Struck by Jennifer Bosworth

Struck #1
Available May 8, 2012 by Farrar Straus Giroux/Macmillan
373 pages
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Source: ALA from Macmillan
Challenge: Debut Author
Rating: LIKED IT

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. (Source: Goodreads)

Mia is a very rich character. We follow her through this chaotic scene of post earthquake LA. She is the rock of her family. Her mother was left in shambles after being trapped under the rubble for days. Her brother, Parker, just wants to make everything OK. And everything just can’t be fixed that easily. Day-to-day survival is left to her. I love that she takes on the responsibility as the duty it is and doesn’t sit around and bemoan it. I love a strong leading lady with a hint of vulnerability. Mia is marked. She has been struck by lightning multiple times. Not only does the red spider vein lightening marks on her skin make her closed off, she has the ability to direct or use the lightening’s energy. Unfortunately it buzzes in her when she is angered. She has injured others. This is a terrible burden to bear.

Mia’s addiction to the lightning really intrigued me. It reminded me of an adrenaline junky. But an adrenaline junky only injures themselves (usually), but Mia is afraid. If she gives in, will she hurt someone else?

Rising out of the carnage, there are two cults. One religious and one secular. Usually during times of crisis, people either cling to their religion or repel it. They either look to the hope and peace that might come or feel like how could a just god do this. Both are in a race to gather followers, but the ones they are most interested in are gifted. Gifted with the Spark or Light, meaning they’ve been struck by lightning. This makes Mia a hot commodity. Mia is not a mere Spark, she is the conductor. She can harness and direct so much power, both cults believe she can cause a super storm. A storm that could trigger another earthquake that would domino into other faults shifting and tsunamis. End Times kind of destruction.

Mia doesn’t trust either group courting her talents. She just wants to keep her family safe. Then a mysterious boy, Jeremy, seems to be trying to save her. But he is being cryptic. So she tries to keep navigating her own path. But there is definitely a magnetic pull between these two. Even though their attraction may seem rash, it feels like a need considering how they have both led very isolated lives because of their abilities.

I was intrigued by the use of the cults in this quasi-apocalyptic world. It felt unique to me within this genre. But unfortunately, I’ve heard the Prophet’s (one of the cult leaders) words before by different people on TV. There is a lot to chew on. Cults. Survival. It is a meaty read. I did feel the novel ended a little too neatly for how horribly it was all headed. Oh, the questions. Mia isn’t the only one with special abilities. And I want to know or understand more about how these all became possible. I’m guessing a bit more will be revealed in the sequel to come.

Lightening. Could this curse be the key?