Book Three of the Jenna Fox ChroniclesBy Mary E. Pearson
Available now from Henry Holt and Co. BYR (Macmillan)
Review copy
THE ADORATION OF JENNA FOX was one of my favorite books when it came out. It was a perfect storm of things I love in science fiction. With FOX FOREVER, Mary E. Pearson brings the trilogy to a fitting end.
Despite the name of the book and series, Jenna Fox is not the main character of FOX FOREVER. That would be Locke Jenkins, one of her best friends and fellow accident "survivor." To escape the lab that created him, he promised a Favor. Now, that Favor is being called it. It requires him to get close to Raine, the daughter of an important man, and surely you know where that is going.
FOX FOREVER does share a weakness with the other books in the series. Mainly, that it ends with a chapter about the future that summarizes that the characters did make a difference but you don't get to see the decades of hard work that made that difference. But while that bothers me, it's a feature of the series, not a bug. For all that the Jenna Fox Chronicles span centuries, it's a series about the little moments that lead to big decisions in the characters' lives.
The worldbuilding continues to be fantastic. The Non-pacts, people who aren't citizens, are an enforced underclass. Locke's mission could mean everything for the rebellion, giving them the means to take things up a notch. His success could mean everything for a large community, but he could mess everything up by getting too emotionally involved.
I highly recommend the Jenna Fox Chronicles. If you haven't read them, please don't start with FOX FOREVER. I think it stands well alone, as Locke's adventure is self-contained, but there's a real sense of payoff to FOX FOREVER. This is the book where things really get better for the future, things that have needed to change the entire series. Considering Mary E. Pearson didn't intend to write a sequel to THE ADORATION OF JENNA FOX, she's done a fantastic job.
I didn't know she had no sequel planned originally. Then again, TAOJF was what you would call a self-contained book. But Mary found a really fit way to continue with this series when she wrote TFI, though she had to disavow what Jenna did at the end of the first book in a way.
ReplyDeleteI hope romance is not too prominent in this one. Other than that, I'm really looking forward to reading FF. I'm going to order it from my usual webstore as soon as I can - with 3 or 4 other books I can't wait to read!
I must admit, by the time I read TFI I could barely remember what happened in TAOJF and so there was a moment when I went, "Oh yeah! That was the ending! No wonder I didn't expect a book with Locke and Kara."
DeleteThe romance isn't overly prominent, but it is an integral part of the plot. I hope you enjoy it - I think it finishes the series wonderfully.
I still haven't read THE ADORATION OF JENNA FOX - I need to get going on that (it's been on my bookshelf unread for years!). I can't promise to read the entire trilogy, though - I have serious series fatigue!
ReplyDeleteYou should! The books aren't long at all, which should make them easier to fit into your schedule.
DeleteI have series fatigue too, but I will say that this series works better than most I've read.
So glad you enjoyed this one and that you were happy with the series ending! I love the way Pearson handled Locke and Jenna in this book. I agree that there's always a bit of glossing over of the difficult work that goes into real change, but I've come to sort of accept it. In any case, I'm really satisfied with the series as a whole, and especially that ending. It made me cry! Lovely review :-)
ReplyDeleteI almost cried, it was very close.
Delete