Review: Struck by Jennifer Bosworth

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'm really not sure how to review Struck. I liked the general idea (Mia being a 'lightning addict') but this wasn't talked about nearly enough and had a lot of religion in it, which I had read about in reviews but didn't think it would take up most of the book. I think it should have been mentioned in the blurb - I don't think I would have been so annoyed with it if it had been.

Struck was original - instead of a war, government taking over or global warming making the area dystopian, subjects I've seen a lot in YA dystopia, it was a storm that destroyed LA, and I have never read a book whose main character has similar 'powers' to Mia. These are what interested me in the book, but Struck consisted mainly of strange religious groups predicting the end of the world and trying to get Mia on their sides. I really wanted to find out more about Mia and the lightning, but it wasn't explained as much as I thought it would be.

I liked Mia more than I thought. I'm glad she wasn't the kind of main character who spent most of the book deciding which boy to be with. Main characters like that *really* annoy me >.>. I didn't get why she continued to be around and like Jeremy so much when she found out he had TRIED TO KILL HER and hung around her house all the time. In fact I didn't like Jeremy at all. The way Mia describes him as being good looking and smart kind of made me think that the author just wanted to put him in to be a 'perfect' boy character and added in romance to fit in with other YA books.

Struck was an ok book with a good concept, but I didn't like the romance and the amount of religion in it.

Rating: 2.5/5

Review: The Phoenix Files: Arrival by Chris Morphew

Luke is having a rough year. When his parents split up, his mum drags him to Phoenix, a brand-new town in the middle of nowhere.

But Phoenix is no ordinary town. There are no cars, no phones and no internet. Luke thinks this is as weird as it gets.

Then he discovers that someone is plotting to wipe out the human race. Phoenix is suddenly the safest and most dangerous place on earth.

And the clock is already ticking.

There are 100 days until the end of the world.


I didn't think I was going to like this book, as others had compared it to the 'Tomorrow' series by John Marsden which I didn't enjoy.  But Arrival turned out to be a pretty good book.

The basic storyline, stopping the end of the world, is a very popular one which sometimes annoys me a lot.  But this book was different - the strange town of Phoenix and the mysterious things the main characters find to hint at what's going on made Arrival more interesting and original than other 'saving the world' books.  These parts of the book also kept me reading, as I wanted to find out what each clue meant.

I found it easy to read and wasn't confusing at all.  Everything was well described and explained.  The only thing I didn't see being mentioned was how old the main characters were - it didn't really matter, but some of the things Luke said seemed quite young to me.  I imagined him to be about 12-13.

There was less action in this book than I thought there was going to be, but it didn't stop Arrival being a good read.  Sometimes the writing style seemed a bit like it was for younger readers, but it wasn't childish at all.  Although I enjoyed this book and have no real bad things to say about it, I didn't really feel gripped by it.

Overall I liked Arrival, and despite the kind of overused basic storyline is was made more original and interesting.  I just didn't feel particularly gripped or pulled in by it.

Rating: 3.5/5

Showcase Sunday #6

This is a meme hosted by Books, Biscuits and Tea where bloggers taking part showcase their new books.

From the library:

Stalking the Enemy by Jane Prowse:  I read and reviewed the first book, The Revenge of Praying Mantis, when I started this blog a while ago.  I hope I will enjoy this just as much.

Struck by Jennifer Bosworth:  I like the idea for this book, but I've heard mixed reviews.  Hopefully I will like it.

Inside Out by Maria V. Snyder:  I have read the second book without knowing it was the second one until I was reading it.  It was quite confusing, so hopefully because Inside Out it the first it will be less confusing!

Partials by Dan Wells: Again, looks interesting, and with mixed reviews on Goodreads.

(I really need to read some different genres....)

Review: Gamerunner by B.R. Collins

Rick is a Gamerunner. His job is to test there are no glitches or bugs in The Maze - the computer game that is much more than just a computer game. In The Maze you physically become your avatar. You fight, run and loot, all the time avoiding the deadly slicing traps - whirling blades that appear from nowhere. Rick has known nothing outside The Maze and his life at the headquarters of Crater, the company that created The Maze. When Rick's father falls out of favour and Rick is faced with being thrown out of Crater HQ into the outside world - a world of flesh-dissolving acid rain and ferocious, feral roving gangs - Rick has some life-changing decisions to make ...


This book had an exciting start which quickly got me interested in the book.  One of the first things I noticed was how the author wrote in third person, but instead of using the character's name sometimes, always used 'he'.  Later, when the character's name (Rick) is found out, it's used a bit more, but it made me feel like the book was from the point of view of someone who is watching Rick, rather than Rick himself.  This writing style also stopped me from getting to know him more, and I think I would have liked him more as a character and liked the book more if it had felt more as if it was from Rick's point of view, rather than from someone watching's point of view.

I really liked the concept of this book though!  The whole idea of video games where the player is actually IN them was definitely a good idea, and a *great* change from the usual very similar sci fi/dystopian YA books that have been popular recently.  However I found that everything wasn't explained nearly enough - why was 'the maze' made?  What is 'Crater' and the building Rick and the others live in?  What is it like, and what does it look like?  What happened  for it to be dangerous to go outside?  I had so many questions about this book.  Rick often wonders whether Daed is his father or related to him, and I expected this to be explained as it came up quite often.  But it wasn't.

