4.5, but worthy of being rounded up. Ceyda, who has taken to calling herself Jade for the ease of the British people around her, is a Korean-Turkish-Brit living in London and working at a high profile law firm. We get to follow her as she navigates through worlds that were not built for her. Weather it is her demanding job, her unsympathetic boyfriend, her parents who lover her but don't understand her life, or the book's inciting incident, we see Ceyda's spirit and growth as she deals with the world she inhabits. Definitely read the trigger warnings first, but if you are up for, this book has a lot to say and has a beautiful new voice saying it.

Highly recommended for fans of The Boys Club.

Thank you to the author, Simon & Schuster, and NetGalley for the ARC.

A powerful and thought provoking novel that plunges into the complexities of consent, identity and resilience in a broken society. The story explores race, power, and sexism in the corporate world.
Many thanks to Simon & Schuster and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Jaded is a coming to age story that everyone needs to read. It has many heavy themes like sexual assault, racism, sexism, and how the main character deals with power dynamics in each of these matters.

The protagonist, Jade has always done the right thing and sought out the right opportunities. Along with being a dutiful daughter to her immigrant parents and a loving girlfriend to her rich, proper boyfriend, she is also a successful and industrious corporate lawyer who works nonstop hours at her prestigious law firm. After a company work party, she wakes up naked, with a killer hangover and complete confusion about how she got home. As the weeks go on, she encounters nightmares and flashes of obscurity from that evening. After some office politics conversations, and rumors, she discovers she was sexually assaulted by a trusting colleague.

The struggle of this story and Jade was immense, as it is anytime with sexual assault. She finds herself unreliable, and continues to battle herself, others around her, and the system just to be seen and heard. In this story, the lines are blurred, and the story and confusion have many nuances.

Lee does an incredible job in this area where there is no certainty. MOST sexual assault cases do have no guarantees for any victim, either in healing or justice. Her social commentary of how we deal with sexual assault as a society (in the US and the UK) is absolutely infuriating., but it’s true, we often tamper the victim’s voice in order to suffice everyone else—like Jade finding herself having to assure and support her loved ones after hearing the news of HER sexual assault.

What I loved most was Jade’s absolute need to have a voice for herself and her struggle to find a more authentic self. I find a lot of hope in her need to be seen and heard. This was a very special book!

Jaded by Ela Lee
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Jaded is an emotional and honest account of the realities women face when reporting rape and the trauma that comes with this. It is shocking to witness the judgment that can occur when reporting a rape, not only from strangers but also from loved ones.

This book is so well written and is such a powerful story. It is rare to find a book that tackles multiple difficult topics and does it so well.

I look forward to reading future books by Ela Lee.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

AMAZING. Was up until nearly 5am reading this, Such a timely story, Lots of trigger warnings but a great read for those that can safely handle the content.

Gripping, haunting, and incredibly real. There is so much in this book--the pain and betrayal of sexual assault, the microaggressions--reading it is like holding onto a piece of someone's soul. It feels like walking a mile in the shoes of someone who's been there.

Thank you Simon & Schuster for allowing me to read and review Jaded on NetGalley.

Published: 03/19/24

Stars: 4

Tough one. This story is a never-ending thinker: a young lady who is educated, oriental, and an attorney is raped. The book is centered around cultural beliefs. She is in this alone. Her mother won't speak of such things. She can't quit her job and bring shame on her father.

The story is beautifully written. It is so well done and I found it respectful. My heart broke for her.

I'm left exhausted mentally. A lot of women are raped, and facing the trauma as well as the stigma alone is gut-wrenching.

This is for adult readers. It's smart. So worth the time reading, and after reading I'm still thinking about it. There is some profanity.

This book is fantastic. Definitely one of my top reads of the year so far! The content matter is heavy and often times I had to take a step back but that just attests to the importance and power behind these words.

This book deals with sexual assault and racism so trigger warnings are important to look up if needed.

I will definitely be thinking about this one for a while. The story was raw and one of the most realistic portrayals of assault that I’ve read. The ending was perfect and powerful and answered so many of my thoughts and feelings that I felt throughout.

A wonderful debut! This was a very tough read. You know when a book makes you feel everything? That’s what this book was.

Jade’s story, unfortunately, is not a new one. The way this author presented it, made me feel all the anxiety and the grief that Jade was going through after her sexual assault and the repercussions it had on her life, relationships and career.

TW: Rape

This was a powerful read. I commend the author for speaking up about her trauma. Rape is not an easy thing to talk about but I admire Jade for using her voice to bring awareness of just how much the trauma can seep into every aspect of your life, including the relationships with those closest to you. This book was raw and heartbreaking. I truly felt for the author the entire time. I wish the author the best in her journey to healing and thank her again for sharing her story.

