You get some dark and gut-wrenching meat with Jaded. Ceyda (“Jade”) is an engaging narrator as she takes us through her journey from her hopes and dreams to the aftermath of dealing with her sexual assault, from the breakdown of relationships to those made stronger. There were times I wanted to high five Jade just as there were times I wanted to hug her and a few times when I just wanted to shake some sense into her. This was a beautiful literary debut with some hard hitting themes.

I attempted to read this book and managed to read only one chapter before I decided to not finish it. This book isn't for me and I don't plan on finishing it anytime soon.

"Jade" follows Ceyda, a talented lawyer in London, whose life unravels after a night of heavy drinking leads to hazy memories and suspicions of sexual assault. Struggling between pleasing her immigrant parents and maintaining societal norms, including her relationship with Kit, Jade’s world begins to crumble. This traumatic event propels her on a journey of self-discovery and empowerment.

The book addresses themes of identity, ambition, misogyny, and cultural expectations, showcasing Jade's internal struggle and growth. As she confronts her past and family, Jade learns to reclaim her sense of self.

"Jade" is a compelling exploration of resilience and personal growth. The story's superb writing and insightful examination of contemporary social issues make it a powerful read. Despite its difficult subject matter, the novel is beautifully crafted and thought-provoking.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the digital reviewer copy in exchange for my honest opinions.

Jaded is a fabulous debut novel and deserves way more hype than it’s receiving! The book touches on so many important topics, including sexual assault, racism, immigration, sexism, and relationships and does so in a very thoughtful manner. The characters, though not always likable, are compelling, with the protagonist, Jade, being particularly relatable. Furthermore, as someone who loves London and has a partner who works in big law, I found the setting especially appealing. The flashbacks were also a nice touch and seamlessly incorporated the past and the present. Finally, the book ended on a hopeful note that was fitting for the story. Overall, this was an amazing novel that I recommend to ALL readers!

Following a young Lawyer after waking up not knowing what happened the night before, how she got home, and who brought her back. Jade has to grapple with the assault that took place and the victim blaming that ensues through different avenues of her life. After being sexually assaulted by a coworker, her professional and personal life are not sacred to her anymore. An incredible yet heartbreaking story that everyone should read in their lives.

Jaded by Ela Lee is the story of a young lawyer who wakes up after a work party, and she doesn't remember how she got home or what might have happened once she was home. As the days go by, she gets flashbacks, and her life starts to fall apart because of what happened. This story is such an honest look at what victims of abuse go through. Highly recommend, but please check content warnings. Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

Hello, JADED! This debut blew me away.

Jade is a biracial daughter of immigrants who has high expectations for herself. She's got a career that she works hard for and a boyfriend she loves. But everything comes into question one night after a gala when she's pressured to drink too much and wakes up having no memory of what happened when she got home. Themes of identity, trauma, racism, sexism, friendship, and sexual assault. I highlighted so much-this is a great pick for book club.

Jade is a fully realized character -and if you want to read a book that will certainly piss you off, here you go!

Im looking forward to much more from this author.

Overall, just OK. I respect what the writer was attempting to do here, but it didn’t land with me.

I did like the main character, just wanted a bit more from her.

Thanks to Simon for the ARC.

This book was so heartbreaking and I felt the weight of the story throughout the writing .
Thank you for the eArc

Another book on how the system fails women over and over again. I hoped this wouldn't be the case. Everyone let Jade down: her company, boyfriend, friends, and family. After a work function that Jade has no memory of how it ended, we slowly unfold the details with her. The pacing is a little slow but I was definitely invested in finding out the truth. My heart went out to poor Jade who thought things would be different... this time. Seems like everyone wanted to play the blame game but place the blame where it needed to be. A solid debut from Ela Lee. I'm excited to see what's next for her.

(Actual: 4.25⭐, rounded up) This book was an absolute gut-punch and one I will never forget. Stories centering around tough topics such as rape, SA, and consent are hardly new, of course — and yet JADED felt so different & refreshing to me in comparison to both its predecessors and fellow contemporaries. I think where this book (and Lee) succeeds is in its engaging narrator, Ceyda/"Jade", who is far from perfect but is undoubtedly complex and layered as an individual in her own right. This can especially be seen when it comes to how she chooses to navigate, identify with, &/or even willingly blind herself to her mixed-race status (half Turkish/half Korean), as well as how it comes into play and conflict with her relationship with a [wealthy] white man. I also really liked how Lee portrayed the unique intricacies and difficulties often found between immigrant children and their parents, as it's something I myself can relate to and understand very well.

While there's definitely a lot happening in this book and it, at times, can feel a bit bloated given some of its heavier content, I will say that Lee manages to hold it altogether and tell a very cohesive, nuanced, and authentic story. I definitely would recommend this book to others and am excited for what Lee comes out with in the future!

"Jaded" by Ela Lee is a powerful and thought-provoking debut novel that delves into the complexities of modern society, addressing themes of sexual assault, misogyny, class dynamics, and cultural identity. Lee explores the emotional turmoil experienced by the protagonist, Jade, as she struggles to piece together the events of a night that has left her traumatized and questioning everything she thought she knew.

Lee's ability to intertwine multiple layers of societal issues within the narrative is commendable, as she effectively highlights the intersections of power, privilege, and prejudice that pervade Jade's world. The exploration of toxic work cultures and the pressures of corporate ladder-climbing add further depth to the story, emphasizing the often-overlooked challenges faced by women in professional environments.

Ela Lee is a talented writer, and her willingness to confront difficult topics with honesty and empathy makes this debut an impressive and compelling addition to contemporary literature.

