The Fox Inheritance Review

The Fox Inheritance
by Mary E. Pearson
Jenna Fox Chronicles #2
Once there were three. Three friends who loved each other—Jenna, Locke, and Kara. And after a terrible accident destroyed their bodies, their three minds were kept alive, spinning in a digital netherworld. Even in that disembodied nightmare, they were still together. At least at first. When Jenna disappeared, Locke and Kara had to go on without her. Decades passed, and then centuries. 

Two-hundred-and-sixty years later, they have been released at last. Given new, perfect bodies, Locke and Kara awaken to a world they know nothing about, where everyone they once knew and loved is long dead. 

Everyone except Jenna Fox.
 
I read The Adoration of Jenna Fox quite some time ago and loved it. When I found out about this one, I had to get my hands on it.

This one is from a male perspective, Locke's, and I love it. The voice was raw and haunting and made my heart ache. The contrast between the way Locke and Kara dealt with being locked up together for so long is great. They've both lost a piece of themselves and are struggling to find their place in the new world. Meisha and Dot were definitely my two favorite characters. I loved Dot's personality and Meisha's drive.
 
This book is a great example of immersive world-building. I absolutely adored the Bots. The way many of them had personalities and secret dreams and secret names and they called humans "Eaters and Breathers." The idea of the Civil War of 2112 was great, though I am a little confused on the logistics of having everyone living under two sets of laws but not dividing the actual country like in the first Civil War. The concept of it is kind of amazing, though.

The only thing that disappointed me a little with this book in comparison to Adoration is that I saw all the twists coming. Which made it kind of aggravating when Locke didn't see it until they were right in front of his face. There are some loose threads left hanging at the end, but it's still a very satisfying ending.

Overall: 9/10 Great sequel with wonderfully real characters but I was hoping for a little more surprise like I felt with Adoration. The mention of a "third book" in the acknowledgements made me squeal out loud. I hope there's truth to them!

***SPOILER WARNING***

My favorite bit of the contrast between Locke/Kara is the way that Locke has -- mostly -- manage to remain in control of his sanity and Kara has completely lost hers. It did kind of annoy me how long it took Locke to recognize that Kara was completely insane. Actually, it annoyed me that Locke took so long to figure out everything.



I was actually kind of disappointed when they find out that Gatsbro is tracking them through Meisha's transactions on her card. I figured he just deduced where they were going. I mean, two people who haven't been outside that particular estate in 260 years suddenly run away. It wouldn't be that difficult to assume they would head somewhere familiar (Boston, their old home) and then to the only person alive that they knew (Jenna). If all trains led to Topeka, that would be a logical place to try to find them because even if they weren't headed to Jenna in California, they'd have to stop over in Topeka on the way to wherever they were going.

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