Book Review: Jadeite's Journey by Lucinda Stein

 
 Book: Jadeite's Journey
Author: Lucinda Stein
Published: January 25, 2017
Publisher: Inkspell Publishing
Number of Pages: 270
Format: ebook
Source: I received a copy of this book from Xpresso Book Tours in exchange for an honest review. This has not affected the way that I rated or reviewed the book. 
Rating: 4 Stars
Tags: YA, Received for Review, Xpresso Book Tours, Summer

Goodreads/Amazon

Synopsis: When romance turns deadly…

Jadeite’s perfect world comes crashing down on her. In the futuristic world of United Society, her only problem has been how to act around the cute boy on the air shuttle. But Jadeite’s world changes when she comes across a man who looks alarmingly like her father. Clones were declared illegal years ago. When she sees her father, a robotic engineer, headed to the Dark Edge of United Society, she follows him and uncovers her father’s secret life.

Jadeite shadows her father past the boundary of United Society and into a primitive world of canyons and high deserts. She learns her father is a Ridge Runner passing between the two worlds. Even more alarming, she discovers her younger brother, Malachite, is sick and requires medicine only available from over the Ridge. After her father is arrested, Jadeite takes his place in order to save her brother’s life.

But her world turns even more precarious after she breaks up with her obsessive boyfriend, Mattie. Jadeite soon learns his threats are more than words, and she finds her life is in jeopardy.

-MY REVIEW-

Dystopia was my favorite genre at one point. I loved to read about protagonists fighting against injustice, rebuilding a city, or fighting for their survival. But so many dystopian novels were published so close together that they all started to blend together, resulting in it being nearly impossible to find an original YA dystopian. Even now it's hard to find an original dystopian. So, this book was a real treat, for more reasons than one. 

In this book we follow Jadeite, who lives in a futuristic society that focuses of technological advancement, science, and math; along with anyone showing to much creativity or originality being punished. There are a group of people who live outside of her society though, and Jadeite wants nothing to do with them. Until they are the only ones who can save herself, her brother, and those that she cares about. Things get even more dangerous when her boyfriend becomes abusive towards her, and she learns that he has no intentions of letting her leave him.

Okay, I really liked a lot of the characters in this book! I thought that Jadeite was a very strong, and likeable character. She was strong enough to carry on in the story, but she still had a sence of vulnerability that made her a lot more realistic. I also really enjoyed reading about her friend, her family, and a couple other characters that I won't mention the names of.

I also really liked how Jadeite's relationship with Mattie was portrayed. Because it wasn't a healthy relationship, and it was very clear in this book that Jadeite didn't want to be in it. I thought that Jadeite was very brave, and that made me respect her more.

I do wish that there was an epilogue at the end of this one though. I liked the ending, but there were still a lot of unanswered questions. I don't think that we need another book, but a little something to tie up the loose ends would be nice.

So overall I really enjoyed this book! I thought that Jadeite was a fabulous main character, and I was also impressed with the world building in itself. This book also talks about abusive relationships among teenagers which, in my opinion, was one of the best things about this one. I highly recommend.