Saving Francesca

Like always, I am blown away by Melina Marchetta. Her stories and writing are just fantastic, whether it's a contemporary book or a fantasy book. Her stories are so addictive, whenever I start reading a book of hers I have to force myself to stop. But with this book I couldn't do it, couldn't stop, even though I had to do homework. I fell in love with the characters, especially with our protagonist Francesca. She goes through an inredible character growth and was portrayed very authentically. At first, she is a non-participant in school or friendships and kind of hides her real self and pretends to be shy because that's how her "friends" at her former school liked her better but throughout the book she finds this fantastic group of friends and Francesca "blossoms" again. Francesca's group of friends made me smile and giggle and feel this warmth in my heart. Their dialogue and wit and sass made me enjoy the hell out of the book. Every character in Marchetta's books is written with depth and portrayed realistically. I love that about her books. There is also some romance in Saving Francesca, and while it's not the heart of the story it was still enjoyable and cute. But the focus of this book is more on family relations and friendships. Francesca's mother is the rock of the family and suddenly she falls ill with depression and the family starts to fall apart. It was heart-wrenching to read how sad and scared they all are but the mental illness was portrayed realistically even though I couldn't really understand the attitude towards anti-depressants. (And just on a side note: Melina Marchetta's books are set in Australia and with every book of hers I read I want to move there or at least go there on vacation.) Overall, this was another awesome book by one of my favorite author's.