Review of “The Adoration of Jenna Fox,” by Mary E. Pearson

“The Adoration of Jenna Fox,” by Mary E. Pearson is a science fiction novel about medical technology ethics in the future.

When seventeen-year-old Jenna awakes from a year-long coma she doesn’t even remember her name. At first she is in a daze, unable to think clearly about anything, but as she gradually recuperates memories and questions begin to surface in her mind. Not only are the memories that are coming back to her strange, but so is her parent’s behavior. Why did they move to an old home in a remote country location just days before she woke up? And why are they so hesitant to let other people see her?

When more memories come back to Jenna she wants the answer to one important question: “What was the accident that put her in a year long coma?” Her parents don’t want to tell her, but eventually the truth comes out. Jenna was involved in a deadly car wreck that killed two friends that she can barely remember. Jenna herself was so badly burned and injured that she was not expected to live.

In Jenna’s time nearly anyone who is sick or injured can be saved using Bio Gel, a mixture of high tech neurochips and electronics. This high tech medical technology can be used to replace any organ or body part. The only limitation to medical science is strict regulation. Every person gets a lifetime limit of one hundred medical points, with each new organ or body part worth an arbitrary amount of points. The reason for this regulation is that the public does not want medical science to create Frankenstein lab creatures more dead than alive.

But Jenna’s father is a prominent doctor and it was his company that invented Bio Gel. He secretly pulled Jenna out of the hospital and had his team of doctors save her life. Only ten percent of Jenna’s brain was saved, and only a few skin fragments and organs were saved from her body. So Jenna’s father found a way to download Jenna’s brain into a computer. Then he recreated the rest of Jenna using Bio Gel. Needless to say, this medical reconstruction is illegal, because it takes her well over the regulation one hundred points.

Jenna is shocked to discover that her body and most of her brain aren’t human. Although she feels like a human, Jenna has to face an important question: “Is she really Jenna Fox, or is she a lab creation built around a few parts of a girl who died?” Even Jenna’s religious grandmother, Lily, shows dislike for her. To Lily the real Jenna already died and her soul went to heaven. Faced with her own doubts, family tension, and the risk of being discovered by the authorities Jenna Fox must face the consequences of her family’s inability to let go.

“The Adoration of Jenna Fox” is very well written. The storyline is carefully layered, with each additional aspect revealed in turn, at just the right time. Mary E. Pearson’s characters are very believable, with emotions that make sense once you understand the plot a little better. The technological details of this science fiction novel blend seamlessly, with only a little bit of explanation needed. I feel that “The Adoration of Jenna Fox” is a great novel in all respects. The meaningful message and great plot make me recommend this book to all readers.

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