15th Jun
Struck
by Jennifer Bosworth
Series: Struck #1
Genres: Dystopian, Post-Apocalyptic
Source: Publisher
Purchase*: Amazon *affiliate
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.
I was drawn to both the cover and concept of Struck. I love post-apocalyptic dystopian worlds and I’m fascinated by lightening. In author Jennifer Bosworth’s world Los Angeles and other areas of the world have been struck with natural disasters. Experts are worried there will be more events, and religious zealots are crying end of times.
We are introduced to Mia Price in the first line of the novel.”My name is Mia Price, and I am a human lightening rod.” She resides in LA with her mother and little brother. Mia and her family are lucky their home is still intact after a massive earthquake takes out large areas of LA. Everyone is hungry, people are homeless and Mia’s mother has had a breakdown. Her Mom sits in front of the TV watching an evangelist known as the Prophet. In order to get rations, she and her brother must return to school. Once there she is pressed by two groups of students to join their cult. Both groups believe Mia is the key to a cataclysmic event which is yet to come. Bosworth tale was unique and captivating.
Mia is a lightening addict or maybe lightening is addicted to her. Either way, she has the scars to prove it. She has survived countless strikes, and is drawn to storms, like bees to honey. Her family moved to LA, after a horrific lightening event. The recent disasters have left atmospheric hints of a storm to come. Mia can sense it and feels drawn to it. I easily connected with Mia and wanted to know more about her. Since the earthquake, she has really had to hold it together and I was impressed by her stiff upper lip. She is brave and protective. She doesn’t seek out conflict, but will fight when necessary. At times, I was annoyed with the character’s inability to communicate…since a lot of crap could have been avoided with a straightforward conversation. Jeremy appears in one of Mia’s classes. She has never met him, but is immediately aware of his presence and feels as if she knows him. She finds him to be gorgeous and mysterious. Oddly he makes her feel calm. He doesn’t appear to belong to either cult and tries to warn her. Jeremy’s true identity wasn’t revealed until almost the end. Bosworth did leave clues throughout the novel and I managed to figure it out but I was never really sure if he was helping her or had a secret agenda. All of which made this tale suspenseful. The romance between them was sweet and downright complicated. The energy I felt when the two of them were together made me swoon. Other characters added to the suspense and mystery. I loved some of them and loathed others.
Bosworth’s world-building enthralled me. She did a wonderful job of depicting the city and its people after the quake. Her descriptions of the city of tents, the chaos and fear made the world very real. The Prophet and his followers were believable. He has predicted the end is near and urges people to join him and repent. Throughout the novel you get a sense that he is evil. The Seekers are an old and secret society. They appear to be trying to stop a cataclysmic event from occurring. It has been foretold and they are looking for others to make their psychic connections stronger. Bosworth’s tale of their origin and purposes was fascinating. She weaves tarot cards and paranormal ability into the tale creating mystery. Mia is the catalyst for an event yet to come and is sought by both sides. Not knowing the true purpose of each cult and why they wanted Mia made the ride suspenseful. The tale was fast-paced and Bosworth’s writing style brought the story to life. While the tale was good I wanted more depth and would have like more about the lightening aspect.
Struck will interest fans of post-apocalyptic and dystopian novels. This was an an easy read. It didn’t deliver everything I hoped for but I will check out book two. There is a novella, called
Prophet (Struck 0.5) which is currently available.
Copyright (c) 2011-2014 Caffeinated Book Reviewer
About Kimberly
Kimberly is a coffee loving book addict who reads and listens to fictional stories in all genres. Whovian, Ravenclaw, Howler and proud Nonna. She owns and manages
Caffeinated PR. The coffee is always on and she is ready to chat.
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Christina
I agree. This book is disappointing. I didn’t like the romance OR the world building. It was easy to read but that was about it. I expected to love it! *cries*
Nicola
Great review!! I didn’t love this one myself but I thought it was a decent enough read. I just thought it took WAY too long to get to the point and there was a little TOO much build up. I didn’t know about the novella though- I’ll have to have a look at it!
Chapter by Chapter
Great review. Gabby absolutely loved this book. I wonder what my take on it would be if I ever had the chance to sit down and read it. I love any dystopian/post-apocalyptic reads though. I had no idea bout the novella. I’ll have to let Gabby know. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Melissas Eclectic Bookshelf
I loved the world building on this one but was a bit frustrated with the character development and all the secrets.
roro
stilll super exited for this/super super
thanks for the great review kimba 🙂
Kristin
I’m going to give this one a try even though you and everyone are really tepid on it ~ it’s good but not out of the ballpark. I love anything to do with weather so I want to read it for that alone. That and the setting… I love Cali!! Great review and super great summary!!
Michelle
t’s a shame that Struck didn’t have as much depth as you were looking for. i got this one for review and i was pretty excited to read it. i am glad that you thought there was good world building, I’ll let you know what I think of this one when I read it.
thanks for the great review kimba 🙂
Michelle
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jenea Whittington
Your review is great.. I have been wanting to read this one. Library still hasn’t even ordered it… 🙁
Jenea @ Books Live Forever
Ann
I was looking at this one a while back when there was a huge buzz about it, I was conflicted as to wanting to read it or not. It’s definitely an interesting concept though, I think I’ll put this on the to borrow list when I check it out.
Blodeuedd
Creepy cults, lightning, strange future, well it does all sound very interesting 😀 Sure I am not going WANT, but I’d still read it
Christy
Hm… I decided to pass this on up, but some of this makes me want to try it. Idk, maybe I’ll give it a shot once I’m caught up with all of my other review books.
inlibrisveritas
I have heard a lot of back and forth on this one so I’m really interested in reading it. I’m glad to see someone on the positive side of it. Great review.
kimbacaffeinate
While I didn’t flip over it, I appreciated a lot of it, and have hopes book two will see both author growth and plot development. Thanks everyone!
Shahnila
Great Review Kimberly**New follower** I think I’d like to read this, it sounds like something i would enjoy 😀
PS: Nice Blog
The Literary Darling
I am not fully decided on if I will read this or not. Not sure it’s my thing, but I’m glad you enjoyed it! 🙂 Great review!
emaginette
Great cover and I love the first line. Too bad there is not more to it.
samantha.1020
I have this book downloaded on my Kindle and am really looking forward to reading it! It sounds like something that I would really enjoy 🙂 Great review!
Leanne
I’m so glad you enjoyed this! I may read it sometime, since the reviews for this have been pretty mediocre but I do LOVE dystopian/ post- apocalyptic novels. And you mentioned that the world- building was good, so yay! (Flat world- building is a pet peeve of mine). Brilliant review!
Danny
The world building was great!!! Also, I loved Jeremy as a character. However, I had a tiny problem with the pace of the book. It was too slow for me in the beginning also, there were so many question left unanswered that I felt slightly lost at the end. I know there is going to be a sequel, but that was my major concern!
Glad you enjoyed it, I think it was a great book with a lot of potential for the sequel!
Nick
I’m so glad you enjoyed this one, Kimberly.
Personally, I had a hard time connecting with any of the characters and I felt that the plot wasn’t well-developed. I was actually looking forward to seeing more of the addiction to lightning, but it’s hardly mentioned. I guess it just wasn’t what I was expecting. :/
Great review, Kimberly. 😀