The Color Jade: all of my love

by J. K. Hernandez

Set against the backdrop of a family scarred by trauma and fire, this novel is a haunting exploration of identity, intergenerational trauma, and the enduring search for love and self-acceptance. Alliyah, known to the world as “Artist” and to her beloved Jade as “Alli”, is consumed by an untamed inner rage. Her earliest memories are tied to blazes that forever reshaped her family and her entire world.

As her junior year of high school comes to an end the death of Jade set’s her world a blaze once again. She experiences the destructive and redemptive powers of love. This is a story of two women who burn brightly in each other’s lives, for better and for worse.

This novel offers a poignant look at what it means to confront the flames of the past—and what it takes to stop running from them or to finally give in and let it all burn.

238 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 24, 2025

Reviews

[Na'Asia Lovee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a good read shows the trauma and grief a person can go through with heartbreak added on

[Eros Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

I… have severe mixed feelings about this.
I haven’t been stuck on a review with a book in a while. I am genuinely torn.

On one hand, it was beautifully lyrical. In a way that was relatable to a queer audience. It had me extremely reflective about where I was mentally as a young queer person facing homophobia, coming out, the high and lows of mental health, falling in love with a girl for the first time & childhood trauma.
I enjoyed the depth of the FMC through her journal entries describing how she was coping with the death of her 1st love alongside her own traumas.
It was a storyline that may tie to a large group of readers.

On the other hand, the book immediately starts off with trigger warnings that weren’t labeled anywhere beforehand. It felt like it was heavy TW after TW & I couldn’t find it stated anywhere that this was to be expected. It was real but, triggering.. unexpected and jarring.

There was also a lot of explicit sex scenes between minors that immediately made me uncomfortable. It wasn’t brief in a way that depicts that teenagers are sexually active. There were multiple moments with pages and pages of detail around teenage sex that made me want to put the book down completely.
While minors engaging sexually isn’t taboo, I’m not sure why it’s needed in detail like this in a novel. It didn’t add to the love that the FMCs had for each other. It could’ve been mentioned without the expansive detail.

This came late into the storyline so I was already past my DNF percentage & saw it through. But, I couldn’t fully invest in the story after that.

[Nova Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

For the sake of humor, I would describe this as the black + brown queer Notebook. In all seriousness, this book has simply changed my life and it’s an honor to have this book memorized in my mind with little lines that I remember. It breaks down grief in a way that is frankly gut wrenching, albeit, love must be present to grieve. The young, relentless, quiet, loud, and magnificent love that is between Alliyah and Jade is something that some go their whole lives without experiencing. This book gives insight into what that love looks like and my God…it’s reminded me that I have been through grief, and therefore I have loved. Do yourself the favor and read it, idk what else to tell you man.

[Ermon]

Yup couldn’t do it. Too much pain and suffering. The smoking and drinking just wasn’t cute for what is suppose to be a high school student. On top of all of that SHE’S dealing drugs and carrying a gun in HIGH SCHOOL. It’s too much for no reason

[brybliophile · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a blind read for me, as the book randomly popped up on my socials. And since I’m curious, I decided to take the plunge. But sadly, this missed the mark for me. I made it to part two or 40% in before I DNF this one.

The good: congratulations to this author on their debut novel! The book does a good job of showcasing grief and mental health. I love seeing Hispanic/Latino authors showcase their lives and culture and this author did just that. There’s a lot of symbolism with color and that was fascinating to read.

The bad: the story was dragged along. There were far too many flashbacks that kept breaking up the flow of the story and it felt quite dry in patches. The editing and pacing were all over the place. I felt like the identity of the story wasn’t quite known either. What is this book trying to be. What emotions is it trying to evoke? And sadly… I was flat out bored.

Typically when I DNF, I give a book 1 star. But I won’t do that here. I think the bones for the story is there but it needs to be reformatted to truly be a show-stopping sapphic masterpiece.

