Book Review: The Adoration of Jenna Fox

The Adoration of Jenna Fox

Mary Pearson

Henry Holt & Co

272 pages

Jenna Fox is a teenage girl who has woken up after being in a coma for over a year.  She cannot even begin to wrap her head around what has happened.  All she knows is she is now in California with her mother and grandmother and she has no recollection of the past year, or her entire life for that matter.

I started this book not realizing there was a dystopian slant to it, but things were odd straight off the bat.  Jenna’s grandmother Lilly is acting completely bizarre, for one.  It’s almost as if she dislikes Jenna, and it was impossible to pinpoint why she was acting that way towards Jenna.  Then there’s the fact that there are locked doors . . . what are the adults in the family trying to hide?  Not to mention, why are they in California now and why is Jenna’s mother so against her going to school.

As you can see, there were clues straight from the get go that made it obvious to me that this book was much more than I expected it to be.  The second half of the book became extremely interesting as Jenna’s circumstances were unveiled, and the ethical aspect of that became one of the main themes of the book.  It was also very thought provoking for me and I was never able to completely decide my stance on the issue, even now that I have had a week to ruminate over it.

I found the ending to be . . . interesting.  I am not sure whether I can appreciate the epilogue.  I found it to be kind of unnecessary and I felt like it was just kind of tacked on there, but at the same time, I felt a weird sense of solace knowing how everything turned out. Obviously I am a bit conflicted, and I think it is due to the execution of the epilogue.  It just seemed to be poorly done, and I think Pearson could have added a lot to the story had the epilogue been more deftly written.

Overall, dystopian fiction has become a bit tedious for me recently so I was glad that this book was able to capture my interest.

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I borrowed this book from my local library.

This book counts towards the YA-D2 challenge.

Some new challenges & events

There are some wonderful events and challenges coming up that I am really excited about.  First up, The Steampunk Challenge, hosted by The Bookeeper.

What is steampunk, you may ask? In a nutshell, it is

a genre of science fiction that typically features steam-powered machinery rather than advanced technology.

New Oxford American Dictionary

From what I could tell, there are no levels, which I like.  I hope to read two books, possibly more, within the next year, as this challenge runs October 2010-October 2011.  The only book I know for sure I want to read is Leviathan, by Scott Westerfield.

Did you sign up for The Steampunk Challenge?  If so, what are you reading?  If not, please feel free to toss some suggestions my way anyway!

The YA-D2 challenge hosted by Bart of Bart’s Bookshelf! This is the second year I am signing up for this challenge.  I have been reading much YA dystopian fiction of late, so this is the perfect excuse to dive back in.  I hope to complete level 2, which means I am attempting to read 2-4 books from October 1-December 19, 2010.  I plan to read some, or all, of the following books.

The Dead and the Gone, Susan Beth Pfeffer

The World we Live in, Susan Beth Pfeffer

A Killing Frost, John Marsden

How I Live Now, Meg Rosoff

Beyond those three, I am not completely sure what else to add to my list.

Did you sign up for YA-D2?  If so, what are you reading?  If not, please feel free to toss some suggestions my way anyway!

Last, but certainly not least, is Dewey’s 24 hour read-a-thon, which commences a week from this coming Saturday, on October 9. Don’t you love that button?

I am busy compiling my list.  It is probably at least 10 books deep right now.  I have been busing coming up with YA and graphic novels to buttress my pile with, as those seem to be two genres that work really well with the read-a-thon.

I am not going to post my read-a-thon pile until late next week, but I am excited to hear what you’re considering reading for the read-a-thon!