Reviews for The Nature of Jade

The average rating for The Nature of Jade based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2008-06-25 00:00:00 Colby Greco I wanted to like this book. And there were some things about it that I really did enjoy. But there were more things that bothered me. Some things specifically about the book, and other, more general issues that I will get to. First, the good: The main character, Jade, is well-written. She's interesting and sometimes pretty insightful. Like when she talks about how people get caught up in all the little, meaningless things in life so that they don't think the BIG THOUGHTS about death. Or when she sees how all her high school friends are stuck together mostly out of habit and are beginning to move their separate ways. Jade is not without her issues (I think the moral of the novel is that everyone has issues) and quirks; she has an anxiety disorder, an obsession with elephants, and little rituals she does to reassure herself. These things all made me see her as a real, likable person. I also enjoyed the animal information that led off each chapter. Yes, it was calculated, chosen specifically to compare animal and human behavior, but it was a device that worked for me. Jade's time with the elephants at the zoo was also a unique part of the book that I liked. Now, the bad: This book is really slow-moving. I understand introducing characters and ideas, but this just dragged. There's a point where the book jumps a few months into the future, and really, it could have just started there and the stuff at the beginning could have been worked in. The love interest, this boy Sebastian, was just so bland. His character is defined by all external things. He has a red jacket, a son, a grandmother he calls by her first name, and a (not great, but not terribly surprising) secret he lies about. He himself is not interesting. So when Jade falls in love with him, and tells us so, I think, huh? Why? Really? Even though I know it will be a part of the book, I haven't seen it happening. It just doesn't ring true somehow. I'm also distracted by things that are misses in the writing. For example, there are a lot of minor characters, and while some are sketched out pretty well, some could be played by a cardboard cutout, like the guy at the video store who always wears a pineapple shirt and always recommends the same surfing movie. (Ok at the first mention, but do we need to be told this same thing several times? Does he really only own one shirt?) There are also times when we are told things like: I know this sounds cliche, but... OR he seems like the stereotypical dad, but... This is just bad writing. If you have to apologize and make excuses for what you are about to write being trite, don't write it. Sometimes the book just felt like an exercise in writing a book, like the author didn't really care about the things happening, it was just, how do I write a book people will buy? Sympathetic main character, check. Cute guy for love interest, check. "Different" hook: elephants. Issues to deal with: health trouble, teenage single dad, parents with marriage problems... Maybe you have to structure it all out to make a book work, but I hate when I am not involved enough to ignore the seams. The other issues I have with the book which are not just about the book: It makes me sad that young adult books seem to be so issue-driven. I understand that young people have a lot to deal with today. Things are harder than when I was young, I'm sure. There's bound to be a certain amount of angst, confusion about the future, romance and family issues in a young adult book. I imagine that this book doesn't even hit on the worst of concerns that young people face. But it still made me sad. (Especially seeing the parents in this book and their failing relationship. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but doesn't anyone have a close family anymore where the parents have stuck together and really love each other? A family where whatever the other issues are, there is a solid foundation?) So maybe I'm just disappointed in the genre. I like to read children's books for an escape to more innocent times. I also like sci-fi for an escape. I prefer classics to newer novels where I am bombarded with swearing and explicit sex. I enjoy a good coming-of-age story, but perhaps I'll have to accept that young adult books today might just focus on too many issues for me. One last thing: The phrase "could care less" is used in this book. I know people say it like this all the time, but it's not actually correct. (Sorry, this is one of my pet peeves.) But think about it, people. If you are saying you could care less about something, is that really expressing the feeling you want it to? It's COULDN'T care less that means you really don't care! Try it that way. Please?

Review # 2 was written on 2007-09-27 00:00:00 Charles Bartholomew I finished reading The Nature of Jade, by Deb Caletti, a couple of days ago. I felt a real sense of mourning when it finally finished. Not because it was a sad book, but because I hated to end such a satisfying and well-written one. I would follow these characters forever. Jade is a sixteen-year-old living in Seattle. Senior year is approaching and all of her friends and even her family are going through major changes and growing pains. Jade herself has anxiety, panic attacks. The only thing that helps calm her down is lighting her saint candles and watching the online elephant cam from the nearby zoo. When Jade sees a mysterious boy with a baby who keeps reappearing by the elephants, she becomes interested in him. How can someone you have only seen seem so right? Is that love at first sight? As the year progresses, Jade's family falls apart, her group of friends begins to break-up, but Jade becomes more sure of herself, partly due to starting to work with the elephants. And finally, Jade encounters the boy with the baby, who is even more mysterious in real life than he was in her imagination. The writing in this novel is phenomenal. The characters are so multi-faceted and Jade's parents are especially human. As is so rare in this genre, Jade comes to truly see her parents as the frail human individuals they are, rather than the sterotypes she would like them to be. There are also really deep and tricky moral questions that will leave the reader wondering what things in life are really magnets for our moral compass.