Review: Struck by Jennifer Bosworth

A girl struck by lightning 

hundreds of times holds the

 fate of the world in her hands.

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.
(Goodreads.com)
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Review
I seem drawn to the dystopian genre lately and there are plenty of them out there. I was immediately pulled into this story. A girl who is struck by lightning, multiple times, is not something you read about every day. Mia seems likeable but I wanted to know more about her. We get peeks into the past but not many details, especially regarding her family. She is a tough teen who is trying to survive and protect her younger brother and injured mother at the same time. She was forced to become the leader of her family. Unfortunately she started to become unlikeable rather quickly. I was impressed with her resilience and I can suspend disbelief but she made so many dumb choices. And there was so much skulking around that didn't really lead to anything. The middle of the book felt too long and drawn out with parts that kept repeating with no real results. It seemed like a chunk of that could have been removed and it would have tightened up the story a bit.

 I like the premise and the action was interesting during the actual storms but I didn't care as much for the build up to it. I think that was part of what I mentioned before with the repetition. There are many references to different religious beliefs since some characters view the storms as the end of the world. I didn't have a problem with this and thought that was to be expected from a variety of people with a variety of viewpoints. Two different groups, a religious cult - the Followers, and their opposer - the Seekers, are desperate to have Mia join them and want to use any special powers she may have attained from the lightning strikes. I found it to be an interesting and an important part of Mia's dilemma in trying to figure out her role.

I really do think this debut has potential and I hope the next book can work out the kinks. I know I will read more from this author and will probably try book #2.

Thank you to Macmillan (Fierce Reads campaign) for an arc in exchange for my honest review.

www.macteenbooks.com 
http://us.macmillan.com/struck/JenniferBosworth
http://www.jenniferbosworth.com/

Release date: 5/8/12
Publisher: Farrar, Strauss & Giroux
Pages: 373 (hardcover)
Type: YA dystopian, debut, series