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Is 10% ever enough?
If you're starving and someone gives you 10% of a sandwich, are you satisfied? Maybe you're so hungry that you're just grateful for a bite. Maybe you're so hungry that you're anxious for more.
I use this example because after reading The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson, I'm haunted in my everyday life by this question that the characters in the novel face: is 10% ever enough?
Jenna Fox struggles with her identity. All her life, since she was a little girl, she's been adored and has had very little room to pursue her individuality. Instead, she's placed on a pedestal and is pressured to say and do the things other people expect from her. We see this in the relationships with family and friends.
Unfortunately, Jenna comes crashing down trying to please everyone and this leads to Jenna's reinvention and her redemption in the end. I won't go into details for those who haven't read the book yet. I will say, however, that the last line in the novel completely took my breath away. There's a heaviness yet also a release in that last line.
When I'm still thinking about a book, talking about it to random people who haven't read it, I know that I've been inspired. That's what I think good books should do: spark controversy, get people talking, or get people inspired about some element in the story--a character, a theme, a setting--something! The Adoration of Jenna Fox will move you in this way!
This was my first time reading a book written by Pearson and I definitely plan on reading her other works. Both her primary characters and her secondary characters are fully realized. Her writing is poetic and gripping. I can't say enough good things about this novel.
Currently, I'm reading The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, which is blowing my mind too. (Yes, I know. Everyone has read this one already but I'm a late bloomer.)
If you're starving and someone gives you 10% of a sandwich, are you satisfied? Maybe you're so hungry that you're just grateful for a bite. Maybe you're so hungry that you're anxious for more.
I use this example because after reading The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson, I'm haunted in my everyday life by this question that the characters in the novel face: is 10% ever enough?
Jenna Fox struggles with her identity. All her life, since she was a little girl, she's been adored and has had very little room to pursue her individuality. Instead, she's placed on a pedestal and is pressured to say and do the things other people expect from her. We see this in the relationships with family and friends.
Unfortunately, Jenna comes crashing down trying to please everyone and this leads to Jenna's reinvention and her redemption in the end. I won't go into details for those who haven't read the book yet. I will say, however, that the last line in the novel completely took my breath away. There's a heaviness yet also a release in that last line.
When I'm still thinking about a book, talking about it to random people who haven't read it, I know that I've been inspired. That's what I think good books should do: spark controversy, get people talking, or get people inspired about some element in the story--a character, a theme, a setting--something! The Adoration of Jenna Fox will move you in this way!
This was my first time reading a book written by Pearson and I definitely plan on reading her other works. Both her primary characters and her secondary characters are fully realized. Her writing is poetic and gripping. I can't say enough good things about this novel.
Currently, I'm reading The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, which is blowing my mind too. (Yes, I know. Everyone has read this one already but I'm a late bloomer.)
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From:
no subject
OMG, don't worry about being a "late bloomer". I'm sure there are lots of books you've read that I haven't.
See you Sunday!
From:
Fellow Late Bloomer
From:
no subject