The Adoration of Jenna Fox

by Mary E. Pearson

Love this book in such a different way than I love other books.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson is a book that makes you think. What starts off seeming to be a simple mystery, turns into a medical science fiction novel that asks many tough questions.

Jenna wakes up for a coma not remembering anything about herself. She doesn't remember who she is, where she's from, or who her family and friends are. She learns that she was in an accident that caused the coma, but no one will speak any more about it.

It's hard to discuss it much more without giving away the ending, so consider yourself warned: spoilers coming.

Partway through the book we learn that Jenna almost died in the car accident. In fact, only 10% of her brain was salvageable. In the future time that Jenna lives in there exists technology to recreate any part of the body. However, each body part has a point value, and each human is allotted only a certain amount of points. Once one has reached the point limit, they cannon receive any more "replacement parts". In order to save Jenna after the accident, she needed replacements for nearly every part of her - a point total far exceeded the limit. However, Jenna's parents developed the technology to create these replacement parts, and in defiance of the law, they spirited Jenna away in secret in order to recreate every part of her in an effort to save the 10% of the girl they have left.

The reader is then forced to grapple with the questions: What is it that makes us human? At what point does a soul leave a body? If science exists to keep a person alive, should it be used no matter the cost? Is Jenna the same person as the girl who was in the accident or simply a nearly-exact copy? Is that 10% the most important part? The only part that really matters?

Fast-paced and thought provoking - totally different from most of the stuff I've been ready lately, but I really enjoyed it.