Jump by Tiffany Noelle Chacon
- Published on
- Shalini
- in Book Posts, Book Reviews, Digital Reads Media, Digital Reads Reviews, Fiction
Publication Date: March 7, 2023
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It’s been a year since college senior Mila Kozak watched her sister Anya’s tragic accident on course at WEF. Since then, nothing has been the same. Her relationship with her sister is as shattered as Anya’s paralyzed body. Her boyfriend of two years dumped her out of the blue and, even though she’s doing everything she can to win him back, he won’t give her the time of day. And her favorite thing in the world – show jumping – is tainted by the crippling fear she’ll end up like Anya.
Mila wants nothing more than to be her old life-of-the-party, live-in-the-moment self. But no matter what she does, she’s not that Mila anymore.
When Mila rescues her friend and barnmate, Alex, from Immigration police, it sets them on a trajectory that’s as surprising as it is electrifying. But when everything Mila holds dear is threatened yet again, will she make the jump and land where she’s meant to be?
What was JUMP all about
Jump by Tiffany Noelle Chacon was a Young Adult love story that spoke of the wishes of an innocent heart that had seen life.
Mila Kodak’s sister had become quadriplegic after an accident in a show-jumping competition one year ago. Since then Mila and her horse Cyrus had been taking part in various competitions. But in the background lay the tatters of her relationship with her sister. Added to that, her boyfriend of 2 years Michael suddenly dumped her.
And she wanted him and her old fun life back. On a chance incident with her friend Alex, she discovered that life could become interesting from unexpected quarters.
Now it was all about what the heart wanted.
A standalone, but probably book 1 in the show-jumping series, the story was a sweet and open-door romance but had a love triangle in nearly two-thirds of the book.
This was an author request read where I downloaded the book from Kindle Unlimited.
The Hook
Trigger Warnings: Love triangle.
The clean romance was the hook for me to get into the story. I knew about there would be two men warring for her heart, but I didn’t think it would occupy so many pages of this book.
Since I didn’t read tropes with love triangles much, I had nothing to compare this book with. I would say the book fared better than I expected.
The Characters
Initially, I found it a little hard to warm up to them. The twin factors were I was not a fan of horses or show-jumping, nor did I care to know Mila’s thoughts about them or her constant shifts between the two men. But those were based on my personal likes.
Mila, by herself, was sweet and innocent. She had her own highs and lows and was trying to manage her life to the best. The fear of having an accident like her sister didn’t hold her back. I liked that. It was obvious she loved horses, especially her Cyrus.
Taking her away from this backdrop, I thought I would have liked her more. The book read to me like a tale, not where I was compelled to immerse in their lives.
Michael had his reasons for break-up, and they were probably valid at that age when he wanted fun and frolic without commitment. Alex was well etched; the author had given him an expanse of a generous heart along with clear thoughts about Mila.
The Intricacies
I was not fond of plot tropes where the guy suddenly broke off the relationship without giving clear reasons, and the woman, instead of telling him to fuck off, wanted him back. That didn’t speak well of the self-respect of a woman even if she was an immature young adult.
Trying to win back the man by making him feel jealous etc. was a poor ploy, and I didn’t agree with the basic concept. But that was the plotline of this book where she dithered between the two men until her heart spoke loud and clear. Those who liked this pull that a woman had for the two men in her life will enjoy the story more.
The side plots of friendship and bridging the bond with her sister were far more heart-warming for me. The book was a happily ever after, where all the strands were tied up well.
The Setting
I would say the author maintained a sedate setting without going overboard in her words to describe the world of show-jumping and horses and barns and colic.
I could feel that Mila was really present in those scenes.
The Pace
Slow and steady was what I would say this book was, though I personally thought that 289 pages were far too long for this story. Maybe if the emotions had seeped deep into the pages, the book would have read faster for me.
The second half of the book had relationships embedded in them so I could scroll faster then.
The style of writing - The Prose
Though I didn’t care for the world of show-jumping, and that marred my complete enjoyment of this book, I had to say the author had presented this backdrop pretty well. Everything was in detail and in order. The exhilaration of a clear jump and winning the competition was well-written.
I cared more about the people surrounding Mila, her loved ones, and the building up of her world in those relationships. That felt to be better etched from the mid-half of the book when her bond with sister and parents was explored and developed.
The tug-of-war between the two men would be liked by those who loved this trope as the choice between comfort and familiar was pitched sensitively against unknown and exciting.
I thought I would enjoy the future books if these two things were not written, as the author had command over her words. The prose just needed slight polishing to bring out the emotions vividly.
With each win, I should have pumped my fists in the air even when I didn’t care much about the show-jumping, then it would have been a perfect 5-star.
How it made me feel
The only thought I ended up with was – the book JUMP was sweet and for a debut, it was surprisingly well written.
There was a potential for depth in this author’s writing. And with tender care of this talent, I thought the future books would be wonderful to read.
Do I recommend this book?
I would definitely recommend this book to all those readers who liked a love triangle in the world of show-jumping.
Would I have this book on my bookshelf? No. Because they were not the tropes I liked. That was just a personal preference, had nothing to do with the author’s hard work.
I downloaded the digital version of the book from an online retail, and this is my journey down its pages, straight from the heart. STRICTLY HONEST and UNBIASED.
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One Response
I love movies with dogs, horses. The horses are so awesome to watch, a beauty of form and speed. But to read about show jumping…not sure about that.