Review of The Fox Inheritance by Mary E. Pearson (Jenna Fox Chronicles)

Henry Holt & Co.

The Fox Inheritance (Book 2: Jenna Fox Chronicles)
by Mary E. Pearson
4 Scribbles

Kara and Locke are alive and living on a billionaire’s estate in the middle of nowhere, owned by a Dr. Gastbro, who is counseling and preparing them for life in the world 260 years after they died in a terrible car accident. But as more and more time passes, Locke begins to wonder when and if they will ever be ready to go out into the world on their own.  Kara, on the other hand, knows that something is horribly wrong, that some gifts aren’t really free.  The doctor has an agenda—an agenda that doesn’t include the two teenagers ever leaving the estate, and worse, an agenda that may include profiting on the mysterious technology that brought them both back. How will they get free, and if they do, who do they know that still survives and can lend them aid?

Book two in the Jenna Fox Chronicles picks up where the phenomenal first novel left off back in 2008. Instead of being alone in the world, Jenna Fox is soon to find out that her long-lost best friends are still alive—this despite the fact that she mercifully destroyed their cubes hundreds of years before. But did she? In fact, new technology has allowed scientists to reconstruct the two teens, unbeknownst to their long-dead parents or Jenna, but at what cost? Pearson continues the examination of soul in this second installment, but extends the exploration to constructed organisms. What makes a soul, and how much of the physical body can be absent before the soul is incomplete? Does an incomplete soul make for an incomplete conscious? And, can a soul evolve from a constructed entity? While these questions seem very complex, the novel presents them in a fairly straightforward manner; however, the reader is left to make her own determination.  Despite the heavy themes, Kara and Locke’s escape and life on the run make for plenty of nail-biting action to keep the reader engaged, and the addition of the new character Dot the Robot, who rivals Iko in Cinder (by Marissa Meyer) for lovability factor is fantastic! Perhaps the most satisfying element in the novel is the discovery of how Jenna has weathered the last 260 years, and how wise she has become. Readers who lost track of the series will be pleased to know that this second book was published in 2011, and the third book, Fox Forever, which I will read and review in the next few weeks, is already on the shelves.

Review of Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Katherine Tegen Books

Insurgent

By Veronica Roth

4 Scribbles

Short of sounding like Annie Wilkes from Misery, I can honestly say that after reading Divergent, book one in the series, I became Roth’s number-one fan. For one thing, I think Roth is a plotting genius, moving characters from conflict to conflict rapidly and leaving readers salivating for the next scene and chapter. Insurgent is no different. In fact, the quick, action-packed pacing is amplified in this installment because the remaining Divergent faction (namely Tris, Tobias and followers) who were not a part of the traitorous uprising with Erudite have no home and are forced to run from faction to faction for survival. Meanwhile, they must also decide how to best defeat Erudite and their limitless supply of soldiers thanks to the simulation serums that Erudite leader, Janine, has developed. How does one fight a war with limited resources, troops, and while being on the run? It’s a story rich with political dilemmas, family conflicts, and even dissension among friends. And what’s fabulous is that book two picks up right where book one, Divergent, leaves off!

There are a few flaws to this second book, and I suspect that these flaws are due to the fact that Divergent was such an overwhelming hit (sure to equal if not trump The Hunger Games) that Roth was forced to write and edit too quickly. Roth even comments about these glaring errors in her own blog .
My number-one beef with book two, however, a beef that I hope she remedies in book three, is that the main character Tris, who was tough, stoic, a strong female character who belongs in Divergent in book one…Tris she cries all the time in book two. It is over-the-top, it is melodramatic, it is exhausting to read about. It is too much. It’s just not Tris-worthy.

That being said, the twist at the end put my mind in a tailspin, and I cannot wait for book three, but I will so that quality of book three will be as stellar as book one!