80 Books No.22: The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E Pearson

This reminded me of a book called Eva which my year 7 English teacher tried to make me read at school. I remember reading maybe 50 pages and then claiming I'd finished it, just to get her off my back. I didn't enjoy the concept: that a girl's brain was transplanted into a chimp's as her parents worked with chimps. It wasn't my thing at age eleven and this probably serves as a timely reminder that I shouldn't try and force my students to read things they hate. Unfortunately this rules out much of the GCSE and A Level syllabus.

However, back on topic, The Adoration of Jenna Fox is a similar idea, albeit without the chimps. Jenna is involved in an horrific accident and is saved only by her father's medical break-throughs. The novel then follows her discovery of what has happened to her with some theological debates over what makes us human and how much medical intervention is too much. Her grandmother brings in a bit of religion, and there's a tiny bit of romance.

The themes surrounding the central plot are vaguely interesting, probably more to other people than to me, but even I was able to rethink some of the issues. I think I'd have engaged even more had Jenna been a more interesting character. Whilst part of her condition is about her finding out how to be 'the New Jenna', she also comes across as completely bland and characterless. The fact that all the characters are very similar in this respect suggests it's a case of poor writing than a clever narrative technique to reflect Jenna's struggle to regain her identity. The characters of Dane and Ethan are prime examples; Ethan was supposed to be some violent criminal but didn't have that in his character, whilst Dane was supposed to be threatening but did nothing.

The title of the novel refers to how Jenna's parents revere her even before the accident and how they'd do anything to make her perfect (something they literally have the opportunity to do after the accident). This is touched upon a few times, mainly with references to Jenna's dancing recitals. I'd have liked to see this expanded upon further, as it would have added extra drama to her attempts to form her own identity. There should have been more focus here, but there were so many plot strands that it lost some of its punch.

This is apparently the first in a series, which, given how this one ends, is rather strange. I'm not sure I'd read any more. It also seems to have had the film rights bought, which may work out quite well; it could be that this is one of those instances (like those mentioned in my review of The Silver Linings Playbook) where the film trumps the novel.