Name: Saving Francesca
Rating: 4.28235294117647 (85 reviews)
ISBN: 9780375829833

Melina Marchetta

Sixteen-year-old Francesca could use her outspoken mother's help with the problems of being one of a handful of girls at a parochial school that has just turned coed, but her mother has suddenly become severely depressed.

Saving Francesca

My old school, St Stella's, only goes to Year Ten and most of my friends now go to Pius Senior College, but my mother wouldn't allow it because she says the girls there leave with limited options and she didn't bring me up to have limitations placed upon me. If you know my mother you'll sense there's an irony there, based on the fact that she is the Queen of Limitation Placers in my life.Francesca is at the beginning of her second term in Year Eleven at an all boy's school that has just started accepting girls. She still misses her old friends, and, to make things worse, her mother has had a breakdown and can barely move from her bed.But Francesca had not counted on the fierce loyalty of her new friends, or falling in love, or finding that it's within her power to bring her family back together.From the bestselling, Multi-Award-Winning author ofLooking for Alibrandi, comes a memorable story told with humour, compassion and joy.

Annika Arguemore

Tearjerker. Page-turner. I'll love this book until hell freezes over!

★★★★ // i initially thought that i wouldn’t like this, but it turned out to be a really lovely read. i absolutely loved each and every character, especially the main friends. i think this is the first YA book that i read in which i was able to find a portrayal of depression and how it ultimately affects those close to you in a non-romanticized way. it has this bubbling sadness underneath it that was no less palpable.

Melina Marchetta did it again! The Marchetta effect!

debre

i wish i could say eloquent things about this book, but right now i just know that 5 stars isn't enough.
i pray that someday i'll be able to find the right words to explain how much i loved this book.
melina marchetta, you own my heart.

Isadora Cal

I can't give it 5 stars because I read "On the Jellicoe road" first, and I think Jellicoe road is a better version of Saving Francesca. There are too many similarities!
That said, this book is really good. It gets you stuck in the character's lives and dramas, you fall in love with each one of them and it's like you belong to them, you feel what they feel. I cried a bit, and it surprised me because it's so rare for me to cry over family issues in books.
Without giving away too much spolier, I kinda hated the way the romance ended up, but I just can't hate it because not being a teen anymore and having been on their shoes, I know it was the right thing. It was real. It wasn't just cliché-teen-happy-ending. It wasn't at all like Stephanie Perkins though. Whoever said that probably never read "Anna and the french kiss". But it was a real happy ending, which means it wasn't an end. That's something Melina Marchetta does. She never finishes the story completely, because at 17 how can you just have an ending? There is like everything to happen yet.

UPDATED June 25, 2015

Saving Francesca is still better than ever. I have no more words.

Original review:

Some authors are great writers, while some are great storytellers, and Melina Marchetta is both! I totally get why everyone is just singing all these praises for her. This book has been an amazing, funny and emotional ride. She totally ranks up there with all my top ten authors.

So far Ive only read two books of hers, On the Jellicoe Road and now this. Ive grown to love her writing, the Australian terms I cannot understand, the exotics settings, and educational system I will never get to experience personally. She writes fictional guys I wish I could date and thoughtful friends I wish I had. She writes about teens and knows what she's writing about. Personally, On The Jellicoe Road is far better than this one, but only because that story has a larger scale and coverage. 

The characters are so so so beautiful. They feel so real, never one dimensional even if they don't get center stage. The whole story just isn't built on the main character, Francesca and her love interest, Will. Its built on the minor characters as well, her family and her friends, characters so different and colorful and human. She writes all her characters with depth and personality and sense. They are funny and sensible and sarcastic and flawed and strong and perceptive. They make an incredible support system for Francesca. They feel so alive, they breathe and they say things that I wish I could come up with as easily as they do. 

And just so you know, I dont think the book cover does it any justice, AT ALL.  

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 Siobhan'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.

UPDATED June 25, 2015

Saving Francesca is still better than ever. I have no more words.

Original review:

Some authors are great writers, while some are great storytellers, and Melina Marchetta is both! I totally get why everyone is just singing all these praises for her. This book has been an amazing, funny and emotional ride. She totally ranks up there with all my top ten authors.

So far Ive only read two books of hers, On the Jellicoe Road and now this. Ive grown to love her writing, the Australian terms I cannot understand, the exotics settings, and educational system I will never get to experience personally. She writes fictional guys I wish I could date and thoughtful friends I wish I had. She writes about teens and knows what she's writing about. Personally, On The Jellicoe Road is far better than this one, but only because that story has a larger scale and coverage. 

The characters are so so so beautiful. They feel so real, never one dimensional even if they don't get center stage. The whole story just isn't built on the main character, Francesca and her love interest, Will. Its built on the minor characters as well, her family and her friends, characters so different and colorful and human. She writes all her characters with depth and personality and sense. They are funny and sensible and sarcastic and flawed and strong and perceptive. They make an incredible support system for Francesca. They feel so alive, they breathe and they say things that I wish I could come up with as easily as they do. 

And just so you know, I dont think the book cover does it any justice, AT ALL. 


  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 Siobhan'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.

Rina

I can't believe I put this off for four years (or more), especially after I read Jellicoe Road and how much I loved it. The writing here is just as good, the main characters just as broken. I think this book hit home- especially Francesca's inner monologue- and was very grounding. I found it very close to reality, of day to day experiences at home and in school; just the truth, no b*llshit. It's honest, moving, and simple, but also much deeper than it lets on.

Francesca is at the beginning of her second term in Year Eleven at an all boy's school that has just started accepting girls. She still misses her old friends, and, to make things worse, her mother has had a breakdown and can barely move from her bed. But Francesca had not counted on the fierce loyalty of her new friends, or falling in love, or finding that it's within her power to bring her family back together. From the bestselling, Multi-Award-Winning author of Looking for Alibrandi, comes a memorable story told with humour, compassion and joy.

Olivera Mitić

Edit 31/5/17 
After having read On the Jellicoe Road, I have to lower my rating to 4 stars.

This isn't by any means a perfect book. 
It also isn't the best book out there handling depression and being a teenager. 
Nor is the writing perhaps the best I've ever read. 
But it's pretty close to all of those things. 

Damn, was it relatable! Was it lovable!
I don't remember having been so fond of characters since reading Harry Potter. Or like...ever, when it comes to female protagonists and their point of view. 
I loved Francesca. I loved how realistic she felt and I loved how it was like reading about something so familiar and already experienced. I truly believe that there isn't anyone who can't find a piece of themselves in Frankie (even though, yeah, I am aware that this was probably one of the cheesiest lines I ever used). 

And the other characters, oh my god! They were so refreshing and such a delight. The only one I didn't like as much was Francesca's dad, but he gets a few bonus points near the end. You who've read this already know what scene I'm talking about. 

As far as the plot and writing go, I was really blown away. Something so simple was done so amazingly well. There wasn't one single boring or out of place thing in this entire novel. The chapter lenghts was puuuuurfect. I don't know, I just flew through this once I was finally able to sit down and give it my full attention. I'm sure there isn't a single review that doesn't mention this, but the dialogue was done perfectly and I have such a huge need to point it out. 

These kids felt like kids. The problems felt like real problems. I loved it. I can't stop talking about it. 
If I were ever to write I book I'd like it to turn out like this one. 
Truly amazing. 

And now, please excuse me while I order everything Melina Marchetta ever wrote from the internet and wait for a month in agony before I can get my hands on it!

Mags

Lacey

My very first book by Melina Marchetta and I fell in love! Humorous, deep, and oh so special. This is one of my all-time favorite books!

Saving Francesca

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