The Fox Inheritance

The Fox Inheritance is a YA sci-fi novel by Mary E. Pearson.

Locke and Kara have been in a disembodied nightmare for a very long time. Their minds simply floating around, confused, frightened, and helpless in a digital world of nothingness.

What they don't know is that after they and their friend Jenna Fox were in fatal accident their minds were kept alive, even though their bodies were destroyed. But Jenna left them a long time ago - it's just been Locke and Kara.

Just Locke and Kara. For two hundred and sixty years.

Forgotten, abandoned, and tucked away in ignorance until finally being found, released, and given brand new, perfect bodies based off of old pictures and tiny pieces of DNA off their original bodies. Though Locke is a little taller, his eyes greener than he remembers, and more muscular overall - improvements?

But not only are their bodies unfamiliar and wrong, somehow... they've awakened to a world completely different from the one they left. Their families, their neighborhoods, their lives... gone. New technology astounds them, some disturbing, some amazing.

Only Locke and Kara understand what the other is going through - the remaining effects of living in limbo for centuries, the bizarreness of waking up to fabricated bodies and expected to be grateful...

Yet among it all is a profound sense of betrayal as they learn that their best friend, the third member of their trio - Jenna Fox - is alive and well... and never tried to help them.

The Fox Inheritance is a sequel to The Adoration of Jenna Fox, a book that floored me. I don't think a sequel was planned necessarily but Mary E. Pearson has now provided us with one - and... oh my. This is a stunning, extraordinarily well-written, brilliant reintroduction to the world of Jenna Fox - this time from Locke's point of view, two hundred and sixty amazing years later. Wow.

I obviously kept the synopsis a bit sparse - as always not wanting to give away much of anything. And really, if you've read The Adoration of Jenna Fox than I'm sure you're clamoring for this! If you haven't, I wouldn't say you necessarily have to read it first - but I would recommend it. They tie together in a way that is even more powerful when read as a pair.

The Fox Inheritance is a psychological thriller, heavily suspenseful, poetically penned, hypnotic, and lovely. Mary E. Pearson provides the kind of creativity, intelligence, and breathless action that crosses genre lines and YA specifications and should be read by any individual that appreciates fantastic, smart literature, in my opinion!

The heart-rending compassion of it, the astonishing character development, and the never-ending line of unexpected, terrifying twists make for a harrowing, beautiful, painful story that is touching and inspiring. The Fox Inheritance made me cry!

Mary E. Pearson gives me hope for a third installment in the acknowledgments - oh, I hope there is more to this disarming, unique story!

The Fox Inheritance is a book to remember, savor, and share!!!