Red House Books: Book Review: Struck by Jennifer Bosworth

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Red House Books is going through a bit of a update!

I've always had a pretty clear vision of what I wanted this space to be but I've been detoured from my path by...lots and lost of other people's opinions and ways of doing things...

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Thursday, August 16, 2012

Book Review: Struck by Jennifer Bosworth

***2012 Debut Author***"...a lot of action that isn't sugar coated with simple and easy answers..."

Reading Level: Young Adult
Publication Date: May 2012
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Pages: 373
Series: 1st in a series
Acquisition: I received a free ARC for review from the publisher

Summary:

Mia Price is a lightning addict. She’s survived countless strikes, but her craving to connect to the energy in storms endangers her life and the lives of those around her.
Los Angeles, where lightning rarely strikes, is one of the few places Mia feels safe from her addiction. But when an earthquake devastates the city, her haven is transformed into a minefield of chaos and danger. The beaches become massive tent cities. Downtown is a crumbling wasteland, where a traveling party moves to a different empty building each night, the revelers drawn to the destruction by a force they cannot deny. Two warring cults rise to power, and both see Mia as the key to their opposing doomsday prophecies. They believe she has a connection to the freak electrical storm that caused the quake, and to the far more devastating storm that is yet to come.
Mia wants to trust the enigmatic and alluring Jeremy when he promises to protect her, but she fears he isn’t who he claims to be. In the end, the passion and power that brought them together could be their downfall. When the final disaster strikes, Mia must risk unleashing the full horror of her strength to save the people she loves, or lose everything. (from Goodreads)

My thoughts:
Mia is a kick ass heroine. Her city is all but destroyed, her family is falling apart, a cult (or 2) have swooped in to gather the masses and oh yeah, she's a human lightning rod. And? Does she really let any of this stand in the way of protecting the people she loves? Not really.

I loved the on the edge post apocalyptic / dystopian world Bosworth has created. It's been a month since a major earthquake struck Los Angeles but we are given the impression that massive cataclysmic events are happening all over the world. What's a little different though for Mia is the fact that even if she weren't surrounded by disaster, she has major problems of her own to contend with.

I think that might be the one thing that didn't sit quite right for me. We never now exactly why Mia has these powers. Why does lightening effect her? Why now? I had a lot of questions and while some were answered I felt that a lot of really important back story was left out.

What I did like was the fact that almost nothing is clear cut. The good guys and the bad guys aren't all that different until the final pieces are put together in the end. I really liked how Mia stood her ground against everyone, making up her own mind and making her own decisions (at least while she was able to)

Final verdict:
With a lot of action that isn't sugar coated with simple and easy answers, Struck was a pretty thrilling read for me.

While reading, I wasn't entirely sure if Struck was a stand alone or the first in a series but honestly, I think it works as both. The ending was...well...an ending, but at the same time, there could be more of Mia and her story to tell. I'm happy with either scenario.

An awesome debut - Jennifer Bosworth is an author I'm sure to keep my eye on.

Overall Rating:

4.5 / 5 Stars