I’ll keep my eye on this author to see what they come out with next. I’m willing to give her another try. We all must grow so we can become better ❤️

[Jade · Rating 5 out of 5]

I do not write reviews often but I had to come here and give this amazing story and the author their flowers. From the first page we feel the emotions elevate off the page. The story starts off with self harm written a way that captivates the readers because Artist isn’t just trying to remove her tattoo but remove the pain and also maybe the hope she felt when getting it. That part sticks with me. This story sticks with me. I had to reread so many parts so that I can pick up on what the author was doing. The poetry is absolutely beautiful. The significance of the colors. Even the racing thoughts and run ons at first it bothered me then I began to appreciate it. When I realized that Artist is an 18 yr old under the influence most of the time, second guessing, rambling, over thinking , it all began to make sense and feel intentional.
The story ends feeling very unfinished. I think this makes for a perfect second book I was happy to find out it is a series. Over all 5 stars all around. JK did not make any mistakes. I can not wait to see what the author does for book two.

[Khadija Layne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you for writing an amazing piece of work. When we met you said the backdrop was between NY and Boston where I am also from and lived in Hyde Park. But I loved taking the train and bus with Artist; figuring out where she was and even in Dorchester where I spent some summers at my dad’s and uncle’s house or even in Brockton.

It was definitely great to be back home even for a little bit. There’s so much I can say. However, I’m so glad you wrote this for the fellow Pisces I am and the hopeless romantic who has some anger issues we gotta work out!

It’s definitely a book I needed when I fell in love with my first girl and navigating feelings I’ve never felt before. The softness and awkwardness but also highs and lows of chaos is real. This book is anything but real. When you’ve been through some stuff, real calls you differently! Thank you!

[YuannaReads · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m giving this a very generous 3 stars because the parts that were good were very good. This book showcases mental health, grief , trauma , heart break and healing so well. It shows it in a way that is relatable and pulls at your heart strings. Those part were written beautifully BUT this book did not need to be this long. I skimmed so much of this book and still feel like I didn’t miss much of anything. There is too many unnecessary people, unnecessary dialogue , unnecessary story lines and unnecessary loopholes. Making this book way too long for what it needed to be.

[Sequoia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really good idea, the execution just wasn’t there. A lot of characters were randomly introduced as if the reader had previously met them when this was not the case. There was a point where Artist talks about getting on a train, but then says it’s a bus, and then a train again. There were many unexplored things, like Jade being called Ade and Artist’s many hobbies.

I wonder if the book should’ve just gone through the events, involving Jade, in realtime and not as flashbacks.

Writing a novel is hard and getting it published is even harder, so kudos to the author for getting it done!

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Iove love this book read it 2 times already

[LaNee Tay · Rating 3 out of 5]

❤️

This book was very sad for me to read. I’m still processing this book. Losing someone you love it heartbreaking.

[thehobbyhopper · Rating 4 out of 5]

The color Jade was a highly anticipated book for me. Found it on tik tok, and it was the first book I read on my new kindle . Of course I finished it in a weekend ! It was such a good book as someone who was looking for more WLW books (this was my first) and Artist is officially my book girlfriend. It catches your attention right away , it describes different ways people deal with grief and it’s a complicated story. I like that it’s not “wrapped up in a bow, happily ever after” it makes you think about what could have happened afterwards. There are parts where I wish things were expanded on, or characters I wish were introduced earlier, but I will say we were seeing it through Artists’ lens . There was probably purpose behind her suppressing certain things that came up and she didn’t want to address so I respect it and liked the mystery. I wish her coping skills were more highlighted like writing in her journal and how that is for her. One thing that kind of confused me was Jade’s sister and her role in Artist’s life and her age gap (I thought I read they were besties but idk) but it wasn’t major. Overall a great story, I felt like I could relate to Artist and Jade, which isn’t typical for me while analyzing characters. I can’t wait for the rest of this series and to see more from this author. It was just the kind of representation I was looking for!