Thomas Mackee, one of Francesca's close friends in the previous book, has finished school and has fallen off the rails after the death of his uncle in the 2005 terrorist attacks on London. Thomas has been involved with drugs and drinking and has had a variety of one-night stands but all he can really think about is Tara Finke, the girl he loved at high school, and his friends that he left behind and his family who all fell apart and are now scattered all over the country.
It's only when Francesca saves him from a difficult situation that he starts to move back towards his family and friends, and starts to wonder if maybe he can fix his life and start again and get back Tara Finke.
Saving Francesca was brilliant, and although I didn't enjoy On the Jellicoe Road I had high hopes for this book. For starters, every character in Saving Francesca was brilliantly developed with just the right amount of intrigue, so a book about any of them would have been brilliant. I'm glad Marchetta picked Tom to focus on, because there were so many unanswered questions about him at the end of Saving Francesca. The book also answered questions about other characters too, such as Francesca and Tara.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Again, the characters were brilliantly developed, particularly Tom's aunt Georgie (a new character) and the back story was both moving and realistic.
It was a great book and Melina Marchetta deserves praise for following up Saving Francesca with such a wonderful new novel.
Butterflies: 9 out of 10
Recommended for: people over 15 who have read Saving Francesca. Although the book can be read as a stand alone novel, I think it will be better appreciated if you read Saving Francesca first.
Warnings: sex, swearing, drugs and alcohol, but the story is brilliant so please don't let that stop you if you think you're old enough to read it!!
No comments:
Post a Comment