The Adoration of Jenna Fox

After becoming exceedingly frustrated with audiobooks in general and scratched ones specifically, I listened to the first half and read the second half of this book. Honestly, although it was really frustrating to have to switch up methods halfway through, it was kind of fun. The actress reading the audiobook did a great job and I believed her as Jenna, and when I switched to reading the hard copy I continued to hear her voice in my head reading. It added a nice touch. As far as the actual book goes, though, I mentioned a while ago during the whiny audiobook posts that I got quickly and easily hooked on this one, and it's so true. I stayed hooked until the audiobook wouldn't work and I had to switch to hard copy while I was in the middle of Matched. That caused problems because I have never been good at reading two books at once [see my "Currently Reading" tab where I have been listed as "reading" Forgotten God for the last four months. I'm averaging about a chapter every three weeks or so.] But once I finished Matched then I moved back to Jenna and remembered why I loved it to begin with.

Jenna, 17-year-old narrator and central character, has just woken up from a year-long coma. She doesn't remember anything at all before the coma but everyone keeps referencing an accident. With no memory, awkward social skills, and basic coordination only just returning to her limbs, Jenna moves into a new house in a new state with her mother and grandmother while her father remains in Boston. As the story progresses, she starts to notice strange things about herself and the world around her, as well as the pieces of information that her family seems determined to keep from her.

Seeing this story through Jenna's limited perspective creates an interesting situation for the reader. A good reader will most likely pick up on subtle details and things that are "off" quicker than Jenna does, but not so much that you figure things out. I won't tell you whether my robot predictions were accurate, but I will say that this futuristic setting is very different from those of other books I've read recently. I adore Hunger Games and I've just recently gushed about Matched, but I also shared that I saw a lot of commonalities between them - particularly their settings - and eventually attributed it to the genre. The Adoration of Jenna Fox, though, clearly takes place in the future, but America is very much the same. Science has taken over a great deal more than now, and there are references to a Second Great Depression and a major earthquake that haven't actually happened in our world, but the majority of American culture/geography/society is the same. Most of the differences take place in the world of science, where technology has allowed our norms to progress in some pretty advanced but believable ways. Extremely interesting debates surrounding science ethics are raised (which might give teachers a cool opportunity for a student debate in the classroom.) Once again, there's definitely a boy interest, and I definitely like him. Last week I realized my weakness for fictional male characters, and this one had a similar affect. It also doesn't help that he's a "bad boy," which I apprently prefer as a trait in my fictional crushes. (Although if that's true...then why do I love Peeta so much more than I love Gale? Hmm. I'm going to have to think about this. That, and why I relate everything I read back to The Hunger Games.)