The Adoration of Jenna Fox, Mary Pearson

Before I come to today's review, I'd like to thank Wings from Storywings (the one who always give me super-nice-comments, LOL) for giving me a super-nice-award: the Over The Top

Rules: Answer the following questions with Single Word answers then pass this along to 5 other bloggers. Make sure you let them know about it though.

Your Cell Phone? Essential

Your Hair? Long =))

Your Mother? Best <3>

Your Father? Hero <3>

Your Favourite Food? Ice-cream

Your Dream Last Night? Blurry

Your Favourite Drink? Fruit-juice

Your Dream/Goal? Secret

What Room Are You In? Living-room

Your Hobby? Reading

Your Fear? Loneliness

Where Do You See Yourself In Six Years? Somewhere =))

Where Were You Last Night? Home

Something That You Aren't? Boy =))

Muffins? So-so

Wish List Item? Nook

Where Did You Grow Up? VietNam

Last Thing You Did? Reading

What Are You Wearing? Clothes

Your TV? Friendly

Your Pets? Cute

Friends? Loyal

Your Life? Beautiful

Your Mood? Contented

Missing Someone? Yes

Vehicle? Bicycle

Something You Aren't Wearing? Shoes

Your Favourite Store? Bookstore

Your Favourite Colour? White

When Was The Last Time You Laughed? Today

Last Time You Cried? Last-Friday

Your Best Friend? SUPER!!!

One Place You Go To Over And Over Again? School

Facebook? Forgotten

Favourite Place To Eat? Bed

Wow, it's so hard to keep every answer a single word, haha. Like the "Last-Friday" one, I felt like cheating =))

Anyway, I'll pass this onto these wonderful bloggers:

Jenn @ Book Crazy
Brianne @ Brianne's Book Blog
Sasha @ The Sweet Bonjour
Melissa @ I Swim For Oceans
Valerie @ I Should Be Writing
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Now, come to the review. My choice this time is "The Adoration of Jenna Fox" by Mary Pearson. I've just finished it last week, audiobook actually. And while it might be one of the best reads, it is definitely the best listen.

Plot:

Jenna Fox has been in a coma for over a year. That's what people tell her when she wakes up from the long sleep. But she herself doesn't remember anything, even mother, father and grandma... So they give her videos & tell her stories, clearly hoping she'll remember the people who love her. But everyone is also keeping something from her, and their explanations don't seem right. Why did they move to another state right when Jenna woke up? Why does grandma hate her? Where are her friends, was she supposed to have some? What is the fear in mother's eyes? And what have they been hiding from her in the locked closets?

This is the story of how Jenna struggles to find her memories, and be herself again.

Review:

Short plot this time, isn't it ? I figured it's very hard to give a more detailed plot without spoiling it. Problem is, the more you don't know about this book, the more appealing it will be. So whatever you do, DON'T flip to the end. I did, sadly, and I regret about that, a little. Lucky for me, the book is SOOOOO GREAT that even when I could guess the idea before finishing it, it still got me hooked. Besides, the clues were all there, so if you pay attention, you'll get it in about several chapters, so no worry.

I normally do fantasy, but this one is clearly sci-fi, once you've read it. Quite the whole book is about Jenna's journey dwelling on the mystery of her life. There is romance. It's just a small part in small details, but I feel the book can never be the same without that element of love. This book is beautifully written, sometimes a little thrilling (if you listen in the dark night, like me LOL) and it is certainly haunting. If you decide to give it a try, be sure you have time to finish it in one sitting. Or it will run back and forth in your head, screaming and begging and preventing you from thinking of anything else. Well, like me, and I can say it wasn't pleasant, LOL.

I love every bit of this story. Although Jenna and I are not very much the same, I feel like I know her, and I like her. I can feel how she felt, her lost, her wonders, her love, her anger, her sadness... Pretty much 1/2 of the story happened in her head, so it's reasonable, though. It's hard to wake up having NOTHING in your memory, and Jenna survived it well. She was like a child newly born to this world, nevertheless the tough one.
However, my favourite character is Ethan, Jenna's new friend after she woke up. He was charming and endearing and very gentle, eventhough he also kept some secrets. He was a true friend to Jenna in any way, I think she'd never make it to the end without his support. When I imagined him, I imagined the best a male young adult could ever be <3

My ratings:

Plot: 9 (very original and creative)
Character: 10 (each character delivers something unique, although I gave an extra point for Ethan, haha)
Writing: 10 (very haunting, as I said, so beware. You won't be able to forget some sentences, even days after finishing the book. Trust me, it's like some kind of glue in your head, LOL)
Cover: 9 (beautiful, isn't it? It's got meanings, too. Later edition's cover is different, but I prefer this orginal one)

You can go HERE for book trailer and a sample chapter. But remember, if you want to try it, just buy it, don't spend time reading more reviews. Spoilers will REALLY SPOIL this great reading experience.

However, before you really get to it, I want you to consider choosing the audiobook. The thing is, when I listened to the first chapter of Shiver (Maggie Stiefvater), Grace's role was narrated very beautifully (Sam's was terrible, though). So I searched for the narrator's name (she's Jenna Lamia), and I tried to find every audiobook she played. That's why I came across this one. The cover, as well as the plot, wasn't appealing to me at first. I decided to skip, the idea of a coma and lost memories wasn't really my type. But after several weeks, I came back to try it (because I like Jenna Lamia's voice so much), and I'm glad I did. It was the BEST listen EVER. Jenna did a great job (thinking of it, both Jenna Fox and Jenna Lamia did great jobs, haha). I was hooked right after the first few lines.

You can listen to a small part HERE, to see if you like it. And I hope you all do, just like me. This book is GREAT, it deserves much more attention from us readers.

Thanks for reading, thanks for commenting, and thanks for following. I'm really happy to read your comments, really <3>