Review: The Adoration of Jenna Fox

Note: This was originally posted at my books. my life.

Title: The Adoration of Jenna Fox
Author: Mary E. Pearson
Genre: Young Adult/Dystopian
ISBN: 0805076689
Pages: 265
Year: 2008
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company
Source: Dunedin Public Library
Rating: 5/5

Plot summary:

17-year-old Jenna Fox wakes up from a year-long coma to a life she doesn't remember. She has no memory of the accident that changed her life but she can recite whole passages of Walden. Her secretive parents and uncaring grandmother only further confuse Jenna.

Other Books I’ve Read By Author: None.

Why I Picked Up This Book: Jennifer really liked it and I'd heard good things, but I really just requested it on a whim.

My thoughts:

Loved it. Go read it now. Right now.

I left the plot summary pretty thin because I had no idea what I was walking into when I picked up this book and I think that made the experience even more enjoyable than it otherwise would have been. I was immediately curious and dying to know what was going to happen. I read it in a weekend and would have read it in one sitting if I could have.

This novel deals with the issues of bioethics, the increased use of science and technology in our lives, the essence of identity, and the lengths a parent will go through for a child. I disagree with the "young adult" label for this book. Pearson is generally a YA writer and the protagonist is 17, but the themes are mature and would appeal to readers of any age.

This book is dystopian, but it's a really scary dystopia because it is so close to our own world. There is no clear date for the story, but it hints at 2040 or so. And decisions that our society has already made are to blame for the current state of affairs in the novel. It may be less "dystopian" than some other novels, but the fact that it seems entirely possible makes it somewhat worrisome.

If I had to pick something I didn't like about the novel, I would say that I could have done without the epilogue at the end (but I tend to be one that hates epilogues). I thought the final scene before the last section was so touching that it should have ended the novel.

I'm having a little difficulty articulating what it is about The Adoration of Jenna Fox that I loved so much. It just has that extra something that makes a book special. I know it's only January 20, but I anticipate this one cracking my top 10 for 2010.

Memorable Passages:

"Maybe that is all any life is composed of, trivia that eventually adds up to a person, and maybe I just don't have enough of it yet to be a whole one." p. 174

"One small changed family doesn't calculate into a world that has been spinning for a billion years. But one small change makes the whole world spin differently in a billion ways for one family." p. 256

Will I Read This Author Again?: Absolutely.

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