Book Review: The Fox Inheritance by Mary E. Pearson

WARNING! THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS ABOUT THE ADORATION OF JENNA FOX

At First Sight: For a long time, Locke lived inside an unfathomable darkness where there is no time or space or anything other than his own dark thoughts and the voice of his best friend Kara. Sometime before, there was also the voice of Jenna but then it vanished and neither Kara nor Locke have a clue of where she went.

All Locke knows is that there was a terrible accident, and that now he and Kara are awake and everyone they once new is dead - as over 200 years have passed since- and that their minds were uploaded into replicas of their old bodies thanks to a technology Jenna's father created long ago in order to save his daughter.

Because that's the other thing Locke and Kara eventually learn, that Jenna 'survived' the accident, that her father saved her by creating her a new body and uploading her mind into it... while their own minds were abandoned, kept spinning in an "environment" neither death nor alive.

They are told they owe their lives to Dr. Gatsbro, who found them and brought them back to life, but what they don't know is why Gatsbro did it, and when they find out, that'll send them running. Running to the only person that's remotely familiar to them: Jenna Fox. 

Second Glance: I was very excited to read The Fox Inheritance - and so happy when I won it! (thanks to Ashley of Book Labyrinth) - but I don't know why I couldn't love it as much as I loved The Adoration of Jenna Fox.

I think part of it was because I loved the mystery of what happened to Jenna, finding it all out as she did, but when I started this book, I knew plenty already so I didn't have that drive to keep on reading - or listening as the case might be - and then I had a really hard time matching Locke and Kara to the memory I had of them from Jenna, and they weren't entirely likable in their new incarnations, specially Kara - which was understandable but still, it wasn't what I was expecting.

Another problem I had was that, while the voice of the narrator was very nice, he didn't do a great job creating distinct voices for all the characters so I had a hard time keeping track of who was speaking, even when it was a girl talking.

The story itself was okay, but it didn't resonate as much with me as the first book did.

Bottom Line: The Fox Inheritance is an interesting read and I liked that it kept exploring the world that was presented during Jenna Fox, because I found it frighteningly plausible, which was scary and awesome. Though I didn't connect to the people in the story as much as I hoped, it was an okay read.

The Miles Between by Mary E. Pearson

It's October 19th and Destiny Faraday already knows it's a day that will not turn right for her, one way or another, it never does. It is, after all, the day when her parents sent her away to boarding school when she was seven years old, and she hasn't been home in nine years.

Des, who is generally unenthusiastic about everything, is not surprised when her Aunt Edie calls and cancels her programmed visit on said fateful day. But on this particular October 19, Des has reached her tipping point so, when a visiting teacher, finds her in the garden and asks her what is it that she wants, Des has only one answer to give: One Fair Day, a day where everything adds up, the good guy wins and there is justice for all.

When, right after this, she finds a gorgeous champagne-pink car idling by, it seems like a sign, so Des finds Seth - a fellow classmate at Hedgebrook, who had been assigned to trash duty - and makes him drive, and soon they are joined by two other classmates, Mira and Aidan, and together they embark on a road trip and a quest to find their Fair Day.

In The Miles Between, Mary E. Pearson waves a very tangled web where things might no always be what they seem, at times whimsical, confusing, funny and heartbreaking the story moves at a good pace in what seems to be one of those once-in-a-lifetime days, the kind that never end.

I have to give the author props for creating this protagonist that seems so full of apathy but who manages to get hold of you and drag you into her story. Des, Mira, Seth and Aidan are well drawn characters, with a lot more to them than what you see first. Oh, and there is one adorable Lucky lamb thrown in.

Grade:

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

To her parents, Jenna Fox was a miracle child from the moment she was born and now, at 17, she's even more miraculous. Jenna has just woken up from a year-long coma and, even though her memory is practically none-existent and her body feels strange, she's still all and everything to her parents.

But, who exactly is Jenna Fox?. Post-coma Jenna, the New Jenna, isn't sure. She doesn't know why she can remember somethings so clearly while almost everything else is a blank, why she doesn't remember the accident that put her in a coma to begin with? Or who her best friends were? Or why her grandmother seems to hate her now?

As the days and weeks go by, Jenna struggles to find a sense of normalcy, she returns to school, makes new friends; and yet, at night, she's haunted by the voices of her old friends and the memory of a place so dark and deep that no one can hear you scream.

The story takes place in a not so distant future, where things like transgenic animals and plants have destroyed many natural ecosystems, antibiotics are nearly useless thanks to their overuse decades before (that would be in our time), and science and medicine are capable to accomplish the unthinkable. The Adoration of Jenna Fox speaks about that future, but more than that it makes you wonder at just how far parents will go for their child; and it also asks a big question, which Jenna tries to answer: what exactly makes us human?

It is hard to talk about Jenna without spoiling, so I'm afraid I might not be explaining myself but, for all that, believe me when I say The Adoration of Jenna Fox is a great book.

Grade:

1/2