This book is heartbreaking. It’s too familiar and too close to reality. A reality women all over know. The balancing act we play between being offended and laughing it off or making a seen. How women are often punished for the man’s wandering hand. Women have to make the choice between safety and career. The places we are supposed to find peace, comfort and safety are rarely those. Constantly having are guards up. For Jade it is doubly exhausting since she also juggles the racist comments from “friends”. Trying to find her place in between her parent’s heritage and Americas, being a first generation.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of Jaded by Ela Lee.

First off, trigger warning, this book has fairly graphic depictions of SA.

Jade is a young, successful lawyer in a loving relationship, she's at the top of her game. But after the night of a gala, her world is turned on it's axis when she wakes up undressed, alone, and in pain. What happened the night, and is there any way to prove it?

This is a story that probably way too many women can tell, a story about sexual assault, race, sexism, and how far people will go to protect the assaulter. It's full of rage, softness, humor, and frustrating injustice. However, the author will take care of you throughout, making this a very worthy read.

In Jaded, Ela Lee weaves a compelling narrative that delves into the complexities of consent, power dynamics, race, sexism, and identity within a broken society. The novel follows Jade, a young lawyer who seemingly has it all: success, a loving family, and a devoted boyfriend. But her carefully constructed world shatters when she wakes up after a work event, disoriented and with no memory of how she got home.

As Jade grapples with the aftermath, she faces conflicting pressures—from her parents who struggle to understand, her betrayed boyfriend, and a job that demands silence. Ela Lee masterfully explores the gray areas between complicity and compromise, exposing the high cost of survival in cutthroat corporate environments.

The writing is sharp, the pacing relentless, and the themes resonate deeply. Lee’s portrayal of Jade’s internal struggle is both raw and darkly funny. Readers will find themselves questioning societal norms and rooting for Jade as she navigates a world where justice hangs in the balance.

“They could have brought in experts, designed to find solutions for this viral epidemic of men thinking women existed for their taking.
They could have.
They could have.
They could have.
But they hadn’t.”

I will let you judge my feelings based on these two things..
1. I read this in a day
2. As a woman I am PISSED

This book is heavy. And also very eye opening. I know what the feeling and look of sexual harassment is from a woman’s perspective. But a man’s reaction via the woman? Genius and..wow..so much more annoying and ridiculous than I could have even imagined. How a partner can make an assault that happened to YOU about THEM!! Ugh.

“How can something I don’t properly remember hurt this much?” 💔

This is a tough read but an important one. I feel like this should be high school required reading so that everyone understands that this happens, how it happens, why it happens, and why it NEVER should.

Thank you so much @SimonBooks #SimonBooksBuddy #FreeGift and thanks to the author also.

Jaded is an interior novel about a successful woman in London who suffers major trauma and its aftereffects. From the outside it looks like Jade Kaya (formerly Ceyda) has a perfect life. She is a successful lawyer at a prestigious firm and has a caring, handsome boyfriend of seven years. Jade's parents are from Turkey and Korea and she has lived in London her entire life. She grew up working class, but her intelligence and persistence has helped her elevate her status, attending Oxford and now working for a well-known firm.

Jade has always tried to live up to the expectations of others and has carefully molded herself that way. From changing her name to shrugging off microaggressions at university and work and in her relationship with her affluent white boyfriend, Kit, and his family. Ela Lee writes in such a descriptive and nuanced way. We understand all of the sacrifices Jade has made one by one to make herself more palatable and likeable throughout her life. Her firm encourages heavy drinking and socializing, and she finds that she has blacked out after a work event. She begins to realize that something terrible happened that night, but lives in denial about it.

Panic and horrible flashbacks weigh on her and slowly start to eviscerate her carefully curated life. Her boyfriend doesn't understand what she's going through, and she hides parts of herself. It made me ponder, what do we owe people in terms of our behavior and care? And can we expect to have our needs met if we never voice them and remain guarded? Clearly, some things will never be understood because we all have different lived experiences. How does that affect our close relationships? Overall, a very thought-provoking and realistic novel.

Thank you, Simon & Schuster and NetGalley, for providing this ARC. All thoughts are my own.

Thank you to the author Ela Lee, publishers Simon & Schuster, and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of Jaded. All views are mine.

