Saving Francesca was such a powerful read. I love the way that Melina Marchetta writes her characters. They all have amazing depth, even the supporting characters, and great characterization makes such a difference to a book. I could really connect with Francesca, how she felt, and how she had to grow, all because of the fantastic way her character was written and developed throughout the story. The theme of the book is sad, but the book is never depressing, it’s filled with humor, the subject of depression, the battle of the sexes, friendship, love, and family in perfect parts. Saving Francesca is a wonderful story about coming-of-age, and about taking on responsibilities.

Saving Francesca was such a powerful read. I love the way that Melina Marchetta writes her characters. They all have amazing depth, even the supporting characters, and great characterization makes such a difference to a book. I could really connect with Francesca, how she felt, and how she had to grow, all because of the fantastic way her character was written and developed throughout the story. The theme of the book is sad, but the book is never depressing, it’s filled with humor, the subject of depression, the battle of the sexes, friendship, love, and family in perfect parts. Saving Francesca is a wonderful story about coming-of-age, and about taking on responsibilities.

I've seen bloggers I love give the author of this book rave reviews, as I needed something for the Forgotten Friday square for Spring Book Bingo I had a look through the Great Imaginations blog website and came across this one, and figured, yes, okay, I'd give this one a try. 

 

I was not all that blown away with this particular book. For the most part, it was pretty much a two star rating. It was just okay. I gave it an extra star because the last chapter made me burst into tears. It seemed to be a whole lot of nothing happening. One thing I do appreciate it, is this is probably one of the most realistic portrait of teenage boys that I have seen in a long time. They're rude, they swear, they fart, they make stupid jokes and tease the girls. 

 

The heroine of the story, is trying to find her place in a group of very different girls at a boys school. She's also dealing with her mother's sudden depression and lots of different opinions from aunts and various family members on how to handle it. While her dad seems to adopt an "it'll all work out" attitude and seems to refuse to acknowledge that there is a very obvious problem that no one quite knows how to fix. And no one really listens to Francesca because she;s a teenager so what does she know? 

 

The family scenes were quite emotional, particularly towards the end of the book and quite moving. But the rest of it was Francesca going through every day things at school, trying to fit in with the girls and the boys, and also trying to maintain friendships with the girls from her old school who are very different from the girls in the new school. It did get rather tedious and boring. 

 

The character developments did improve throughout, particularly Francesca's personal growth, and as I mentioned earlier, the last chapter made me cry. I didn't think it was a brilliant novel. It was okay. I would certainly read something by this author again. 

 

Square crossed off for Spring Bingo 2015 - Forgotten Fridays Pick. 

4.5 stars

This is my first Melina Marchetta's book and probably won't be the last one. That alone makes you guess that I liked the book, add the four stars and the answers are given. I really enjoyed reading this book, I didn't fall in love with it nor did my feels go up and down, but its tenderness reached the deepest place in my heart..

This book is not about just a high school girl. It's about family. It's about friendship. It's about loss. It's about a fake world built up in order to never face the real world. It's about finding who you are and what you've lost long the way. It's about love. It's about experiences. It's about anger. It's about school life. It's...

So many contemporary books deal with the same problematics but there is something special about Marchetta's way of doing it. Marchetta takes a big problem like depression and transforms it in so much more, not just a word that we are used to bringing up every now and then like something unreal... depression is a serious matter and I really appreciated this author's way of describing it.

Unfortunately I don't have much time and I don't feel like postponing this review, so I'm just going to say the things that I loved most. I loved Francesca. I loved her way of seeing the world, in her denial mode. Once the anger was out and the truth unfolded she reveals her true self, and we discover that there is so much more to this shy/extravagant girl, and she doesn't disappoint us at all (Well how could she? She is so real). Like I said I loved her little messed up head. I loved her mother/daughter relationship. I loved seeing Mia from Francesca's eyes.

Well I also appreciated all the other characters, most of all Thomas. I loved him! I was hoping for something different even though I knew how things were going to end up ... but that still didn't stop me from dreaming. I like to dream a little when I read even if the ending won't turn out to be the way I wanted it. That's something I actually love about books... they make you dream, they give you all the information in order to figure out the ending and at times hope for a different ending, and when the last page arrives they still surprise you.

This is the first book in which the love story didn't really get me. I was falling in love with Francesca's world, with her bizarre italian life (there were sooooo many things that only italians can understand...) that made me laugh and smile so many times, that I didn't really care about Will. I just wanted her to be happy. ^^

Great book!!! Hope to read Tom's POV as soon as possible!

P.S. I was listening to Radiohead's Creep and well I couldn't stop myself from connecting the song to Francesca and Mia's relationship.

“I can't believe I said it out loud. The truth doesn't set you free, you know. It makes you feel awkward and embarrassed and defenseless and red in the face and horrified and petrified and vulnerable. But free? I don't feel free. I feel like shit."

 

Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta

 

I relate to this quote so fucking much. It's why I find it hard to talk to even close friends about stuff that's bothering me. If I do, I feel absolutely everything listed in this quote. Gah.