The Jump
From the acclaimed author of SLAY and The Cost of Knowing comes an action-driven, high-octane “thrill ride” (Kirkus Reviews) about a group of working-class teens in Seattle who join a dangerous scavenger hunt with a prize that can save their families and community.
Influence is power. Power creates change. And change is exactly what Team Jericho needs.
Jax, Yas, Spider, and Han are the four cornerstones of Team Jericho, the best scavenger hunting team in all of Seattle. Each has their own specialty: Jax, the puzzler; Yas, the parkourist; Spider, the hacker; and Han, the cartographer. But now with an oil refinery being built right in their backyard, each also has their own problems. Their families are at risk of losing their jobs, their communities, and their homes.
So when The Order, a mysterious vigilante organization, hijacks the scavenger hunting forum and concocts a puzzle of its own, promising a reward of influence, Team Jericho sees it as the chance of a lifetime. If they win this game, they could change their families’ fates and save the city they love so much. But with an opposing team hot on their heels, it’s going to take more than street smarts to outwit their rivals.
Influence is power. Power creates change. And change is exactly what Team Jericho needs.
Jax, Yas, Spider, and Han are the four cornerstones of Team Jericho, the best scavenger hunting team in all of Seattle. Each has their own specialty: Jax, the puzzler; Yas, the parkourist; Spider, the hacker; and Han, the cartographer. But now with an oil refinery being built right in their backyard, each also has their own problems. Their families are at risk of losing their jobs, their communities, and their homes.
So when The Order, a mysterious vigilante organization, hijacks the scavenger hunting forum and concocts a puzzle of its own, promising a reward of influence, Team Jericho sees it as the chance of a lifetime. If they win this game, they could change their families’ fates and save the city they love so much. But with an opposing team hot on their heels, it’s going to take more than street smarts to outwit their rivals.
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Community Reviews
Originally reviewed on Cyn's Workshop
Okay, now The Jump definitely has potential, but a lot about the novel felt forced and unrealistic.
Lacking Grounding
The novel’s biggest issue was that it felt like every character was supposed to be “special” but really just felt shoehorned into the story.
I appreciate the author’s desire for a wildly diverse cast of characters. However, it feels very surface-level.
Take Spider, for example, our Asian trans character, the group hacker. As readers, we know a little more about Spider, but it feels very surface-level. The book is too short to maintain the quick, high-stakes pace, which takes away from getting to the core of the characters.
And this goes for all the characters, Yas, our queer Middle Eastern parkour star, and Han, our Caucasian character who suffers from mental illness. Again, we don’t get to deal with who they are, and it’s harmful to the plot because we can’t connect to the characters. As for Han, even by the end, I still had no idea what mental illness he was dealing with. It was touched upon once in one chapter when they discussed his mom leaving, and that’s it.
Most of the characters get this treatment of turmoil mentioned only once and then the door shut on it to focus on the plot.
Because of that, they felt two-dimensional. Representation is great, but if you’re going to do it, do it right by giving the characters depth and delving into their identity to make it matter.
Another struggle I had with the novel was that it felt very unrealistic. I read all types of books to escape reality, but something has to ground me in the world the author is creating.
These teenagers are part of a scavenger hunt. Still, the scavenger hunt takes a quick turn when The Order, an online vigilante group, takes over the online forum.
This is where things started to get weird and outlandish. I’m all for high stakes, but there also has to be some level of believability for me, or at least the characters have to rise to the challenge in a way that makes sense.
The stakes skyrocket, and the characters, normal teenagers, are soon found leaping from tall buildings exploding beneath them in downtown Seattle!
It was wholly outlandish and came out of left field, considering how the story began as realistic before quickly turning into this action film.
Final Thoughts
I think The Jump could have been reworked to have been longer, giving more time to develop the character and building the plot better so that the ending made more sense.
See more reviews at Cyn's Workshop and follow me on Facebook | Instagram | TikTok | Twitter | Tumblr | Spotify Podcast | YouTube | BookBub | Goodreads+ | LinkedIn
The Jump takes four teens throughout Seattle as they try to win a high-stakes scavenger hunt and save their community.
Okay, now The Jump definitely has potential, but a lot about the novel felt forced and unrealistic.
Lacking Grounding
The novel’s biggest issue was that it felt like every character was supposed to be “special” but really just felt shoehorned into the story.
I appreciate the author’s desire for a wildly diverse cast of characters. However, it feels very surface-level.
Take Spider, for example, our Asian trans character, the group hacker. As readers, we know a little more about Spider, but it feels very surface-level. The book is too short to maintain the quick, high-stakes pace, which takes away from getting to the core of the characters.
And this goes for all the characters, Yas, our queer Middle Eastern parkour star, and Han, our Caucasian character who suffers from mental illness. Again, we don’t get to deal with who they are, and it’s harmful to the plot because we can’t connect to the characters. As for Han, even by the end, I still had no idea what mental illness he was dealing with. It was touched upon once in one chapter when they discussed his mom leaving, and that’s it.
Most of the characters get this treatment of turmoil mentioned only once and then the door shut on it to focus on the plot.
Because of that, they felt two-dimensional. Representation is great, but if you’re going to do it, do it right by giving the characters depth and delving into their identity to make it matter.
Another struggle I had with the novel was that it felt very unrealistic. I read all types of books to escape reality, but something has to ground me in the world the author is creating.
These teenagers are part of a scavenger hunt. Still, the scavenger hunt takes a quick turn when The Order, an online vigilante group, takes over the online forum.
This is where things started to get weird and outlandish. I’m all for high stakes, but there also has to be some level of believability for me, or at least the characters have to rise to the challenge in a way that makes sense.
The stakes skyrocket, and the characters, normal teenagers, are soon found leaping from tall buildings exploding beneath them in downtown Seattle!
It was wholly outlandish and came out of left field, considering how the story began as realistic before quickly turning into this action film.
Final Thoughts
I think The Jump could have been reworked to have been longer, giving more time to develop the character and building the plot better so that the ending made more sense.
See more reviews at Cyn's Workshop and follow me on Facebook | Instagram | TikTok | Twitter | Tumblr | Spotify Podcast | YouTube | BookBub | Goodreads+ | LinkedIn
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