Posts
Well, I didn't stand much of a chance of NOT reading this book after all the gushing love it has received. I heard about it first from Catherine at Words World and Wings. She DEFIED me to put the book down. Then Amy at My Friend Amy gave it five stars. Not long after that, Carrie at Books and Movies went all crazy over it. Alright already. I succumbed and ordered the book from the library.
So here is the deal. I am bound by the Book Blogger's unwritten rule of etiquette to not spoil anything. And this is just one of those books that, under these rules, will allow maybe three sentences. Let's see:
It is sometime in the not-so-distant future. Jenna has emerged from an 18-month-long coma after a devastating accident. She doesn't recognize her surroundings, her parents or grandmother, and she remembers nothing. She watches home videos of her life, a life in which she was the perfect, adored child, grasping at any thread that might reveal her past, her history. She is awkward in her movements, and awkward with her limited social interactions. She can't eat solid food. Her parents are stiff and uncomfortable and protective, and will tell her next to nothing. There are so many unanswered questions.
Well, that was a few more than I thought. Still, I must stop here, and tell you that despite the fact that this book is less than 300 pages, it is stuffed full of beauty, humanity, and questions that should make us all pause in thought. How far will a parent go to protect their child? Where do ethics end and desperation begin? What is the ultimate cost of these actions, these ethics?
You will be immediately sucked into the intrigue and the beautiful, delicate prose, and won't be able to put the book down (Catherine was quite right about that.) You will fall in love with Jenna, and her determination to go her own way. While the answer to the mystery isn't all that difficult to solve (I had a pretty good idea of what was going on by page 40), it was still amazing and slightly creepy to watch it play out. The most terrifying thing of all? That the future in which Jenna lives is not too difficult to fathom from where we stand right now. We are on this path people. The idea is nightmare-worthy, presented here in the most delightful package.
This is one of those rare novels that you will not forget anytime soon. Read it. Love it. Adore it.
5 out of 5 stars
So here is the deal. I am bound by the Book Blogger's unwritten rule of etiquette to not spoil anything. And this is just one of those books that, under these rules, will allow maybe three sentences. Let's see:
It is sometime in the not-so-distant future. Jenna has emerged from an 18-month-long coma after a devastating accident. She doesn't recognize her surroundings, her parents or grandmother, and she remembers nothing. She watches home videos of her life, a life in which she was the perfect, adored child, grasping at any thread that might reveal her past, her history. She is awkward in her movements, and awkward with her limited social interactions. She can't eat solid food. Her parents are stiff and uncomfortable and protective, and will tell her next to nothing. There are so many unanswered questions.
Well, that was a few more than I thought. Still, I must stop here, and tell you that despite the fact that this book is less than 300 pages, it is stuffed full of beauty, humanity, and questions that should make us all pause in thought. How far will a parent go to protect their child? Where do ethics end and desperation begin? What is the ultimate cost of these actions, these ethics?
You will be immediately sucked into the intrigue and the beautiful, delicate prose, and won't be able to put the book down (Catherine was quite right about that.) You will fall in love with Jenna, and her determination to go her own way. While the answer to the mystery isn't all that difficult to solve (I had a pretty good idea of what was going on by page 40), it was still amazing and slightly creepy to watch it play out. The most terrifying thing of all? That the future in which Jenna lives is not too difficult to fathom from where we stand right now. We are on this path people. The idea is nightmare-worthy, presented here in the most delightful package.
This is one of those rare novels that you will not forget anytime soon. Read it. Love it. Adore it.
5 out of 5 stars
