The Adoration of Jenna Fox

This book has a LOT of potential - I love the issues explored and how it doesn't pride itself on being the kind of novel teens usually devour - one with romance and action and fantasy. It's realistic yet raw, and explores themes like family love, ethics, being human...so yes, there were things I liked. But overall I found the execution just ok. Not bad. Not amazing. Sometimes the book lacked where it could've gone further, and so while I know it's targeted toward teen readers (maybe I'm way over the age range), I feel like even 15+ year-olds would have benefited from a deeper exploration into these topics. I don't think this book should only be for young tweens/teens since the subject matter is important and dark and emotional, but it's lacks in areas where it could've enticed older teens and even someone in their mid-twenties like me. So I see potential, and a helluva lot of it. Maybe I personally found it lacking, and I know many people who like it, I just would have liked to see the novel dive a bit deeper. Just a push.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox, by Mary Pearson, tells the story of 17 year old Jenna, who's recently woken up from a terrible accident many years into our future. It was an accident that's left her amnesiac about her life. Her parents assure her that she'll remember who she is in time, but she's not sure they're telling the truth. Or that they even know the truth. As a means of remembrance, Jenna watches videos of her former life. Videos of a much adored girl. A perfect girl. A girl she's not sure she is anymore or can ever be again. Things in Jenna's life spiral out of control as she tries to create her own identity and learns the truth behind the accident and what her parents did after it in order to save her life.

The novel examines the meaning of identity, the law, and the lengths parents will go to to save their child.

It's well written, thought provoking, delightful and gut-wrenching. A great science fiction read for teens (even younger ones, as there's no ‘content' issues with this book) and adults.

It started out really interesting and I was dying to find out why Jenna was different. But by the time I did find out, it was no longer a surprise and then it all got a bit too philosophical for me. This is a dystopian book, but I like my dystopians a bit more science-fiction-y than this book was, although The Adoration of Jenna Fox wasn't bad by any means.
After the way the story ended, I'm kind of curious to see how the author has managed to turn this into a series though.