Title: THE ADORATION OF JENNA FOX
Author: Mary E. Pearson
Publication Date: April 29th, 2008
My Rating: 3/5 Stars
I need to stop reading so many books so that I don't fall so behind on reviews. (Haha, who am I kidding ...)
Anyway, I'll keep this one fairly short and to-the-point, because I have a lot of reviews to do. Plus, I don't think I have a whole lot to say.
I loved the premise of this book. It's kind of hard to talk about without spoiling the "big twist." But, let's just say it brings up a lot of intriguing questions about identity––what makes you who you are, and what makes you human? If you lose all your memories, are you still the same person, or are you brand new? That kind of thing. I think that was the strongest part of the book. The themes are definitely interesting and thought-provoking.
But, over all, I felt like the execution fell a bit short. In my opinion, it could have been a lot more innovative and powerful.
My biggest problem was with the main character, Jenna. I just found her to be rather bland. I understood that her situation was difficult and she had a right to be angry with what had happened to her ... but still, she came off as bratty and annoying a lot of the time. I got a bit sick of her angst-ing and blaming everyone else for her problems. I suppose she had a right to feel that way––but it still made her hard to sympathize with, when it felt like everything was about her and no one else.
My second-greatest issue was the lack of world-building. The concept of the future world felt half-baked and not fully realized. It had that type of "near future" feel where everything wasn't drastically different, but there were enough changes that it was obviously a future time period. I don't really have an issue with that idea, but in general I felt disconnected from the world in which the characters were situated. I wish there had a bit more description of what everything looked like and how it all worked, because I had trouble imagining it.
Thirdly, there was the epilogue. I found it disappointing. I won't spoil anything, but ... I'll just say, when the last chapter ended I thought it was a solid, powerful ending. I enjoy endings that are open-ended––endings that don't resolve everything and leave things to the imagination. Then I turned the page and ... the epilogue happened. It was one of those epilogues that skips ahead in time and just tries to tie everything up a bit too tightly. In my opinion, I thought it took a lot away from the impact of the book.
In conclusion, this book was okay for me but I wasn't a huge fan. The idea was great, the writing was pretty good, but I thought it could have been stronger in characterization and world-building.
Anyway, I'll keep this one fairly short and to-the-point, because I have a lot of reviews to do. Plus, I don't think I have a whole lot to say.
I loved the premise of this book. It's kind of hard to talk about without spoiling the "big twist." But, let's just say it brings up a lot of intriguing questions about identity––what makes you who you are, and what makes you human? If you lose all your memories, are you still the same person, or are you brand new? That kind of thing. I think that was the strongest part of the book. The themes are definitely interesting and thought-provoking.
But, over all, I felt like the execution fell a bit short. In my opinion, it could have been a lot more innovative and powerful.
My biggest problem was with the main character, Jenna. I just found her to be rather bland. I understood that her situation was difficult and she had a right to be angry with what had happened to her ... but still, she came off as bratty and annoying a lot of the time. I got a bit sick of her angst-ing and blaming everyone else for her problems. I suppose she had a right to feel that way––but it still made her hard to sympathize with, when it felt like everything was about her and no one else.
My second-greatest issue was the lack of world-building. The concept of the future world felt half-baked and not fully realized. It had that type of "near future" feel where everything wasn't drastically different, but there were enough changes that it was obviously a future time period. I don't really have an issue with that idea, but in general I felt disconnected from the world in which the characters were situated. I wish there had a bit more description of what everything looked like and how it all worked, because I had trouble imagining it.
Thirdly, there was the epilogue. I found it disappointing. I won't spoil anything, but ... I'll just say, when the last chapter ended I thought it was a solid, powerful ending. I enjoy endings that are open-ended––endings that don't resolve everything and leave things to the imagination. Then I turned the page and ... the epilogue happened. It was one of those epilogues that skips ahead in time and just tries to tie everything up a bit too tightly. In my opinion, I thought it took a lot away from the impact of the book.
In conclusion, this book was okay for me but I wasn't a huge fan. The idea was great, the writing was pretty good, but I thought it could have been stronger in characterization and world-building.
Next Review: CINDER by Marissa Meyer ... coming soon.
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