genre: sci-fi, mystery
age: YA
rating: 4/8 tentacles
This novel starts out with great promise. Jenna wakes up from a coma with no memories of her life or family. A strange woman who introduces herself as “mother” claims that Jenna’s memory loss is the result of an accident, but no one bothers to elaborate any further. Jenna begins to notice other things that don’t add up and when she questions them, her mother answers vaguely and quickly changes the subject.
At this point, I am super excited. What is going on!? Are these people her real family? Was she really in a coma? Why has she been hidden away in a neighborhood where no one knows her? Where are the rest of the people that were surely in her life before the “accident”? I love a good mystery, especially when it smacks of conspiracy.
Sadly, the story goes downhill from here. All my crazy conspiracy expectations get dashed to the ground. The real answers are pretty interesting, but the author doesn’t do nearly as much as she could with them. To top it off, the book doesn’t even have a legitimate climax, which significantly contributed to my “that’s it?” feeling. Also, the incessant quoting of Walden annoyed me. If I wanted to read Walden, I would have bought Walden.
I did like Jenna as a character. She comes off as almost robotically unfeeling in the beginning. The people around her have known and loved her for her whole life, and she is just meeting them now. It is understandable for her emotionlessness to stand out in contrast. As the story moves forward, we see Jenna learn and grow, become curious and independent, and develop new emotional connections. I just wish that Pearson delved a little deeper into the novel’s world and took Jenna (and us) much further.
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