"Why did I feel so grateful that people treated me well?" Sometimes you stumble upon a story that is just too much like yourself. This story is too much like myself. That is why I don't know if I will ever write a review. I hope I will, but right now doing it would feel like carving the heart out of my chest. 'Am I making sense?' 'Weirdly enough, yes.' While I struggle with myself, please, please, please. Go read "Saving Francesca" by Melina Marchetta. --- Okay, so I had a few hours to get ...

4.5 stars\n Just ask how I'm feeling, I want to say. Just ask and I may tell you.But no one does.\nChantal read a YA contemporary? And she liked it?? *shocked face*Melina Marchetta has become my queen of contemporary. First On the Jellicoe Road and now Saving Francesca. The woman can do no wrong. I still can’t fathom how she managed to make me this in love with characters in less than 250 pages. On the Jellicoe Road has a significantly higher rating on GR compared to Saving Francesca and I can ...

My thoughts after reread : My WHAT? My THOUGHTS? Are you kidding me? Do I look like I'm able to think? Francesca. Tara. Will. Jimmy. Luca. Mia. Bob the builder. Tom. You ruined me for life, you know that? Dysfunctional. Hysterical. Bastards. Endearing. Unforgettable. Real.➡ I didn't know anything about how fantastic realistic fiction could be before meeting these characters a year ago. Saving Francesca is so... clever - nothing feels forced, and it becomes magical when I feel as if everythin...

:::4 Stars:::*Wipes tears* This author gets me every time.Okay, twice. She got me twice. I’ve read two of her books. But that only means there’s more of her brilliance to enjoy...Oh, yeahhhSaving Francesca is a very touching and gentle read that centers not only on common themes such as family, friendship, and love—but thoroughly explores the heartaches of depression and the toll it can take on a family as a whole. If you're looking for poignant YA fiction, this is it.I’ve read many books where ...

There's this cute, bouncing red tomato bopping around GoodReads singing the praises of Melina Marchetta.I'll admit that I ignored the Tomato because my therapist said that it wasn't normal for fruit to recommend books to people. I accepted this advice because I'd already read Marchetta's Looking for Alibrandi and I hadn't enjoyed it.I couldn't understand people's fascination with it, actually. Nobody in my class at school liked Looking for Alibrandi and I thought for awhile that maybe it was bec...

"I was born seventeen years ago," I tell him. "Do you think people have noticed that I'm around?""I notice when you're not. Does that count?"Seriously – that is barf-in-your-mouth sweet (in a good way) and part of why I love this Marchetta gal. She writes boys you wish you had dated when you were sixteen. Not now – now I would see through a line like that in a heartbeat, but at sixteen? Hook, line, and sinker, man. Put the apple schnapps away, boy, you will not be needing it tonight.(Full disclo...

Amidst the Edward Cullens and sexy Salvatore brothers dominating young adult fiction, it's no wonder teenage girls feel inadequate when all they encounter is a Rob with a mullet who enjoys farting and swearing in class. That's precisely what I adore about Melina Marchetta's *Saving Francesca*. It's not a tale of beautiful, unattainable people or the unusually brave and self-sacrificing. Instead, it’s the most genuine portrayal of school, boys, and family life for a teenager that I’ve ever encoun...

Updated 6/29/2016Nobody writes friendships and dialogue quite like Melina Marchetta.Weird attitude towards anti-depressants though. Updated 8/16/12So, two years later after my original reading of Saving Francesca and I am removing a star. I've been claiming for a long time that this novel was my favorite by Marchetta, but it's not true any more. Let's see where my rereading of the entire Marchetta catalog leads me, however at this point I am certain I now prefer her fantasies. Truly, her later n...

It's a weird smile, but it reaches his eyes and I bottle it. And I put it in my ammo pack that's kept right next to my soul and Justine's spirit and Siobham's hope and Tara's passions. Because if I'm going to wake up one morning and not be able to get out of bed, I'm going to need everything I've got to fight this disease that could be sleeping inside of me.After reading Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta, I’m convinced that this author could write a 500-page book about the different brands of...

This book, "Saving Francesca" by Melina Marchetta, came highly recommended, and I have to admit I put off borrowing it from the library for a while. I usually prefer stories with a) supernatural creatures causing havoc, b) dead bodies and angst, or c) any combination of a & b. "Saving Francesca", of course, has none of those things. But honestly? It didn't even matter. The amazing characters in this novel, the story of Francesca, one of the few girls at a formerly all-boys school, completely car...