Struck by Jennifer Bosworth

Struck by Jennifer Bosworth was very different from all of the things that I have read before.

            Mia Price has always loved lightening. Some go so far as to say that she’s addicted. But it’s not just the sight of lightening that gets her excited. It’s the feel of it. The way it makes her feel so alive; but, there are some side effects that she hates: the red veiny scars crawling all over her body, the way she always feels so hot, and the way she could electrocute people with just a touch of her hands. That last symptom is why Mia had to move Los Angeles with her mother and her little brother, Parker. Shortly after, a massive earthquake struck, leaving thousands without homes or dead and causing downtown Los Angeles to be nearly leveled. It the aftermath, a man, Rance Ridley Prophet, rose to power and convinced thousands that he could hear the word of God and telling people to accept that the end of the world is coming. Battling him are the Seekers, people who are motivated to stop the end of the world from happening and defeat Prophet. Each side wants Mia because if her monumental Spark and Mia’s decision could affect the fate of the world.

            Sorry, that was a really long summary, but this was a complicated book. First: the characters. The protagonist, Mia, was an outcast and she always wore black clothes, including gloves, that covered her entire body (except her face) so that no one could see her lightning scars. I felt really bad for Mia because she had to hold together her entire family. Her mom was basically going crazy and I don’t know if I could have dealt with that, so she was pretty strong. Also, when she found out that the love interest, Jeremy, tried to stab her to death, I think that she acted appropriately, which was telling him that she never wanted to see him again. The only thing was that she trusted him a little too easily after that.

            I suppose Jeremy was okay, but I don’t really see what Mia fell in love with. I mean, he was a nice enough guy, but they only knew each other for three days. They didn’t exactly proclaim their love after those days, but they were pretty close, so that went a little quickly, but when the entire book only takes place over three days, I guess it’s understandable.

           

            I thought that the plot was really interesting. I could predict what was going to happen, but it was still a fun read. I love lightening, so the emphasis on lightning in this book was awesome. The warring cults were interesting, too, and I didn’t expect the religious aspects to be so huge, but it wasn’t as if Bosworth was preaching anything. Actually, Mia was against the whole religious thing the entire time, so this book did not come across as preachy; instead, it came across as realistic because I could understand why people would side with the guy that was so obviously evil.

            I also thought that the whole idea of the “Spark” and the fact that it came from lightening was very creative. I have never read anything with the same ideas in it, so this concept was really new and fresh to me.

            I know that I am only praising this book, but I did not absolutely love it. There was some spark (see what I did there?) missing that I can’t really put my finger on. I think it was the fact that I could predict what was going to happen. I like a little mystery and unpredictability in my books, but this was still a really good read!

This was an interesting read. 4 Smileys!