Review: Struck - Jennifer Bosworth

Where I got it: ARC from publisher for review
Rating: 3 stars  

Cover Rating: 4 stars (Fitting but not very eye-catching.)
Genre: Young Adult

Publication Date: May 8, 2012

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Page Count: 373 p.

Buy it: Book Depository / Amazon
Add it: Goodreads

Mia has been struck by lightning more times than you could imagine. It's in her blood and she can feel when a storm is coming. Her family had to flee from their home town because of an accident involving Mia, a storm and some bystanders. So now they are in Los Angeles. An earthquake has devastated their new city though and the displaced are wandering the streets. Mia's mother is still recovering, mentally, from being trapped for a few days during the earthquake. There are some strange groups popping up now though. They are amassing followers for two different sides of the fight. There are the Prophet's people who are doing God's will and then the Seekers who are trying to stop the Prophet's insanity. There is another side though, that Mia desperately wants to choose, but it may be out of her hands, especially since she doesn't know who she can trust.

I dislike that the description claims Mia is a lightning addict. She does not seem addicted to it at all, she is simply a lightning rod. It would have been an interesting element to see Mia more drawn to the storms then she seemed to be. This book was a pretty slow read. It seems like a story about lightning would be fast-paced and exciting, but this seemed to just meander around. I did love all the story elements though. Good versus evil, twists and turns, secret identities...all good stuff. I loved Jeremy too, he was a very interesting character and I liked how things turned out with him. THE PROPHET! Oh man, he is all kinds of crazy-power-hungry. His whole personality is creepy, I would never want to meet him in real life. Spewing about the power of God and forming a cult following, those things just creep me out. About two thirds of the way through the book, the action starts to pick up, mounting to a climax...that fizzles. What a lackluster finale seriously.

» Click to show Spoiler « 

I mean really?!?!? Mia just sort of blacks out. THAT is the big conclusion. The storm rages, Mia is struck and then...

I was just pretty disappointed from the finish, I just expected more I guess. I'm quite curious to see how the next book is tackled. There wasn't any real cliffhanger here, so I'll be curious to see what the next story is about. Like I said, the meat of the story was good, but the execution could use some work. It might just not be my style, but I will definitely read more by Jennifer Bosworth.

First Line:
"When you've been struck by lightning as many times as I have, you start to expect the worst pretty much all the time."

Favorite Line:
"Jeremy had awakened her with a kiss and a nightmare."