Review: Struck by Jennifer Bosworth

Posted 19 April, 2012 by Danny in Blog, Danny, Danny's Book Review / 18 Comments

Struck by Jennifer Bosworth Struck

Book I in the  Struck series
Genre: YA, Dystopian
publication: May 8th 2012 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux BYR
copy received from publisher
Hardcover, eBook: amazon | B&N | IndieBound
synopsis from goodreads
Rating:
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.
The cover is quite catching, right? In addition to this great cover art, I was more intrigued. Already the first sentence made me want to figure out what the heck is going on :” Mia Price is a lightning addict”. I mean, what does that tell us? I had no idea but was eager to find out!

Earthquake destroys our civilization – not a fun place to be anymore…

In each Dystopian world there has to be a cause, an atomic bomb, global warming or  an earthquake as it is the case here. Struck is set closely after this catastrophic event and so Mia still knows how it was to live in a save world. That’s a setting I actually like, instead of those dystopian novels where the protagonists have no idea about the “before”. Mia however, has to deal with these new circumstances and she has to handle the trauma this earth shattering event entails. Especially her mother is deeply traumatized and suddenly Mia has to not only to take care of herself, but also of her mother and brother. The whole city lies in ruins and whole parts are completely destroyed. To get slowly back on track, Mia and her brother start to go back to school, to get some normality although it seems nearly impossible!

Mia – The Lightening Addict

This was indeed something I wanted to figure out, what is a Lightening Addict? Mia has been struck by lightening many times before and each struck leaves a visible and horrible scar on her body, which is why she tries to hide those uglies from strangers. But instead of being appalled or scared, she even craves it! This revelation plays big part of the mystery surrounding Mia’s character but also adds a quite interesting paranormal edge to this dystopian novel! I liked Mia as a character,she was extremely strong – shoulders all those responsibilities and takes care of her family. Also, Mia is smart enough not to get sugar talked by others and she has a strong mind of her own!  At the same time, Mia has no idea why she gets struck so often and what it means for her. It’s Mia’s journey to figure this out and we follow her closely, eager to find out what this is all about. Add to this mix two mysterious groups that fight for her allegiance and suddenly Mia is inbetween some more life altering events but has no idea who to trust…

Intriguing set of supporting characters

The secondary characters were quite fetching and made the story more captivating for me. My all time favorite is Jeremy – “the new boy at school, who’s enigmatic and alluring”. Truth to be told, you will find such a guy in nearly ever YA story, however I really loved Jeremy! (One funny side note: He’s wears dark Clark Kent Glasses – I’m sorry but am I the only one that finds this cute ?) Jeremy is darkly mysterious and we are eager to find out the mystery  behind this boy, what agenda he is following and … who he is? Also, Jeremy will break our heart during this novel a few times, but for me he was the shining star in this book! In addition, we have several other characters that added to the story and I loved to explore all those different types of character! Clearly, the vast cast of diverse characters rocked the pot for me!

Slow Beginning – Strong Ending

Truth to be told, I had a hard time getting into the story. The World building was very slow and I was always confused by the rules and secrets in this story. However, it was on us to discover those mysteries together with Mia. This initial confusion was keeping me from getting sucked into this story completely. It was for Jeremy and Mia that I kept reading. The plot starts getting more alluring in the middle and this is where I started to be fascinated and when I became enthralled enough to keep on reading. The final part comes with a lot of surprising and fascinating twists that I didn’t see coming.
In the end, I really enjoyed this book and became deeply engaged with Mia and Jeremy. However, there is yet so much for us to figure out, so Struck is really about setting the stage for the sequel and the following stories in this series!

Bewitched Rating

Bottom Line

Struck comes with a great cast of mesmerizing characters that will hold you captive. Mia is a wonderful strong, smart and genuine heroine, who simply does not wish to be the hero that saves the day!  A very strong ending with some surprising twists make up for a initial confusing and a slow beginning. Fans of Dystopians with a paranormal twist will enjoy this story and will be eager to find out more about Mia and Jeremy.  There is no real disclosure, so we have to hope for the next book fo find out more about Mia and her world!
 
Additional Notes: There is a pre-quel coming out April 25th and deals with the evil villain in Struck! I tempt to read pre-quels after I read the first book, but if you want to get a glimpse into the world of Struck and have a thing for the evil characters, then you should consider getting it!
Much Love,
The following two tabs change content below.
Obsessive Reader by Night - Scientist at Day! You can also find me on goodreads. I'd love to get to know you so, don't be shy and say Hello!

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Divider

18 Responses to “Review: Struck by Jennifer Bosworth”

  1. I was really intrigued by the synopsis of Struck when I first read it. It looks so original.
    It’s really too bad that the start is a little slow, but your review is encouraging, so I’ll have to check it out.
    Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us, Danny 🙂

    Reply »

    Danny 4/19/2012

    I was really torn! I mean the concept was nice and in the end I really liked it, but the beginning was tough to get through. But, Mia and Jeremy are amazing characters and the end was quite shocking. So, I think this book totally has potential!
    Danny recently posted..Review: Struck by Jennifer BosworthMy Profile

    Reply »

  2. Lovely review Danny! I’m intrigued that she knows of the world before it went to hell. It’s one of the main reasons I loved Ashfall so much(Did you read that? One of my fav. books veer you have to!) ! I’m looking forward to reading this one even though the reviews seem really mixed so I’m kinda curious to see how I’ll like it!

    Reply »

    Danny 4/19/2012

    Oh no I didn’t!!! I wanted to read it last year and I even had a copy *cringe* but it was during this insane time when I was finishing my PhD , and this was hell on earth lool! But, since you loved it so much I might have to give it another shot, the sequel is coming out soon right?

