Review Detail

Reader reviewed by Adriana M.

This read was definitly engrossing and different. Jenna Fox just woke from a coma after a horrible accident. She has no memory of who she was, but she also has no memory of certain words or of how to tell by someone's facial expressions whether they are angry, sad, or confused. She can however recite Walden word for word. Slowly the story reveals that Jenna, her mother, and grandmother are actually hiding out in California because Jenna's parents used Biogel, something that basically creates artificial life, to recreate most of Jenna's new body and mind. There are rules for using Biogel (which was developed by Jenna's father who stayed behind in Boston), and they have gone way over what is the standard. As Jenna begins to learn all of these facts, she also has to deal with slowly recuperating her memories (memories that even go way back to her infancy), and coming to terms with the extremes that her parents have gone to save her. Overall I really enjoyed this book. I think it brings up many issues having to do with biological advances, medicine, and ethics in science. But it also deals with more emotional issues like other YA novels do. There are elements of love, family, and even suspense. Very well written and paced.