FitG Update: Jellicoe Road

Synopsis from Harperteen:

Abandoned by her mother on Jellicoe Road when she was eleven, Taylor Markham, now seventeen, is finally being confronted with her past. But as the reluctant leader of her boarding school dorm, there isn't a lot of time for introspection. And while Hannah, the closest adult Taylor has to family, has disappeared, Jonah Griggs is back in town, moody stares and all.



In this absorbing story by Melina Marchetta, nothing is as it seems and every clue leads to more questions as Taylor tries to work out the connection between her mother dumping her, Hannah finding her then and her sudden departure now, a mysterious stranger who once whispered something in her ear, a boy in her dreams, five kids who lived on Jellicoe Road eighteen years ago, and the maddening and magnetic Jonah Griggs, who knows her better than she thinks he does. If Taylor can put together the pieces of her past, she might just be able to change her future.


You can read my full book review here on the Fill-in-the-Gaps Project site.
 
In a nutshell:
 
I wish I'd read a synopsis like the one above or a few reviews before I dove into this book. I had questions answered just now from reading the reviews that plagued me through the entire reading.
 
The Booklist review on Amazon says younger readers may find the complex backstory offputting. Well, I'm here to say older readers may also be confused by it. I was!
 
But with that said, please do not let my confusion stop you from reading Jellicoe Road. Read a few synopses like the one above, and then sit back and enjoy a very interesting read. The characters are compelling, the setting wonderful, and the writing top-notch. Just go into it ... prepared.