book thoughts by shanda

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson


My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wow, this is an interesting book. It's hard to say too much about the plot without giving too much away, but basically it is the story of Jenna, an adored only child, who wakes up from an 18-month coma after suffering near-fatal injuries in a car accident. Jenna wakes up with no recollection of her former life and has to re-learn it slowly. In the midst of this, she starts to sense that things aren't exactly the same as they were before.

I really liked Jenna's character and seeing her go through the stages of discovering herself again and realizing the strength and will and courage that she never dared to exercise before for fear of upsetting the pedestal her parents' kept her on. Jenna always did exactly what her parents told her, but the pressure of being perfect started to get to her and I liked watching her break out of that shell.

I also really enjoyed the plot. The idea is unique and I couldn't tell even from page to page what was going to happen next. The plot moves along just right, keeping the reader hanging just enough before answering the next question in the story.

The story takes place in a society not so far into the future where the overuse of antibiotics by people 20 years before has caused serious problems. This seemed to point to us in present day. It was an interesting concept to think about. This world also has BioGel, a product that will preserve organs outside of the body for donation for years. I was intrigued by these things and wondered how realistic they are.

A really great read that kept me guessing until the last page.


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