4.5. This was a brutal read (in the best way). It covers tons of topics in a small amount of pages--sexual assault, racism, multiracial relationships and identity, etc. There's a rawness in the way Ela Lee writes that makes it clear that every one of these topics is personal, and the way she details the sexual assault and its consequences (or, for some, lack thereof) is so realistic that it made me incensed to read.

This book tackled some very sensitive issues, but I struggled with the writing and felt no connection to the characters. I feel like Jade was hyper focused on her sexual assault throughout the book, but still drank heavily without a care in the world which showed that she wasn’t as fearful as the book described her character to be.

This book wasn’t all about Jade and her battles; it was mostly about her friends, and the corporate world, which I found uninteresting. Others may enjoy this book, but unfortunately, it wasn’t for me.

This was really interesting book about jade. Her parents were immigrants.Her mother was from Korea.Her father was from turkey. They met when the mother was a young girl in london from seoul korea and she fell for this man from turkey who was also an immigrant. They tried to build a life together because she became pregnant with jade. It had a lot of hardships but they always stuck by themselves and they tried to get their daughter.Everything she wanted.Her mother used to make her special foods and stuff like that. Jade was working in a fancy lawyer office. S a lawyer. She had a boyfriend named kit who came from a very wealthy background. His parents were not very happily.Married and got divorced because his father had a second family. Kid had a lot of trust issues too. Jade was trying to fit in with this new upwards in mobile society and she found it sometimes difficult to navigate. She went to a fancy party on her lawyer firm. Things started to go south from that point on. Jade ended up being taken advantage because she was drunk.And this guy took her home named josh. She couldn't recall the night because she was blocked out and she did not know what to tell kip. Eventually she told him but was a sore subject in their relationship. She tried.
To get over it with her friends and stuff and went home for a while. She moved in with kit but this wasn't a really good idea because they had a lot of issues to air out. They talked about the rape and this book.It was interesting how everybody looked at it differently. Especially like the mother's take on it. Because she knew what happened in Korea when the Japanese took advantage of these woman. I think it's a really good book for women to see how it's such a struggle to be in a man's world. Everybody everybody, she thought was her friends.Ome of them turned against her. It has a very different type of ending and I think you're like it

Jaded
By Ela Lee

Jade is a young lawyer in London, in a long term relationship with Kit. She is of Korean-Turkish extraction. Her story is multi-faceted.

This is a book about a woman trying to "make it" in a man's world. But it is much more than that: it is about racial bias, both covert and overt; it is about rape and its consequences for the victim, the perpetrator, and others in their lives; it is about gender identity. Ultimately it is about love, family, friendship, loyalty and betrayal.

Obviously, Ms. Lee has much to say here. It is depressing to think that society has not made the strides in the areas of racism and sexism which we like to think we have made. The author has pulled back the curtain and shown us just how much further we have to go.

Such a heartbreaking but beautiful story of trauma and the healing that took place afterwards. In the process of the healing, Ceyda found herself. Written with so much truth it felt like nonfiction. It is difficult to read in spots, especially if you have been a victim of sexual assault and/or racism. It explores office politics with the normalization of unwanted sexual behavior and how the "system" is so frustrating for victims.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for my ARC!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the copy! Ela Lee delivers a painstaking, profound debut with a sheer excellence in both narrative and thematic complexity. Jaded outstretches to many social aspects through its protagonist, Jade (Ceyda): surviving sexual assault, enduring workplace retaliation after reporting, operating in coexistence with guilt as the child of immigrant parents, and essentially the dissolution of her entire life, once treasured in earnest and adorned by its togetherness, but thereupon ruptured one revelation at a time.

Living as a survivor of sexual assault is a particular, inexplicable agony — one that hollows out the body into some deep well, where the pangs echo through this chasm and never seem to end. There's a certain intricacy in the experience of not recognizing what happened to our bodies until much after, which I fear is something that many survivors have had to (or perhaps even not yet) come to terms with. That said, I thought Lee depicted this experience with grace and accuracy. From the moment it happens, Ceyda's body and mind know that something deeply wrong has happened to her, even when her memory of the night eludes her. What unfolds upon her realization is nothing short of infuriating, reprehensible, and yet all too common in our current society.

I want to point out specifically the social significance and moral decline in the character of Kit. There are truly horrendous people who are aggressors, abusers, and rapists, but our scope of disgust should extend to those who stand by and defend them. What allows these assailants to continue their terror are those who enable them — men (and women as well) who hide behind the exterior of "good guys" and self-proclaimed "feminists" are often those apologists that tee these perpetrators up. Lee exhibited this perfectly: a boyfriend who upon learning of his girlfriend's rape can only see her as ruined, a man who inevitably centralizes himself inside a woman's suffering, an abuser apologist who believes they know the abuser better than the victim.

Typically when a book tackles a variety of issues, the writing can come off as weakened / unfleshed out in some areas and consequently seem like the writer bit off more than they could chew. Lee, however, has an evident understanding of how to conjoin complex storylines without compromising the raw emotion in the narrative and the depth of each character. With our protagonist's family background for example, I really loved how Lee illustrated the dynamics between Ceyda's parents as a couple as well as the differing relationships that each of them have with her. With her mother being Korean and her father Egyptian, Lee hashes out the cultural contrast in how each parent approaches their relationship with Ceyda as their daughter while illuminating their individual histories as immigrants.

Overall, what an incredible debut. Ela Lee is sure to be a rising star in the literary world and we're lucky to hear what she has to say.

What a great book! I’m always looking for books that do a good job of detailing the experiences of immigrating to America, whether in the past or present, and this is one I’d recommend. There’s a lot of trauma addressed here so reader know yourself.

I really enjoyed this one! Super thought provoking, with a prose that will suck you right in. I really, really enjoyed this and now need more from this author.