So pick up a copy of The Night Circus and get ready to discuss your heart out! Each month when we announce the new Book Pizza selection, we’ll also offer a poll so that you can tell us what books YOU want to read. 

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