The Adoration of Jenna Fox

The Adoration of Jenna Fox 

by Mary E. Pearson

4/5 stars

Review by: Marina

 Pearson’s science fiction story of a girl discovering her identity brings up a plethora of philosophical issues and questions for you to ponder as you gobble up this novel.  You meet Jenna as she has awoken from what she believes is a coma after a horrendous accident and is working to discover who she is and was, what her parents are hiding from her, and why her grandmother does not love her anymore.  As the story progresses, Jenna’s humanity comes into question.  While it is easy for a novel with such heavy topics to become heavy handed with the author’s opinion, Pearson does a superb job of leaving it to the reader to come up with her own answer.  Even though author’s opinion is likely easily guessed, the book makes a wonderful starting point for serious discussions on patient rights, the nature of humanity, the ethics of science, and identity.  Beyond these serious questions and topics, the story itself is entertaining and well thought out.  Jenna is a likeable character who, through her struggle to figure out who she is and was, is very relatable.  The interspersing of free-verse poetry with Jenna’s day to day reflections adds interest to the book and works well to distinguish between the normal Jenna and the Jenna who is stuck in a limo-like world.  Pearson does an excellent job creating a thought-provoking novel with a fascinating story.