Melissa's Bookshelf: Review: The Adoration of Jenna Fox

2009's Ever-Growing TBR Pile & Wish-List

1.) Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie
2.) Guilty by Ann Coulter
3.) Simple Genius by David Baldacci
4.) False Impressions by Jeffrey Archer
5.) Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
6.) A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
7.) Aesop's Fables
8.) Lord Loss by Darren Shan
9.) Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison
10.) Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn
11.) Kiss Me Kill Me by Lauren Henderson
12.) The Banishment by Marion Chesney
13.) Deadly Little Secret by Laurie Faria Solarz
14.) Bitten by Kelley Armstrong
15.) The Terror by Dan Simmons
16.) The Breakup Diet by Annette Fix
17.) The Bright Side of Disaster by Katherine Center
18.) Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott
19.) Darling Jim by Christian Moerk
20.) The Help by Kathryn Stockett
21.) Paper Towns by John Green
22.) The Dark is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper
23.) The Season by Sarah MacLean
24.) Pemberley Shades by D.A. Bonavia-Hunt
25.) Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols
26.) Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell
27.) Would-be Witch by Kimberly Frost
28.) Bewitching Season by Marissa Doyle
29.) A Cold Dark Place by Gregg Olson
30.) Point Blank by Catherine Coulter
31.) Armageddon's Children by Terry Brooks
32.) The Elves of Cintra by Terry Brooks
33.) The Gypsy Morph by Terry Brooks
34.) Blackbringer by Laini Taylor
35.) The Man Who Loved Jane Austen by Sally Smith O'Rourke
36.) The Amaranth Enchantment by Julie Berry
37.) Rekindled by Barbara Delinsky
38.) Kill the Messenger by Tami Hoag
39.) The Precinct by Patricia Cornwell
40.) Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins
41.) The Makedown by Gitty Daneshvari
42.) After the Funeral by Agatha Christie
43.) Immortal Warrior by Lisa Hendrix
44.) A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
45.) Dark Guardian #1: Moonlight by Rachel Hawthorne
46.) Shadowed Summer by Saundra Mitchell
47.) Guilty as Sin by Tami Hoag
48.) Hide Yourself Away by Mary Jane Clark
49.) Lady Anne and the Howl in the Dark by Donna Lea Simpson
50.) Strange Angels by Lily St. Crow
51.) The Real Enemy by Kathy Herman
52.) Boneman's Daughters by Ted Dekker
53.) If I Stay by Gayle Forman
54.) Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith
55.) The Belgariad, Vol. 1 by David Eddings
56.) The Exchange by Inga C. Elizey
57.) Bones of Faerie Janni Lee Simner
58.) Miss Delacourt Speaks Her Mind by Heidi Ashworth
59.) Red Headed Stepchild by Jaye Wells
60.) Glory In Death by J. D. Robb
61.) No One You Know by Michelle Richmond
62.) Face of Betrayal by Lis Wiehl
63.) Fairy Tale by Cyn Balog
64.) The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly
65.) What Would Jane Austen Do? by Laurie Brown
66.) Bookmarked for Death by Lorna Barrett
67.) Storm Glass by Maria V. Snyder
68.) Protect and Defend by Vince Flynn
69.) Jantsen's Gift by Pam Cope
70.) Faithless by Karin Slaughter
71.) Romancing the Dead by Tate Hallaway
72.) The Hollow by Agatha Christie
73.) The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells
74.) Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
75.) Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
76.) Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
77.) A Promise for Ellie by Lauraine Snelling
78.) Ruby by Lauraine Snelling
79.) Extreme Measures by Vince Flynn
80.) Along For the Ride by Sarah Dessen
81.) Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen
82.) This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen
83.) Gone by Michael Grant
84.) Hunger by Michael Grant
85.) A Bride in the Bargain by Deeanne Gist
86.) Never The Bride by Cheryl McKay and Rene Gutteridge
87.) Bad Girls Don't Die by Katie Alender
88.) Love's First Light by Jamie Carie
89.) From This Moment by Tamera Alexander
90.) Courting Trouble by Deeanne Gist
91.) The House In Grosvenor Square by Linore Rose Burkard
92.) Around The World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne
93.) The Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner
94.) Dragons of a Fallen Sun by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
95.) The Ages of Chaos: Stormqueen! & Hawkmistress by Marion Zimmer Bradley
96.) Beyond the Summerland by L. B. Graham
97.) Nothing but Ghosts by Beth Kephart
98.) Echo Park by Michael Connelly
99.) Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
100.) Dragons of Winter Night by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
101.) Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall, et al.
102.) Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception by Maggie Stiefvater
103.) Last Night Over Carolina by Mary Alice Monroe
104.) Fall of a Kingdom by Hilari Bell
105.) Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler
106.) The Wizard's Ward by Deborah Hale
107.) Odalisque by Fiona McIntosh
108.) The Shadow Walker by Michael Walters
109.) Circle of Honor by Carol Umberger
110.) The Destined Queen by Deborah Hale
111.) The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett
112.) Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran
113.) Common Sense by Glenn Beck
114.) The Last Queen by C W Gortner
115.) Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
116.) The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner
117.) Princess Ben by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
118.) Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith
119.) The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan
120.) The Lost Throne by Chris Kuzneski
121.) The Hope of Refuge by Cindy Woodsmall
122.) The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen
123.) Fablehaven by Brandon Mull

