Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Jaded by Ela Lee

27 reviews

dameevewills's review

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5.0


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joannaruthfreeman's review

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emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5


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bettinab's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

What an astonishing novel. This is a heartbreaking, multi-layered, complex and at times hard to read book that covers a lot of major issues. The author wastes no time throwing us into it all and writes with incredible maturity, finesse and sensitivity. This is a story about questions of identity and how we can suddenly lose everything we thought we were, without knowing who we want or actually can be. It deals with the traumatic, far-reaching aftermath of assault. It deals with power, privilege, subtle and not so subtle racism and widespread institutionalized misogyny. That may seem like a lot and in a way is - but Lee is exceptional at weaving all of it together. The characters are well developed and beautifully complicated yet relatable. 

Throughout the book, I was horrified, sad, not the least bit surprised with most of what Jade experienced, a little shook and above all, it all made me think and reflect. There's also a little humor in it, most notably the DEI initiative that - as someone too familiar with that kind of corporate nonsense - made me laugh out loud. 

Ela Lee is superbly talented, has written a fantastic debut and one can only hope to read more from her. 

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brewdy_reader's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜บ โ€ข ๐˜“๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ง๐˜ช๐˜ค โ€ข ๐˜‰๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ข๐˜ญ
๐˜”๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜จ๐˜บ๐˜ฏ๐˜บ โ€ข ๐˜“๐˜Ž๐˜‰๐˜› ๐˜™๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ โ€ข ๐˜๐˜ฎ๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜™๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ
๐˜—๐˜ถ๐˜ฃ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ 19 ๐˜”๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ 2024

This book hit home for me on many levels b/c of the  parallels to my own life. ๐Ÿ˜ญ๐Ÿฅบ

It read so much like a memoir that I had to make sure it was fictional. Ceyda (goes by Jade) Kada is a first-generation London-based daughter of immigrants. By all measures a success story: sheโ€™s smart, independent, ethnically half Turkish (dadโ€™s side) and half Korean (mumโ€™s side), a high powered lawyer embodying the โ€œwork hard, play hardโ€ motto after graduating from a top tier Uni.

Uni is where she met Kit, with whom sheโ€™s been in a long-term committed relationship the last 7 years. He comes from old money, the generational wealth side of the tracks, but he loves her for her independence, brains, and because sheโ€™s different. Climbing the metaphorical corporate ladder, allโ€™s going well until a drunken evening at a company party gone wrong.

Through flashbacks and memories unsealing, this was a fast read that covered some deep and important topics. Belonging. Glass ceilings and double standards for women and underrepresented groups. Diversity and Equity for show. System racism and micro-aggressions. Immigrant persecution and cultural differences. Shame and blame. Classism. And of course food. And also, unconditional love and besties who build each other up.

Jadeโ€™s dad reminded me so much of mine. Usually happy go lucky, unassuming. He who always believed in me. And my mom, who shows her love through food and acts of service more than words. Iโ€™m the only daughter of biracial immigrant parents. Jadeโ€™s story is my story. ๐Ÿซถ๐Ÿฝ

Please check trigger warnings: Rape, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual Assault

๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฌ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ @SimonBooks ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ #๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜ง๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜บ!

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marissanbullis's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

first half was decent (4 stars) the second half makes it all worth it (would rate this half 5 stars) crying, screaming, throwing up. recommending this to everyone i know

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ar1's review

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emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Incredibly thought-provoking, engaging, and important 

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of_fantasy_and_fibre's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I went into this book expecting a novel about how a 20 something's world is rocked in relation to her world views via a firing or a second hand experience, I was not prepared.
The event which happens to Jade takes her life as collateral damage. The story is told via flashback in parts to set up this relationship and how it has defined current Jade.  There are no punches pulled and issues discussed in this are talked about quite frankly but it were never over the top or forceful. There was one character who I felt was a red flag in human form. Jade has created what she sees as a safety net and so she scrabbles to figure out how to survive as the threads of a life she has carefully woven starts unravelling. I really loved the exploration of her experience as a third generation kid and how she was a minority of a minority in not just her field but her firm. I was gripped and listened for hours on end. This is a strong debut and I look forward to this authors next novel

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ktdakotareads's review against another edition

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reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0


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heatherfielding's review against another edition

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4.0


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bookreviewswithkb's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

thank you to @simonbooks for the early copy! Jaded is publishing in the u.s. on March 19th, 2024

โ€œi lost time, frustrated that she [mom] didnโ€™t overcome all of her traumas, rather than marveling at her strength of overcoming some of them.โ€

okay iโ€™m worried iโ€™m going to sound heartless for how my thoughts are coming together on this one but here we go. this book felt like a light breezy read that was about very serious and emotional topics. what i mean is that i read this quickly, i was drawn into the storyline, but it wasnโ€™t filled with depth in the way it was written. thatโ€™s not a criticism iโ€™m just trying to explain. i donโ€™t normally like lighter (in writing style, not content) reads filled with plot and dialogue, but this was really good

itโ€™s intelligent and thought-provoking. itโ€™s an exploration of culture and identity, of how we sometimes take for granted the ways our families love us because we want them to love us differently, not understanding our families are doing the best they can with what they have. itโ€™s about relationships between people of different races and ethnicities, virtue signaling and tokenism. and of course itโ€™s about rape and the impact of coming to accept that it occurred

definitely recommend this one! 

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