The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson is set in the very near future and seventeen year old Jenna has just woken from a year long coma. Her parents tell her that she suffered a terrible accident. But yet, she’s now perfect and whole. But even though she’s perfect in every way, she can’t remember anything. Not her parents, her grandmother, her friends, her childhood. She doesn’t even know the basic meaning of words. Jenna’s parents give her videos to watch in hopes that she’ll gain her memory back and soon she is gaining flashes of memory. But the more she learns and tries to return to a normal life, the more questions she has.
The Adoration of Jenna Fox is the type of book that you don’t want to know to much about and I was glad that I didn’t. I loved learning each new detail as they were revealed throughout the book. There are a lot of ethical and moral dilemmas presented throughout the book as well as discussion on what it means to be human. Where does our identity come from?
The writing is very tight, no words wasted here. I’m not sure I liked the epilogue. It seemed a bit too forced, but it didn’t hamper my overall enjoyment. Recommended.
The book trailer:
Visit www.whoisjennafox.com and Mary E. Pearson’s website and blog.
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Category: Book Reviews, Fiction, Young Adult
Tags: A-D Title, book trailers, dystopian, M-P Author, published 2008, science fiction, videos
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Glad you liked it! I did like the ethical issues the novel called up. In fact, that’s probably why the epilogue did mar my overall enjoyment: I felt that Pearson did a complete reversal of a characters’ moral viewpoint without addressing it. I think she could have made it work with a little finessing, but the way it was handled I actually ended the book feeling a little angry, that she opted to make the character with the most depth suddenly appear shallow.
on November 29th, 2008 at 12:41 amThere is something about amnesia that fascinates me. This sounds like one I’d enjoy.
on November 29th, 2008 at 12:55 amThis has been on with list for a long time. Nice review. Thanks.
on November 29th, 2008 at 4:45 amThat sounds thought provoking.
on November 29th, 2008 at 7:37 amSounds like a fun read. I’m going to get it. I like the book trailer, too. Thanks for including it.
on November 29th, 2008 at 8:35 amI hadn’t seen the book trailer, although I’d read the book, so it was fun to see.
I have to admit, I was disappointed in this book – it just didn’t really work for me, for some reason.
on November 29th, 2008 at 9:01 amI was fascinated by this book, too! I agree that the ending was a little much, but overall, this was very thought-provoking. It would be a great one for a book club–lots of discussion opportunities!
on November 29th, 2008 at 10:14 amI don’t know that I loved the ending either. But I’m like that with many epilogues.
I’m glad you enjoyed the book overall though!
on November 29th, 2008 at 11:56 amInteresting to see so many different viewpoints. I know it really has nothing to do with the contents of the book, but I like th cover art.
In general I hate epilogues. They seem lazy to me. It’s like the author didn’t have time to write a real ending and wanted to tie up loose ends without putting much effort into it. I guess that is, in definition what an epilogue is, sort of. I think at times epilogues leave the wonder and reader imagination out.
on November 29th, 2008 at 12:09 pmI really liked this one too. I agree that the epilogue was a bit forced, but other than that I enjoyed it. Glad you did too!
on November 29th, 2008 at 1:24 pmI really loved this book. It was one of my favorites.
here’s my review:
http://savvyverseandwit.blogspot.com/2008/07/to-adore.html
on November 29th, 2008 at 5:06 pmHave you read Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin? I don’t know that it’s at all similar apart from the memory loss bit, but I enjoyed it. There’s a scene where the teenage protagonist is in her bedroom, looking at her prom dress and such, and she can’t remember or relate to the girl she used to be. It made me wonder how I would feel if I were in the same situation, looking at all my stuff and trying to figure my former self out.
on November 29th, 2008 at 6:47 pmNow how did I miss this book?? Sounds like a very good read.
on November 29th, 2008 at 7:30 pmThis one sounds like a really good read-yet another one for the already long list. lol.
on November 30th, 2008 at 3:33 pmI have this on my pile to read next week. I’ve heard a lot of good things so hopefully it doesn’t let me down.
on November 30th, 2008 at 8:03 pmThanks for the comments all!
Ali – You are probably right. I think the epilogue took the story to far into the future. Too many loose ends tied up.
Janssen – As far as Science Fiction goes, this is my type of science fiction, which is probably why I liked it.
Jenn M. – In this case the book cover is very symbolic. It works.
Charley – I haven’t ever heard of that book. It sounds interesting.
on November 30th, 2008 at 10:04 pmI’ve heard so much of this book! Thanks for the review.
on November 30th, 2008 at 10:48 pmOne of my top 10 favorite books this year. The whole concept was so weird …… I think the weirdness was what I liked most about it.
on December 1st, 2008 at 12:35 amI’m going to have to make sure this book is on my TBR after reading so many interesting responses to it.
on December 1st, 2008 at 7:41 amThis sounds good – it sounds like YA, yes? I’m going to see if the library has it. Great review!
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