Jellicoe Road

I didn't include this book on my April reads because I hadn't finished it till this morning. But I have to talk about it. If you've read it, you'll understand.

I picked up this book in the first place because I think at least one person had it on their "best book of 2011" list. So it's gotta pretty good, right? After reading Chapter 1, I thought, huh??? After Chapter 2, I thought, who are these people? After Chapter 3, I thought, I don't think I'm going to finish this book. And this is coming from a girl who's put down maybe three books in her entire life before finishing them. I just don't do that. Once I start I story, I have to see it through, even if it makes me want to tear my hair out (I read a book like that recently, but I won't name any names).

While deciding whether or not to even bother reading past chapter 3, I decided to go on Goodreads. Which actually was kind of a stupid idea since reviews on Goodreads are always a mix of good and bad, so how exactly would that help me?

Wrong. They were all good. (At least the first couple of pages I looked at. Did you honestly expect me to read more than two thousand reviews???) But not only that, a lot of the reviews said the same kind of thing:

I had no clue what was going on at first...
I couldn't keep track of all the characters in the beginning...
Even once I got to 100 pages, I thought I'd quit but I decided to keep going...
Keep reading, it's worth it...
Keep reading, you'll love this book...
Keep reading, it will all become clear in the end...

I took their advice. I kept reading. And it was worth it! Oh my gosh was it worth it! I don't even know what to say about this book except it's so heart-wrenchingly sad. The things these characters go through... oh it's so awful and yet you keep reading because you want them to make it through so badly and somehow they do get through it. At first I couldn't keep track of all the characters and because of that I didn't really care about them. But gradually, things become clear, and you get to know each individual character and you start to guess who these people are in relation to everyone else and you fall in love with them.

This book is a definite must read. But if you pick it up, keep reading. Do it, keep reading. Trust me, you won't be sorry you did.