Pokémon Book Reviews

Individual Review of Jade by WriterRaichu

(DI_Gremlin)

I'll start out by saying that this book is an absolute joy to read. When I first read through it, I blasted through all eleven chapters (now twelve) in one sitting, and I had such a good time I forgot to make any notes for writing my review. The humour alone is a big part of that. So often I found myself cracking a smile or a genuine laugh at Jade's inner sassy comments or grinning at whatever Jade's mother was doing. The humour isn't even all that intrusive and doesn't take away from what's going on; it just works, and it makes the book a ton of fun to read. 

Also, it makes me genuinely happy to see a book with such impeccable grammar. Honestly, I couldn't find a single recurring mistake. There were odd typos here and there, but they were few and far between. Pokémon had an accented 'e', all of the Pokémon were spelled correctly... I could go on about the number of mistakes the book doesn't make. I feel like this shouldn't be as noteworthy as it is, but after seeing so many books on Wattpad with horrendous grammar, especially Pokémon related grammar, it makes me so happy seeing a book than can finally get this right. It also makes the book so much easier to read, which is a huge bonus.

Currently, the book relies on Jade as a character a lot. Fortunately, I love her. She just feels so real; I could genuinely imagine this girl being a real person who I could talk to. On the inside, she's super confident, sassy, sarcastic and a little snarky, but she displays some realistic nerves on the outside, in her test for example. I also really like how she loses her first gym battle – multiple times. I feel like very few books have the main character constantly failing early on, even though the trainers are always beginners. Jade is definitely what makes this book feel fresh and fun. and having a main character like her to drive the book is an amazing thing to have.

I don't have too much to say about the other characters. I like how Jade's mother really does feel like an older version of Jade, and even in the short time we're given with her, I can feel the connection between mother and daughter. It's actually quite sweet. I don't have any problems with the other characters. but I can't say I particularly like them. The Professor... is a Professor. Lucas isn't as strong as Jade, but that's not a bad thing. Honestly, I've barely seen enough of most of the characters to make a judgement. I just don't feel anything towards them.

One thing that I feel very conflicted on is the description. Some of the description is wonderful. It paints the picture perfectly, and I can envision exactly what the author is describing. Unfortunately, some of the time it feels like the author used a thesaurus a little too much. I don't know if they actually have used a thesaurus or if their vocabulary is just really good, but I'd recommend toning it down a little in places. Remember, the whole book is from Jade's perspective, so the description should reflect that. Here's a paragraph that made me stop reading for a moment and raise an eyebrow because it's really weird for Jade to word things like that.

"I'd only met with him once, but if first impressions held any accuracy, Professor Marcus Grace was a kind man, but not without a respectable discipline. Professor Grace would be testing me, and provided that I demonstrated the knowledge necessary to pass, he'd be the one entrusting me with my first Pokémon."

See what I mean? This just sounds really bizarre and formal coming from sassy, seventeen-year-old Jade. Also, you've used the phrase "tread at a sedated pace" four times. What's wrong with saying she walked slowly?

Now here's the big problem. I understand that the book isn't finished, but it's twelve chapters in and I feel like there isn't a plot. I tried to dissect the information I'd been given so far in order to critique the plot, but I really, really struggled to think up anything. All I can assume is that it's going to be a generic badge collecting fic, and at a rate of one badge every twelve chapters, that will be painful to read. If that is what ends up happening, then the book will no longer feel fun at all. It will be so slowly paced and so long that readers will either be scared off from the get go or will get bored after a while, even with Jade's brilliant humour, and that would be a real shame because the foundations of the book are fantastic. All it really needs is an average plot to propel itself forwards and it could be amazing. I get the feeling that the author has a plan, though. There have been little hints here and there that something isn't normal, just nowhere near enough actual substance for twelve chapters. I feel like they've got a plan that's going to explode at some point and the plot is going to accelerate a crazy amount, but the problem with that is that the pacing and plot structure would be all off. I'm always told that a plot should be structured like a rising mountain, with tension building along the way, and currently, I feel like it's treading at a sedated pace on a flat path.

It's a really tough one for me because all of the positives in the book are pretty much everything that currently exist in the book and that's why I had so much fun reading it. But all of the negatives in the book are all things that aren't in the book, so I can't judge them at all. If the author can incorporate that killer plot that I know they're hiding away somewhere, this book could genuinely be amazing. As it stands, it just has me very confused about how I feel. As a casual reader I love it, but as a critic, I don't even know where to start. All I can say is that I really hope the author can pull this off.