Review : The Nature of Jade

Posted by on August 30, 2011 3:06 am in 4 stars reads | 6 comments

The Nature of Jade by Deb Caletti
Pages : 288
Genre : YA, Fiction
Stand Alone
My Rating :

What it’s about :

Living with a panic disorder for a couple years now, Jade does her best to live a normal life. To keep her calm, she spends a lot of her time watching the zoo’s elephants, on place but also from her computer at home.

One day, Jade notices a boy her age with a young child visiting the elephants, and their friendship is immediate. They understand each other, and Jade soon finds herself spending much of her time if not with him, at least thinking about him. Between Sebastian’s secrets and her own family issues, Jade’s life is about to be turned upside down.

My Thoughts :

I wasn’t aware of how much I enjoyed The Nature of Jade until I turned the last page and felt disappointed that it was over. It was a good ending, but I would easily have read more of Jade’s story. Caletti’s writing was just really easy to slip into, and Jade was an interesting character.

As someone living with a panic disorder, I could understand what Jade was living through but also admire the talent with which Caletti described Jade’s problem. I don’t know if a reader who hasn’t experienced this before would react the same way, but personally, Jade’s description of her first panic attack was so well written that I immediately thought of how similar to mine it was. My experience is that panic attacks are extremely difficult to understand for someone who hasn’t been through them, but in this case, I felt the author portrayed them really well.

What I appreciated of all this though, was how Jade’s story wasn’t really about her disorder. It is mentioned often, yes, and it does define some of her actions; but mainly, this is the story of Jade and Sebastian meeting, and her disorder is only a condition they have to deal with, like Jade’s family or Sebastian’s secrets. Jade isn’t her illness, and it is made really clear from the start as Jade explains her situation quickly so we can move on to more interesting things.

While I loved Jade, I felt a bit underwhelmed towards Sebastian. Maybe because he kept so much for himself, I couldn’t connect with him. I did connect with Jade’s family though, which I thought was a much more important piece of the story than the book’s summary (or mine) would suggest. Jade’s relationship with her brother was one of my favorite things –  that and the elephants, of course! 🙂

6 Comments

  1. This is one of those books that I didn’t realize how much I loved until some time passed. I was underwhelmed by the first half, grew to really like it in the second (but I also really liked Sebastien), and gave it 3.5 stars at the end. It became one of my favorite books within a few months, though, and I’ve gone back to reread it once. I also eventually acquired a jade elephant necklace. 😀 This book started my ongoing love of elephants. It’s been 2.5 years since the first time I read it and I still think about the book a lot.

  2. It sounds like this book is very well written. It is difficult to understand panic attacks if you don’t suffer from them. I think I’d like to read this for some insight.

  3. I also have some experience with panic attacks, so I think it would be interesting to explore this fictional treatment of them. I also really like elephants. They are my favorite animal. But the ultimate animal is an elephant with a butterfly on it’s head! I always tell my kids that, and they think I am crazy! 🙂

  4. I have issues with anxiety and panic, too (see, there are so many of us!), and definitely think this is one I would enjoy — which is great, because I have it! I think I picked it up at the Book Blogger Convention last year and look forward to reading it. Thanks for reminding me!

  5. Great review. And we got to learn a little about you in it. Bravo!

  6. You had me at elephants with this one! I’m not sure if you know this about me, but I am kind of obsessed with them. Still, even without the elephants, I feel like I would want to pick up this book. It sounds really great.

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