I observed this oasis [my parents had] created. It scared me to tell them.... I physically ached at the idea of inflicting that pain on them. The kind of pain that only a parent can feel when someone hurts their child and there’s nothing that can undo it. Loc.1166

Perhaps the most telling thing about this book is the title, which it's no spoiler to tell you refers to the limbo occupied by all the women who experienced SA and then are let down in all the countless ways society lets them down. The death by a thousand cuts. JADED. This is a harrowing story told impeccably. I honestly can't praise it enough. This theme is critical and I'm so glad Lee wrote this book. These stories don't often reach the mainstream, so it's good Simon & Schuster picked this one up and published it.
Jade is a young lawyer with a burgeoning career and a promising romantic relationship. After one night that she can't remember, her whole world turns on its head. How she deal with something that is tearing her apart into bits, if she can't even remember it? I recommend this harrowing, insightful, stunning book to readers of women's and feminist fiction, slow burn thrillers and mysteries, and psychological stories. Huge trigger warning for SA, violence against women, gaslighting, amnesia.

You can love someone whilst detesting them with a viciousness that scares you. Loc.2535

Three (or more) things I loved:

1. The wine glass ring element is completely brilliant.

2. This theme is critical and I'm so glad Lee wrote this book. People often experience SA without even being aware of it because of compromised memory, poor definitions of SA, and other reasons. These stories don't often reach the mainstream, so it's good Simon & Schuster picked this one up and published it.

3. The "search results" section is a really clever form that transmitted a great deal of information in a small space.

Three (or less) things I didn't love:

This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.

1. I'm not a huge fan of so many flashbacks. I do prefer flashbacks to dual timelines, but I think they should be used sparingly and carefully.

2. When Jade first gets confirmation from a nurse, during a vaginal examination that she may have been sexually assaulted, the character fiercely represses her emotional reaction, but with no indication why. This is common, I think, that fiction writers write their characters as repressive, at least initially. But why? It makes little sense.

3. Prose is a bit clumsy in places. Too many fragments and sentences can get rickety.

Rating: 💧💧💧💧💧 bitter tears
Recommend? Yes
Finished: Mar 25 '24
Format: Digital, Kindle, NetGalley
Read this book if you like:
👤 psychological thrillers
👧🏽 women's fiction
😬 suspense
🔍 mystery
👔 gender politics

Absolutely beautiful and heartbreaking. There have been a lot of books that cover the topic of sexual assault in the past few years but this is one of the best that I've read. Please be aware of trigger warnings when going into this book. Highly recommend.

Thank you, Simon Books, for the gifted copy.

A raw, intimate, and emotional story about Ceyda (pronounced Jada, but she goes by Jade). A woman destined to be a lawyer based on her families' expectations shares internal reflections with us following a sexual assault. Who do you tell when you feel like you cannot tell anyone?

Jade is Turkish-Korean, meaning that she is under a watchful eye for all life decisions. Her job, partner, and parents all have expectations for her. A work gala one night completely changes Jade's life, leaving behind only a chance for a life free from expectations and a struggle to survive. Jade struggles with coming to terms with what happened to her and how to navigate the feelings that come with the trauma she realizes she has endured.

I struggled to get into this one initially, but baby, when the audio became available, I was immersed in the story. Shoutouts to the narrator, Rosa Escoda. I will say the reason for the struggle was that the transitions from past to present were so abrupt that I witnessed whiplash endlessly for the first thirteen chapters. I did enjoy the exploration of different cultures through the lens of the child of immigrants as the author delved into the history of how Jade's parents came to be and their journey to London, as well as the toxic culture of working for a corporate company.

Kit sucked as a partner, btw (completely gaslighted Jade from beginning to end), but I saw that coming from a mile away! Themes explored are identity politics, misogyny, classism, racism, sexism, and sexual assault.

I would recommend this one.

Jaded by Ela Lee is a mesmerizing journey through the complexities of love, loss, and redemption. Lee's masterful storytelling transports readers into the tumultuous world of her characters, where emotional depth and raw vulnerability reign supreme. Through the lens of her protagonist's tumultuous relationship, Lee skillfully navigates themes of heartbreak, resilience, and self-discovery with unwavering honesty and compassion. The characters are exquisitely crafted, each one bearing scars of their own, yet striving for healing and connection in the face of adversity. Lee's prose is lyrical and evocative, infusing every page with a sense of urgency and poignancy that keeps readers captivated until the very end. "Jaded" is a poignant reminder of the power of love to both wound and heal, and Lee's exploration of human fragility and resilience is as profound as it is unforgettable. With its richly drawn characters and emotionally resonant narrative, Jaded is a triumph of contemporary fiction that will linger in the hearts and minds of readers long after the final page is turned.

A powerful, raw and emotional novel about a woman, Jade, as she is grapples with finding her true identity after the fallout of an encounter where no consent was given. Interwoven in the story are cultural references as a child of immigrants and the sexism of women in the corporate workplace. A lot of respect for author and the author’s note and that provides the background and trigger warnings for the book.
The cover depicting a fragile, beautiful but broken vase is such a strong metaphor for that one moment that can change someone’s life…do they stay broken?