Struck

I was lucky enough to win this book from a giveaway run by Bliss Magazine. I had already seen the fantastic trailer so I expected great things from it. Try to take a look at the trailer for yourself if you can, it's definitely one of the best I've seen and I can easily imagine it becoming a movie! After that I couldn't wait to get started. The prologue was really interesting and I quickly felt involved with the story, although I couldn't really understand why Mia liked being struck by lightning. The rest of the book was set over the course of four days, counting down the days until the storm, I really liked this because it kept me on the edge of my seat and had my pulse racing as storm day came nearer. Mia was a nice character who was strong but sensitive in equal amounts, there were some real heart-wrenching moments for her and her family throughout the book. Mia struggled to figure out who she could trust and I enjoyed trying to figure it out right alongside her. The mysterious Jeremy was very intriguing, I did make a prediction about halfway through as to who he really was and it turned out I was right (I believe I've mentioned before that I like to be right)! This book had a lot of talk about religion and God, now I'm aware that it was a big part of the story and therefore necessary to be included, but it was not something I felt particularly comfortable about. Towards the end everything got really intense and exciting and a few unexpected things happened which kept me turning page after page until I had finished. A great storyline and an amazing trailer, this is one not be missed.show more

I will admit, it was initially the cover that drew me to this book. A very striking, eye-catching cover. I love it. I was looking at books to request from Macmillan on Net Galley when this caught my eye. I looked up the blurb and thought it sounded like my kind of book. To find out whether it really was, read on... Have you ever wondered what life would be like in a post-apocalyptic world? Perhaps you wonder who you would become, when the world you knew and the person you once were, was gone... Well that's what happened to Mia Price. The saying is that lightning never strikes in the same place twice. Well that couldn't be more incorrect. It's struck Mia on several occasions. Leading her to become a lightning addict. She has survived multiple strikes only to find that it's left her craving to connect to the energy from storms. Putting her own life in danger and the lives of those around her. She used to live in another city, a whole different life ahead of her. Until that fatal day when she hurt someone she saw as a friend. Janna. But Janna wasn't the only one hurt that day. All because they were too close to her when she felt the energy welling up inside her. They stood too close when that energy became too much for Mia to safely contain. Mia's mom made them move after that incident. No-one wanted to talk to Mia or see her after the hurt that she caused. So along with her mom and her brother Parker, she moved to Los Angeles. A place where lightning rarely strikes. It's a place where Mia can feel safe from her addiction, though I get the feeling she also missed the power it created within her. But when an earthquake hits LA, it transforms her once safe haven into a place of devastation and chaos. The once beautiful beaches become over-run with tent cities where the Displaced have to stake a claim in order for their survival. The Displaced are those whose homes were destroyed due to the quake and have nowhere else to go. Downtown has become a dangerous wasteland, nick-named the Waste due to the near total destruction. But revellers are drawn to the Waste in their droves because that's where they hold the Roves. Parties that move from building to building each night. They are drawn to these places by a force they can neither deny nor explain. Within the city, there are two warring cults. The Followers and the Seekers. Both of whom believe Mia is the key to their very much opposing Doomsday prophecies. They believe she has a connection to the storm that preceded the earthquake and an even more destructive storm yet to come. During all this, Mia meets and finds herself drawn to a mysterious and enigmatic character by the name of Jeremy. They don't have the most conventional of relationships. Jeremy is hesitant to touch her, after all, their first touch lead to Mia passing out. But Mia won't let that get in the way. She's drawn to him in an inexplicable way. So, why did I struggle to get into this book in the very beginning? It all sounds interesting so far, right?! I struggled to make a connection to STRUCK in the first 25% because it was a total change of pace for me. It wasn't the fault of the book itself. More that I have read vampires and werewolves etc recently, so it was hard to get used to the change of pace this set out for me. However, once I hit about 30% I was sucked into the story and I found that actually, it was a fast-paced, exciting story. You never knew what was coming next. It wasn't girl meets boy and falls in love, they have some hardships but figure it all out in the end. Instead it was a gripping story that had a little romance along the way. I found that I read on until I got to 65% before realising it was 1am and I needed to sleep. So I put the book aside, caught up on some sleep and picked it up again the next morning. I finished STRUCK in that sitting. It was intense and explosive and I really enjoyed the ending. The only thing throughout that I would say I had a problem with was the Followers. But without ruining it for you, I can't really tell you why. I just found that they really hit a nerve and I guess it resonated with me throughout. The characters....? Mia was a completely different MC to what I am used to. She wasn't what I expected, but not in a bad way. I enjoyed the fact that she was so different. She was a strong, feisty girl who had to struggle to survive and make this new life work. She had her sick mother to look after and I found that I really felt for her. Jeremy was also not what I was expecting. He was an enjoyable character who I looked forward to Mia's interactions with. As for the other characters? Well without naming names, there were the obvious good guys, some interesting bad guys and some that you didn't know which way the axe would fall. All in all, I enjoyed this book and look forward to finding out where Jennifer Bosworth decides to take it from here.show more