Saving Francesca

Saving Francesca - Melina Marchetta description

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.