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

Books in the Series:
#0.5 Prophet
#1 Struck

Author's website / Goodreads / IndieBound

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Discussion Guide

Book Review: Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne

***2012 Debut Author***

Reading Level: Young Adult
Publication Date: June 2012
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Pages: 294
Series: 1st in a series
Acquisition: received an ARC for review

Summary:

Your mother hollers that you’re going to miss the bus. She can see it coming down the street. You don’t stop and hug her and tell her you love her. You don’t thank her for being a good, kind, patient mother. Of course not—you launch yourself down the stairs and make a run for the corner.

Only, if it’s the last time you’ll ever see your mother, you sort of start to wish you’d stopped and did those things. Maybe even missed the bus.

But the bus was barreling down our street, so I ran.

Fourteen kids. One superstore. A million things that go wrong.

In Emmy Laybourne’s action-packed debut novel, six high school kids (some popular, some not), two eighth graders (one a tech genius), and six little kids trapped together in a chain superstore build a refuge for themselves inside. While outside, a series of escalating disasters, beginning with a monster hailstorm and ending with a chemical weapons spill, seems to be tearing the world—as they know it—apart. (from Goodreads)

My thoughts:
Wow. I was pretty much terrified throughout this entire book. It might take place in the future but the reality of what is happening felt all too real to me. Imagine getting on your school bus, expecting another tedious day  and a few hours latter you're fighting for your life against terrors from your worst nightmares. Such is the case for 14 kids from Monument Colorado.

The world these kids live in isn't much different from ours. Technology has advanced and the ways people communicate have changed a bit but since not a lot about society is revealed, it's very easy to imagine that what is happening could happen in our world - at any time - to any group of kids.

Along with an awesome storyline, what really got me hooked was the dynamic characters. 14 kids ranging in age from 5-17ish all with their own strengths and fears. And when you lock them up together with little to no hope of escape? These strengths and fears become the difference between life and death.

Final verdict:
What really got to be about Monument 14 were the details. Their refuge is a mega store (I was picturing a Super Walmart or Target) and they have nearly everything they need to survive at their disposal. And they use everything, in ways that make sense. They do things that I would do in their situation. This added layer of realism that really made all the difference for me.

Also, it wasn't hard to care about these kids. It wasn't hard to want then to win, to survive. Added terror right there! If I'm invested in what happens to a character, I'm even more terrified by the events in their story.

The ending had a few last minute shockers to thrown at me but I'm happy for it. There is a lot more story to be told here. I'm already wishing for book 2! An awesome debut!

Overall Rating:

5 / 5 Stars

Author's website / Goodreads / IndieBound

Book Review: Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler

Age: 12+
Publication Date: October 2010

Pages: 180
Series: 1st in a series
Acquisition: ARC from NetGalley

Summary:

“Thou art the Black Rider. Go thee out unto the world.”

Lisabeth Lewis has a black steed, a set of scales, and a new job: she’s been appointed Famine. How will an anorexic seventeen-year-old girl from the suburbs fare as one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?

Traveling the world on her steed gives Lisa freedom from her troubles at home: her constant battle with hunger, and her struggle to hide it from the people who care about her. But being Famine forces her to go places where hunger is a painful part of everyday life, and to face the horrifying effects of her phenomenal power. Can Lisa find a way to harness that power — and the courage to battle her own inner demons? (Goodreads)

Quick thoughts:
Wholly different from anything I have ever read. Part dramatic teen drama, part paranormal fantasy.

Likes:
The whole premise was pretty fascinating. The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse aren't what I imagined them to be. A new Famine is needed and Lisa, who has yet to come to terms with her anorexia, has been chosen. It's only after seeing true famine in the world that she faces her own troubles.

The way Lisa interacts with the other Horsemen was very enjoyable to read and I especially liked Death.

Dislikes:
I loved Lisa as a character but some of the other supporting characters I had a hard time feeling connected to. It's clear the her family and friends care about her but I didn't feel like we got enough of them.

Also, I took it on fact that the horsemen, and Lisa's involvement with them were true. But, I think one could argue that they could have been all in Lisa's head. Her way of dealing (or not) with her problems. I personally like the paranormal elements present but if we render them as delusions, a lot of the story looses it's meaning for me.

Final thoughts:
Using the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse as a means to an end for a girl with a very serious eating disorder was a pretty strange concept to read about. I do think that Jackie made it work and I'm looking forward to reading more books in the series.

Overall Rating:

4 / 5

Books in the Series:
Hunger
Rage (April 2011)

Linkage Love:
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Author's Website
Goodreads