Jenna Fox is just seventeen when she wakes up from a year-long coma with no recollection of her former life. Her parents show her home videos of herself in the hope that her memories will steadily return, but they only yield more questions than they answer. Why does she call her mother Claire, and why does her grandmother hate her? And most of all, what really happened after the “accident” and why is it taboo?
As books with amnesiac protagonists often are, The Adoration of Jenna Fox was a very suspenseful read that I couldn’t put down. I must be a sucker for the whole I-don’t-know-who-I-am kind of story. But the plot and premise are definitely more than that (insert intriguing spoilers here). Pearson fully takes advantage of the amnesiac opening premise as a way to explore ideas such as identity and individuality as well as showcase her excellent writing and storytelling skills.
What I loved: the short poems about Jenna’s feelings between chapters, the use of quotes from Thoreau’s Walden, and the truly chilling mood of eeriness that builds as the mystery unfolds.
I think I might read more by Pearson – her writing is spare but expressive. While I do wish that she hadn’t left some of the mysterious supporting characters unexplained, readers will connect to and root for the flawed, but brave Jenna and find her search for identity (and more) thought-provoking.
