Junie's Reviews and Promo Book (Closed)

Review: Jaded

Jaded by WriterRaichu

Genre: Action/Adventure/Miscellaneous.

Chapters Reviewed: 16 chapters.

Update Schedule: Irregular.

When I joined Wattpad about a year ago, I was very quiet and refused to comment or even vote on any story I read. That changed as I started to read Jaded because of how much emotion the author could easily provoke. Each chapter is a thrilling ride, and honestly, I still can't put the book down.

It would be one thing for me to say this, but it's another when a lot of the readers who quickly engage in the story as well due to how well written it is.

"I only read one chapter so far, and I can already tell that this story is very structured and detailed. Well done!" @itzzclaire

"Plot just keeps getting better each chapter! X3" EeveelutionBrandi

"A+ cliffhanger" UnisonRaider

So what makes Jaded such a good read? At first glance, it looks like the stereotypical journey Pokéfic, where the main character, Jade, is on her journey to earn gym badges. She meets friends and rivals along the way. It seems like it would be just an ordinary, everyday, Pokéfic with excellent writing skill.

Thing is, whereas most journey stories would have the Trainer ease on through the gym battles, this story takes a different approach. Jade struggles through her challenges. This is something I enjoyed because I don't think gym challenges would be easy. The protagonist pushes through. It's realistic, believable, and honestly, very fun to read because seeing a Trainer plow straight through the battles gets a bit boring after a while. At least in Jaded, there are some battles that our heroine eases through while others she struggles. Each Pokémon battle is very well written.

Another realistic quality that I love about this book is the internal battles Jade faces. She hints about these early on in the prologue, and throughout the book. It's unclear exactly what happened until the big turning point. It beautifully written as it shows the struggle Jade had to overcome and will face every now and then as the memories resurface. Again, I'm not going to say what this point is due to spoilers, but to those who have read it may know that this point of the book is an emotional one for a reason. The way it's timed into the book is very well done.

The author handles these internal battles with care too. They're not just tossed into the story to be tossed in there. It feels real and are taken very seriously. I enjoyed how the problems weren't just placed into the story to be there, but rather, have significance to the characters involved.

The only thing that bothered me in the entire book was the first chapter. It almost gives off false advertisement in a sense. As many writing tips will say, you've got to draw the reader in with a memorable beginning, and that's what happens in the first chapter. I'm immediately drawn in as I'm wondering what is going on; however, there is just one problem with this first chapter.

It's too short.

This is just my experience with the book, but when I first saw the first chapter containing only two paragraphs, I immediately thought it was going to be like many of the books I've read before. In those stories, they either don't make sense, have short chapters consisting of a paragraph or five, and/or cut in the middle of a scene in every chapter. I almost didn't read on when I first read this book, and probably wouldn't if I wasn't so intrigued on what was going on. When I did, I realize this only happened in the the prologue as the other chapters have good length, they make sense, and don't cut out in the middle of a scene (unless it's a deliberate cliffhanger).