Jump! [Hardcover]

I bought the Kindle version of this book and, having been a huge Jilly Cooper fan for about 15 years, couldn't wait to read it. I have to say it was a big disappointment. The main protagonist, Etta, has many of the qualities I loved about Daisy MacLeod in 'Polo' but the spark that goes hand in hand with Daisy's kindness and naivete still hadn't emerged by the time I gave up on the book, half-way through. Etta was just a bit wet. I thought there were very few genuinely likeable or genuinely sexy characters in 'Jump!', of which I have found so many in Cooper's books over the years, amazing really since, as usual, there was a huge cast. I also missed the fantastic chemistry between characters and the outlandish sex scenes she used to write so well. There were lots of lecherous people of both sexes here but nothing much comes to fruition! I gave this book two stars because Cooper still writes some of the most evocative descriptions of the countryside and nature I've ever read, and I truly love them. I'm just sorry that on this occasion the rest of the book failed to move me in the same way. I've never not finished a Jilly Cooper novel - in fact, most of mine are dog-eared from many re-readings - so it was quite painful to admit that I couldn't care less what happened to Etta anyone else in 'Jump!' by the mid-way point. This experience left me feeling more than a little sad.

I love Jilly Cooper. I can quote swathes of her books verbatim. To my mind, her best work represents peerless excellence in the field of popular fiction. Unfortunately I couldn't say that about `Jump!'.

I agree with other low-star reviews that the main problem is too many characters, too thinly sketched. Jilly used to be superb at breathing individual life into her extensive cast, giving them real personalities, so I could instantly imagine each one in my mind's eye. In `Jump!', it's like she's stopped bothering. I honestly couldn't tell the difference between Alan and Seth, Miss Painswick and Tilda, Trixie and Amber, Joey and Chris, Phoebe and Romy, the Major and Alban, etc, etc.

As a consequence, I have no idea why certain characters are attracted to each other. People strike up unlikely dalliances seemingly at random. They are ALL, even the "nicer" characters, eye-rollingly undiscerning (even by JC standards), switching crushes and affections every other page in a feeble attempt by the author not to make it too obvious (but it still is) who is going to finish up with who. She's strayed from the usual saucy bed-hopping into pure parody. I ended up not giving a monkey's about the eventual pairings.

The constant theme of young girls reciprocating the lust of much older men is laughably unrealistic in some cases, downright disturbing in others. For example, one character is 14 when introduced and from then on, every reference to her involves a leering older man eyeing her up as a potential sexual conquest, including her own uncle. She has no other function in the plot - it's a far cry from Perdita in `Polo', who also starts off as a brattish, sexually provocative 14 year old, but has SO much more to her character. Later on there's a repugnant non-consensual "foursome" scene, which is basically an under-age rape. It did make me feel very queasy and I'm amazed JC's editor didn't persuade her to axe it.

Also I'm sorry to say, lazy writing for much of the novel, too quick to fall back on plotlines and entire sentences pinched from previous books. The howling duplications could make a great pub quiz for JC fans: "Which previous Jilly Cooper novel did the following quote/situation appear in....?"

The plot does indeed stretch credulity to the limit, but that's par for the JC course and wouldn't have bothered me if the characters had been more engaging.

Good points were: The research, impeccable as always. A few brilliant flashes of dialogue and one-liners tucked away amongst the dross. Some evocative descriptions of landscapes and the atmosphere of the racecourse. Some satisfying come-uppances for most (but not all) of the many unpleasant characters.

If you're new to Jilly, I'd strongly advise you to order `Riders', `Rivals' or `Polo' instead (or even all three at once, they're sequential and very addictive!). If you're already a fan, it's as likely as not you'll be disappointed.

I did plough on to the end, but finished it more as a nod of respect to the marvellous writer she once was than out of any real interest in the characters or the story. Very sad.

I loved Riders, Polo and Rivals. Things started to go wrong with Score and The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous, but with the vast amount of research Jilly Cooper put into Jump! and the associated press excitement I was hoping for something much, much better than this.
The novel is readable enough, with Cooper's customary one-liners, racous parties and loveable animals.
The main character is tediously wet, incapable of standing up for herself but somehow universally adored by everyone but her awful, horrid children. Very few of the characters are at all likeable and unfortunately Cooper continues with the stereotypes established in previous novels- all grooms are very sexy, fat women fall in love but only after losing half their body weight, the vicar is gay, characters with regional accents must have their dialogues spelt out phonetically.
This novel is set in the Noughties, but her characters are indistinguishable in actions and speech patterns from the characters of her first novels- there is no sense of progressive time, save mentions of chat rooms and mobile phones.
Characters from previous novels are brought in but not given justifiable page space- Rupert C-B makes an appearance which is fleeting, considering he is mentioned on the blurb (only two characters to be mentioned there). My heart leapt at mentions of Ricky France-Lynch, Lysander Hawkley and Drew Benedict, but their names seem only to have been inserted for the sake of doing so.
Although I never liked Janey Lloyd-Foxe (nee Henderson) she was always presented as a skilled and talented journalist, in Jump! she is a trashy tabloid columnist who does not appear in person but pens trashy articles about her daughter.
Reading other reviews before purchase I was pre-warned about some of the scenes, this is my take (SPOILERS)-
1. The gang-rape of Trixie is appalling in the aftermath- none of the rapists are punished, one of them even gets together with Amber Lloyd-Foxe who knows that he is a rapist!!! Bonny is at least thrown out by Valent, but it seemed to me that her actions were just an excuse for Valent to remove her and replace her with Etta, rather than him punishing her for what she did.
2. One reviewer complained about a gay scene in the church- the scene is absolutely harmless, they just kiss in the church and later have sex (off-screen so to speak). It's absolutely tame by Jilly's standards, somnething I would happily allow a young teenager to read, although Woody does paraphrase Red Alderton's line to Perdita MacLeod about "breaking you the way I like" which was careless of Cooper.
3. The storyline is a huge cliche- 14.3hh grey mare mutilated as foal, trained by heartbroken doing-badly trainer, carrying top weight and ridden by a female jockey who's barely got her licence win the Grand National.
4. The animals. Yes horses are incredibly intelligent, but all the tricks Wilkie can do? Not very likely, especially as the mare is in training, not a family pet.
In conclusion- Jump! is a fair novel to spend a few days reading, there are a few amusing passages but nothing too taxing. Reading it critically it is a failure and there are no characters who will remain with you past the final page, but it would make a good book to take on a plane/ long train journey due to its size and lightness.