The Fox Inheritance: Review

Title: The Fox Inheritance

Author: Mary E. Pearson

Release Date: August 2011

Published By: Henry Holt and Co.

Pages: 294

Goodreads Rating: 3.59 stars

Review: After a terrible accident destroyed the bodies of Jenna, Locke, and Kara, their minds were kept digitally alive. Jenna disappeared early on, but Locke and Kara relied on each other for the two-hundred-sixty year nightmare they were stuck, and at last they emerged in a new, perfect bodies. Emerged in a world where everyone they once knew and loved is dead. Everyone, that is, except Jenna.

It seems like everyone was completely in love with the first novel in this series, but I had a fairly lukewarm opinion of it, so I was hesitating about whether or not to even pick up this book. Luckily, I did eventually decide to read THE FOX INHERITANCE because this is made of 100% pure awesome and emotion.

One aspect I really loved was the way the story was handled. It sounds a bit like this is a dystopian novel, and that's true to a small extent, but a lot of this is about these three friends dealing with their very complex issues and conflicts, as well as a frightening psychological suspense angle. And if you've followed this blog for a while, you know how much I love my psychological suspense. (Hint: a lot!)

Of the psychological suspense novels I don't like, though, my number one complaint is often that I don't believe the motivations behind the antagonist, but this was definitely not the case here. After all that happened, I can completely understand why Kara would snap the way she has, and there was still enough humanity in her for the reader to still feel sympathetic. Even with all the empathy, though, it was downright fascinating to see what an impact this whole tragedy had on her and how violently she reacted to it.

Not only was the plot interesting, the writing was also incredible. The author has an amazing ability to inspire emotion in the readers, and there were quite a few places where I found myself tearing up, which is not easy to make me do when reading. Some people complained that Locke was too naive and pathetic, but I thought he was written very realistically and honestly, and his narration added quite a bit of depth to the story.

Overall, if you liked or even just read the first novel, you should definitely pick up THE FOX INHERITANCE. From the fascinating plot with its element of psychological suspense to the realistically portrayed characters, this book is a unique work of fiction that's nearly guaranteed to draw tears from you. This is the sort of novel you can't bear to put down - which means you just have to pick it up.