    And you know how it is with mixed reviews, at least for me, it makes me even more intrigued! :))
    Danny recently posted..Review: Struck by Jennifer BosworthMy Profile

    Reply »

  3. hehehe

    I usually stick to the story for the same reason, the boy!! That, and the hope that things will get better.

    I’m not sure this one really is for me, but sounds like it have no problem find it’s audience.
    Missie, The Unread Reader recently posted..When I’m Not Reading featuring Amy of Book GoonieMy Profile

    Reply »

    Danny 4/19/2012

    Lool, yes girl we are driving by the hot boys… but, who can blame us??

    It definitely will find its audience, that I’m sure of and I’m still intrigued enough to read the sequel! Jeremy definitely was a Keeper:)
    Danny recently posted..Review: Struck by Jennifer BosworthMy Profile

    Reply »

  4. I had a little trouble getting into this one initially as well Danny! Mostly due to not understanding Mia’s lightning craving – like you said, it’s not clear why she needs it so much despite the toll it takes on her mentally and physically. Still, the story definitely picked up and I couldn’t put it down by the end! Also, loved Jeremy’s glasses:)

    Reply »

    Danny 4/19/2012

    It’s amazing you felt the very same way about the book!!! I’m still not sure about those lightening cravings and although some details were revealed there is still much to discover. It’s just frustrating since it was the first sentence in the synopsis and I thought we would got to hear mre about this!

    I LOVED Jeremy’s description with those glasses, I really have a clear image of him in mind and … it’s cuteness!
    Danny recently posted..Review: Struck by Jennifer BosworthMy Profile

    Reply »

  5. I’m glad you overall enjoyed this one .. I was dyng to read it but I don’t know if I’ll buy it afterzall because I’ve read a lot of mixed reviews and it seems kind of so so … Thanks for the review Danny 🙂
    Elodie @ Once Upon a Quote recently posted..Waiting on Wednesday : Nerve byJeanne Ryan :My Profile

    Reply »

    Danny 4/19/2012

    *sigh* it’s hard to decide to read a book when you are not completely sold.. But, there are some reviews that rave about this book, so you might love it more than I did! By all means, I liked the ending part a lot!! It was dramatic with some great twists!
    Danny recently posted..Review: Struck by Jennifer BosworthMy Profile

    Reply »

  6. It’s good to know that this one picks up its pace, Danny. I have it to read and I know that kind of thing would/will probably tempt me to give up. However, like you, I’m intrigued by Mia’s situation and particular addiction and hopefully I’ll find the Mia/Jeremy dynamic as interesting as you because characters can help a lot with a book that is otherwise a tad slow. 🙂
    Jessi recently posted..(ARC) YA Book Review: Masque of the Red Death by Bethany GriffinMy Profile

    Reply »

    Danny 4/19/2012

    Absolutely!! An awesome cast of characters can totally save a story and make up for a slow pacing in the beginning! And, it wasn’t so bad that I was tempted to stop reading at any point, it was more frustrating but it kept me reading, which is a good thing!

    Mia and Jeremy definitely are worth to get more attention, it was a great chemistry between those two!
    Danny recently posted..Review: Struck by Jennifer BosworthMy Profile

    Reply »

  7. It feels like everyone keeps thinking the same things about this one! The concept of being a lightning addict sounds really cool in theory, but the world building WOULD be kind of hard to perfect without being dragging haha x) Still, Jeremy sounds so adorable!! (No, you aren’t the only one who sees the Superman behind every Clark Kent’s disguise LOL!) And the ending sounds really epic!

    Amazing review, Danny! I’m really happy that you enjoyed this book despite having minor quirks with it — I’ll definitely be trying to get my hands on a copy as soon as it comes out. Hopefully I enjoy it too! 😉 <3
    Mimi Valentine recently posted..Guest Post & Excerpt: Kristy BerridgeMy Profile

    Reply »

    Danny 4/19/2012

    *giggles* As I said to Jenny, I have such a clear picture of Jeremy in my head with those nerdy glasses that just make him super cute! But underneath, there is a real hottie! You have to meet him!!!

    I really did like it overall and I was glad I didn’t give in my initial frustration, it was so wroth getting to the end and reading this dramatic ending! Hope you are going to like it!!
    Danny recently posted..Review: Struck by Jennifer BosworthMy Profile

    Reply »

  8. Iman

    First time I’ve heard of this book, but the synopsis is amazing. Hopefully, I’ll like this book when I read it, although slow beginning put me off, I’ll definately read it, if only to get to meet Jeremy…
    ” “the new boy at school, who’s enigmatic and alluring”. Truth to be told, you will find such a guy in nearly ever YA story”
    —> So true! It gets tiring, hopefully Jeremy is different.

    Reply »

    Danny 4/19/2012

    And, did you see the cover? It’s phenomenal, especially when you read the book, it’s perfect!! Don’t let the slow pacing in the beginning scare you, the end will make up for it! Also, Jeremy is so cute!!

    It’s funny, but everyone tries to lure us girls in with these description and it can be kind of tiering.. But, then you meet those boys and you fall in love! I actually loved the glasses, no idea why but I found it cute to disguise a hot boy with some nerdy glasses:))
    Danny recently posted..Review: Struck by Jennifer BosworthMy Profile

    Reply »

    Iman 4/19/2012

    Oh, it goes without saying, I LOVE that cover. I also love nerdy cute guys, they’re kinda my type (smart, yet handsome)… Can’t tell you how many times I’ve fallen in love in a book, but sometimes, for some reason, I end up hating the guy despite the fact that everyone loved him.

    Reply »

Leave a Reply

CommentLuv badge