Looking for Alibrandi Review

Title: Looking for Alibrandi

Author: Melina Marchetta

Genre:  YA, Drama, Family

Publication Date: 5^th of October 1992 (first published, later republished in 2006) by Random House

Pages: 313

Reminds me of: There’s some similarities to Jodi Picoult

 

 

This book has made it onto my Favourite Books of All Time list, so expect some babbling and gushing. I didn’t think it fair to post the entire review I smashed out, it’s just so long. So I’ve left in my favourite elements and hope you enjoy them too. Before I begin have a read of the blurb:

For as long as Josephine Alibrandi can remember, it’s just been her, her mom, and her grandmother. Now it’s her final year at a wealthy Catholic high school. The nuns couldn’t be any stricter—but that doesn’t seem to stop all kinds of men from coming into her life.

Caught between the old-world values of her Italian grandmother, the no-nonsense wisdom of her mum, and the boys who continue to mystify her, Josephine is on the ride of her life. This will be the year she falls in love, the year she discovers the secrets of her family’s past—and the year she sets herself free. Taken from Goodreads.

Looking for Alibrandi is probably the most accurate thing I have ever read. Coming from an Italian background and living in Australia this book resonated with me on a really personal level. Marchetta’s ability to take the piss out of her own culture was so hilariously and skilfully done – it would have to be my favourite element of the novel. See what I mean: