May 8, 2012
Farrar, Straus, and Giroux BFYR
Young Adult | Post/Pre-Apocalyptic
Standalone (I believe)
Pages: 373
Source/Format: NetGalley/eGalley
Rating: ★★★ 1/2
Author's Website | Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound
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.
IN A SENTENCE:
Struck by Jennifer Bosworth started out strong and kept me hooked, and I honestly didn’t mind the religion—but once the romance showed up, I was wanting to leave. This was one YA where I wished there wasn’t a romance.
REVIEW:
I thought I was going to have a problem with the religion in Struck by Jennifer Bosworth. I mean, a lot of people had that problem, but I thought it worked well for this book—I mean, a HUGE disaster happened in LA, so people would assume the world is ending, right? Especially if a religious person predicted a huge ass earthquake to hit? I mean, I would be freaking out and be accepting God and his faith and all that shit.
But the problem I had was the romance. Oh, guys, he stalks her. He’s in her bedroom with a knife going to KILL HER and she eventually falls in love with him. I’m sorry, but that take the whole “Edward Cullen thing” to a whole new level. If somebody stalked me like that—and admitted to it—I would never consider shoving my tongue down his throat or even thinking of wanting him. Because that is too creepy. And you know what? I think this book would have worked without the romance. Because not every YA needs a romance to drive it (really, it doesn’t.)
I thought the characters, aside from a poor choice Mia made, were well-developed. I loved her backstory and what drove her and her family to LA. It was so different and fit her character’s actions for this particular part of her life.
There seemed to have been a few inconsistences and unexplained things, like how did The Tower manage to stay upright during the earthquake when everything else crumpled? How did her mother get healthy right away? THAT I didn’t quite understand.
Also, apparently lightning caused the earthquake for LA? Which I'm not quite sure is possible? I mean, LA gets earthquakes because of the fault line and Bosworth seemed to have made up a theory of how an earthquake hit LA and I'm all like, "DUDE LEAVE IT ALONE. Readers totally understand that LA is earthquake land. NO need to explain!" and explain it with bad science. I MEAN REALLY.
I liked the ending and how wrapped up it felt, but apparently the author says there’s a sequel if Macmillan wants it and all I can think is UGH NO PLEASE. Struck is the perfect standalone in the science fiction world. And I really do hope it stays that way. But if there is a sequel, I know I won’t be reading it because I can only predicate what will happen between Mia and Jeremy (MORE KISSING OMG NOOOO. They have NO chemistry and ugh, why a romance? Why?) and I do NOT want to read that.
Other Reviews:
The Book Smugglers: 4 Stars
Book Brats: 3 Hearts
Good Books and Good Wine: Loved It
Other Reviews:
The Book Smugglers: 4 Stars
Book Brats: 3 Hearts
Good Books and Good Wine: Loved It
Yeah, I think I'll give this one a pass. Not sure what's up with this "I want a hot stalker boyfriend" thing...
ReplyDeleteI loved Edward until I took a step back from Bella's obsessed point of view and realized how creepy he was... I think this one would freak me out... and bad science!? But really... I don't know what you don't find sexy about being threatened by a knife. HAHA.
ReplyDeletePS--I got Social Suicide today and YOU ARE THE BEST!!!!
@Steph, I liked Edward, too, until then! I was like "OH. oh. That's creepy." I like the knives with curves at the end. I'm not sure if this knife did, so yeah, NO SEXYTIME FOR ME. ha ha.
ReplyDeleteYay yay yay! ENJOY! <3
Oh boy, not wanting the romance definitely doesn't sound good! But I'm glad you could handle the religion--I know many have been complaining about that. o: Gosh, I'm super curious. I'm picking it up next, so I hope I'll be positive towards it! Great review:) I'm glad you still enjoyed it!
ReplyDelete@Rebecca, the funny thing is I love romance, so, obviously something wasn't working for me to not like that subplot. enjoy! <3
ReplyDeleteI didn't get that far in the book. I may go back and finish it, but it started out slow and all the cult stuff just wasn't grabbing me. So I put it aside and started something else.
ReplyDeleteBut you raise an interesting point. Will the typical YA reader care if there's romance or not? Code Verity certainly doesn't have a romance, and we both loved that book. I think a story has to have some sort of emotional component for me to enjoy it but it doesn't need to be romantic love....
Honestly? I don't think the typical YA reader will care if there's a romance or not. I mean, it's a nice touch, and I love writing it, but I also like friendship stories. because not everybody has a love interest in high school, but they do have great friends.
ReplyDelete