Book Review: Jigsaw of Light

Reviewed by Andrea Marks-Joseph

This action-packed adventure sees a teenager supernaturally-surf across oceans to save the planet and find his father.

When we first meet fifteen-year-old Zebedee, he’s lonely in London, exhausted from constant nightmares of dramatic waves that ruin his sleep and missing his father who mysteriously disappeared three years ago to the day. 

On the anniversary of his father’s disappearance, Zeb receives an urgent and secretive letter from his father, urging him to retrieve a package from the post office and bring it back to his hometown of Cornwall. As soon as he retrieves the package, Zeb notices he’s being followed by dangerous-looking people, managing to narrowly escape and reach Cornwall, where his quirky, loving grandfather hands him a surfboard passed down from Zeb’s father—one that supernaturally travels the world. 

Zeb learns to connect to the board on a spiritual, instinctual level so that its internal GPS (along with a journal of cryptic riddles written by his dad for Zeb to decode) forms an instructive map for the teenager’s quest: Zeb must collect the remaining crystals from an ancient mission that his father disappeared completing. It’s a journey to save the earth from its rapidly declining climate crisis, but Zeb agrees mostly in the hope that he may find his father along the way. 

Zeb surfs the oceans to Syria (where he meets a young man who helps families flee to safety after bombing), the Hawaiian Islands (where he meets a professor’s defiant daughter who is rightfully angry, having to educate him on the damage that tourism   has done to her home), and Australia (where they bargain with a drunken tour guide over crocodile notoriety). 

Each place Zeb visits, there is someone expecting him, someone who spent time with his dad and was told he’d be coming. While this is helpful, it also comes with a level of heartache that Zeb keeps to himself, because it means that his dad spent time with all of these people, making lovely memories and even telling them about his son, while Zeb was taken away from his hometown and left to think his dad was dead.

“It’s a big ocean out there and we are but a drop.’ Zeb squeezed out of the tight embrace and smiled. ‘But every drop counts, right?’” It’s immediately clear that Zeb is brave, reflective, charming, considerate, and kind. He misses his dad. He’s grieving, he’s lost, and wise beyond his years. It’s also immediately clear that so much is about to unfold. 

Jigsaw of Light is great for readers who like to jump in with theories right from the start. This really fun combination of adventure and mystery, of teen angst and supernatural activity, makes for endless guessing and non-stop action. Jigsaw of Light is crafted with reverence for the natural world, an urgency to save it from humanity’s destruction, and a healthy dose of humor in the interactions between strangers coming together to fulfill the mission. 

“Then of course it was the usual story. They became corrupt, abusing the planet and its resources in their thirst for power and domination. Mining the Earth for precious stones and minerals, trying to alter the weather, hunting animals to extinction.” As a reader from the “global South,” it was both refreshing and a relief to read a novel that is so steadfast in its expression of colonial powers’ lasting impact on the countries it continues to plunder. The lead characters’ conversations leave no question of the harm that the American and British governments, corporations, tourist populations, and armies continue to inflict upon the rest of the world. As a disabled reader, I loved the casual inclusion of tall, friendly, mountainous Jake, who slurs his speech due to complications at birth that left part of his face paralyzed, and who takes his role as the physically strongest, courageous protector of his younger comrades very seriously.

It was haunting to read Zeb’s experience traveling to Syria, searching for his dad’s magic crystal in the remains of a hospital that had been bombed four years earlier, where medical treatment was still going on amongst the rubble. While unfortunately for some teenagers across the world, this has been the case for many years, this book feels especially timely. I’d recommend this book to teenagers who are wrestling with   questions about what is true and how they can help. It’s magnificently undeniable that Jigsaw of Light’s perspective is one that honors the indigenous people and their land across the globe.

“The city was shining brightly, lights clustering like stars. It reminded him of all those days spent out on the boat with his dad. Fishing until the sun disappeared and sparkling diamonds lit up the heavens above. They’d lie on the deck watching in silent awe.” This novel is intriguing, insightful, and just emotional enough to have readers feeling swept away in a wave of compassion. Author JC Button’s writing style is tremendously descriptive and breathtakingly evocative, delivering sharp and clear narrative filled with realistic teenage emotions that resonate no matter the age of the reader. Button’s prose leaves readers with a sense of awe of the natural world and a longing to experience everything (besides the harrowing trauma of evil entities attacking) that Zeb does. It’s the kind of writing that makes you deeply appreciative of the way it enriches how you’ll see the world from now on. This is the kind of writing that inspires people to fall in love with reading. Zeb’s heart, wide open and vulnerable on every page, reminds us all that kindness goes a long way and that people are always worth saving. 

Readers should be aware that not all of Zeb’s travel companions are safe. I found myself quite disturbed by the villain who believes that the earth is better off eliminating its human population in order to restart anew, which is difficult to read at this moment in political and global history, but Zeb fights against these theories valiantly. He is a worthy hero and an admirable protagonist, complex in the way teenagers always are, as he struggles to navigate his sense of self against an increasingly brutal world. 

A small note: The hints of romance feel sudden and unnecessary, particularly the strange comments about two characters who were cousins potentially flirting with each other, as well as the perplexing moment when one of the crystals enhances Zeb’s desire for someone in the middle of his grief, suddenly stating that “she belonged to him, only him.” having previously not expressed even an indication that he ever thought about her. Even in the concluding storyline when there’s an overall warm mood, the romance feels jarring. 

I highly recommend gifting this spellbinding novel to adventurous, inquisitive teenagers in your life—those into surfing, parkour, rock climbing, or engaged in environmental activism. Jigsaw of Light is well suited to those who are into quantum physics, ancient cultures, seeking higher consciousness, and treasures lost at sea—even if they’re reluctant readers, and especially if they seem to be wrestling with emotions they can’t figure out or articulate. I really appreciated that quality in Zeb and was so moved seeing the world from his perspective. 

This adventure is action-packed and rich with internal emotion. Zeb’s conflicting feelings and newly-discovered supernatural power swirling through him, dragging him down like a riptide. I would read anything JC Button writes next, and I’ll certainly be looking out for any additional stories of Zeb’s planet-saving surfing adventures.

There’s a plot twist that I had to read back three times before I stopped feeling so shocked, and once it sunk in I gasped. Jigsaw of Light frequently reminded me of Percy Jackson & the Olympians (particularly for Zeb’s relationship with his mother), as well as Netflix’s Outer Banks and Dive Club, and Disney+ series National Treasure: Edge of History—though unlike these ensemble shows, for the majority of this book, Zeb travels alone, meeting a guide in each location and then moving on. 

Anyone who loves the small seaside town setting of those series and how they confront our collective cultural histories alongside the compelling drama of ancient civilization and long-held family secrets would enjoy this book. Any readers who grew up by the sea will feel a special connection to this novel, which perceives the privilege of proximity to the ocean as an inescapable and irrevocable blessing that lives in our souls. 

Jigsaw of Light is an absolute delight, a whirlwind adventure that I’d gladly read again. And since the ending was wonderful (and emotional—I cried over how reliable, generous, unprejudiced, and good-hearted a kid Zeb is while reading the epilogue), there’s still lots to explore if the author intends. I’ll be looking out for upcoming books in this series.

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