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Review: The Adoration of Jenna Fox

Title: The Adoration of Jenna Fox

Author: Mary E. Pearson

Genre: Fiction, Young Adult, Science Fiction

Pub. Date: 2008, Henry Holt and Co.
Hardcover, 266 pages

From the dust jacket:

Who is Jenna Fox?

Seventeen-year-old Jenna has been told that is her name. She has just awoken from a year-long coma, and she's still recovering from the terrible accident that caused it. Her parents show her home movies of her life, her memories, but she has no recollection. Is she really the same girl she sees on the screen?

Little by little, Jenna begins to remember. Along with the memories come questions--questions no one wants to answer for her. What really happened after the accident?

Well, it's no wonder that no one wants to answer Jenna's questions... It brings up a pretty big ethical discussion--is what Jenna's parents did to save her right? Moral? Human? Really loving? From the start of the novel, I thought it was pretty clear what had likely happened to Jenna Fox after her accident. Not down to the letter, but I had an idea--especially after some discussion that Jenna had with one of her classmates in the special charter school she was attending.

The discussion of medical ethics and bioethics is a big part of this book. The idea of Bio Gel is fascinating, if not entirely believable, but hey, this is a book set in the future, down the road from where we are now. OK, I hate giving away anything about the plot, but with this book it's rather hard not to. Pearson writes an incredible story--it's another one that grabbed me from the first page and kept me turning pages until I finished it. And another thing I loved about this book is the thinking that it provokes regarding said ethical issues. The ending (even before the epilogue) certainly provokes questions of the ethical nature of what has been done to Jenna and could be done to others.

Bottom line: I enjoyed this book. It was generally well-written, with a slightly different format instead of the usual chapter 1, 2, etc. The portrayal of Jenna is believable, though there are times when I wonder how she understands some complicated concepts but has to review definitions of simple words. I suppose that's Pearson's way of stressing what is really going on in Jenna's mind as she rediscovers herself. I've also never been in a coma for a year, so I have no idea what it would be like to try to function again after so long. Pearson also does a great job with the other characters in the story--you really get a sense of what they're like. I love how she frequently focused on what people's eyes say, as opposed to what may be coming out of their mouths. There may be a "sci-fi" feel to the story, but there's so much more to it than that--it's a study of identity, self-discovery, bioethics, relationships. I'd recommend this book to anyone.

My rating:
Please click here to see my rating system.

Other reviews of The Adoration of Jenna Fox:

Readergirlz ~ Book Addiction ~ Em's Bookshelf
The Page Flipper ~ Maw Books Blog ~ Just One More Page
Ms. Yingling Reads ~ Reading Keeps You Sane ~ Reviewer X
Mrs. Hill's Book Blog ~ And Another Book Read...

Liv's Book Reviews ~ The Book Muncher ~ Presenting Lenore
The Chick Manifesto ~ 50 for Jen ~ Life In The Thumb

If you would like me to post a link to your review, please leave a comment with the link to your post. Thanks!

2 comments:

Ti said...: I like stories that center around ethics (in general). Usually provides my brain with a lot to think about.; March 19, 2009 12:08 PM
Mishel said...: This is another book I have on my TBR list. Great review!; March 19, 2009 8:42 PM