The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

Jenna Fox has just woken up from a year long coma that has left her unable to remember anything of the life she once led. While she can quote Thoreau with no hesitation, she only answers to the name of Jenna because her mother and father tell her that is her name. Her parents have painstakingly documented most every moment of her life until age sixteen, when she had her accident, and she watches these videos to try to regain her memory. Slowly, she starts to remember, but the remembering poses new and troubling questions. If she remembers confiding in her grandmother and loving her, why does that same grandmother seem to hate her now? She remembers having friends, but why has no one come to visit or called? And most importantly: what really happened after the accident?

Has there ever been a hot button issue that everyone seems to get riled up about that you can't seem to be able to have an opinion about? Abortion, euthanasia, stem cell research, gay marriage? That's how I feel about the huge revelation in this book. I thought, from reading the description and others' reviews that I'd had it all figured out. But no, it was something that not only had I not anticipated (and believe me, when one of your guesses includes "robot" you're exhausting a lot of options), I'm still wrapping my mind around it. It's not that it's an issue I don't care about -I do, I do!- but I love that it's one, in this book at least, in which there isn't a clear cut good guy or bad side, right side or wrong side. It all boils down to perspective -what constitutes life, the role of government in regulating science, how far ethically should science go, how all of that can be thrown out the window when you're a parent faced with losing a child.

I loved that the twist was exposed at the middle, not at the end, giving Jenna (and the reader) time to adjust, deal, and think about it, bringing about an actual resolution. I also enjoyed the idea that even though you could have incredibly strong opinions on this issue, having it happen to you or having it done to a loved one, could change your mind in an instant. Hell, I also really liked the small glimpses of the future -two female presidents, one more great depression, and a number of insane medical regulations after today.

This will be a book that long after I've put it down, written the review, loaned it to a friend, I will still be thinking about. Is it right? Is it wrong? What do I think? What do I think I would do in the situation? If you like a book that sticks with you after you've finished it, pick this one up asap.