There were quite a few loose ends left at the end of the book, not just the mystery of Daed being related to Rick.  I didn't like the ending.  WHY did Rick want to go outside so badly, and why did he **spoiler** burn everything in his room **end spoiler*?  It seemed like a pretty random thing for him to do.  The only major part of the plot that was cleared up is what Asterion was, which was a good conclusion I didn't expect, but apart from that I disliked the ending.

I'm not sure if there's a sequel that might tie up the loose ends.  If there is, I might look out for it.  I liked the concept for Gamerunner, and I didn't really get bored by it, but no much else.

Rating: 2/5 

Review: TimeRiders by Alex Scarrow

Liam O’Connor should have died at sea in 1912.
Maddy Carter should have died on a plane in 2010.
Sal Vikram should have died in a fire in 2026.

Yet moments before death, someone mysteriously appeared and said, ‘Take my hand ...’

But Liam, Maddy and Sal aren’t rescued. They are recruited by an agency that no one knows exists, with only one purpose—to fix broken history. Because time travel is here, and there are those who would go back in time and change the past. That’s why the TimeRiders exist: to protect us. To stop time travel from destroying the world...


I have been wanting to read TimeRiders for a while now, but have always put it off.  I'm so glad I eventually did read it though!  I didn't think it was going to be as good as it was.

I haven't read that many books about time travel, and the ones I have have not been believable to me at all.  However, I thought this book's idea of time travel to be a lot more believable, thanks to well thought out (but short, so not making it confusing or boring!) explanations.

I loved the beginning to this book.  It was immediately exciting and mysterious, and really pulled me into the book!  The descriptions of what happened to the present day world when something in the past changed were great.  I could almost feel confused and shocked along with the characters as everything suddenly changed.

It wasn't just the changed present day world descriptions that were great - I could easily picture all of the settings and characters in my head, which really helps me to get into a book.  TimeRiders was exciting and gripping throughout the book, especially when the Maddy, Sal and Foster were faced with a **SPOILER - HIGHLIGHT TO READ!**  post apocalyptic world **SPOILER OVER** and Liam was faced with **SPOILER** being stuck in the past**SPOILER OVER**.

Overall I really enjoyed TimeRiders.  I have two small complaints - it was sometimes a bit confusing when the point of view swapped quickly between characters, and some words Sal uses I didn't know.  Unless I'm just stupid and don't know them, I think there should have been an explanation.

Rating: 4.5/5

Review: Matched by Ally Condie

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate... until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow



*****CONTAINS SPOILERS!!******



I have to say I didn't think I would love this book, but I felt like trying something different so I borrowed it from the library.

One thing I noticed after reading a chapter or two was a lack of description and world building - Cassia mentions the tablets she carries, the fact she lives in a dystopian future and being matched but none of this is explained well, or a small description is given near the end of the book.  I wanted to know about all these things - why is it necessary for everyone to have the tablets, be matched and why is the world dystopian?  What does it look like?  What happened in the past?  These were all questions I was wondering early and throughout the book.  Some of the places Cassia visits had very little or no description, making the parts set there a bit confusing for me.  I felt that this book was only made a dystopian as it's a popular genre at the moment - apart from the obvious things it could easily be a teen drama book set in present day.

I found the long scenes about Cassia's grandfather should have been further into the book or even left until the second or third book so readers get to know him a bit more and so they also know WHY everyone dies at 80, which Cassia finds out quite a while after this part in the book.  I think the scenes would have made more sense and would fit in better if they had happened after Cassia found out about the poison.
 Talking of the storyline, I didn't feel there was much OF a storyline o.0.  The entire book focused on Cassia trying to decide whether to be with Ky or Xander.  There were a few moments where the Officials randomly did something like cut down trees or take away artifacts, which made no sense.  It was as if the author thought she NEEDED to make them do something a bit 'evil' to fit in with some other popular dystopians....

I didn't hate any of the characters or find them annoying, but neither did I love any of them.  I found none of them to have much too them and being a bit flat or much backstory at all, the only one having a bit of backstory being Ky.  Which generally made me feel a bit 'meh' about them.

I don't think I will be reading the next in the series.  In general I disliked this book, but I didn't HATE it and I think readers who like drama or romance books would enjoy this book.

Rating: 2/5

Showcase Sunday #5

This is a meme hosted by Books, Biscuits and Tea where bloggers taking part showcase their new books.

Given to me (!!):

The Dead of Winter by Chris Priestley:  This looks like a horror, which isn't the genre I usually choose, but I'm going to give it a read anyway.  :)

Tyme's End by R. Collins:  Again, this looks like a horror.

My Name is Mina by David Almond:  I've heard quite a lot about this and Skellig by the same author, but I've never been interested enough to read them.  I have read that the book makes more sense if you read Skellig first, but I'm going to read My Name is Mina first - although it's not what I'd usually read it stll looks quite good.

From the library:

Matched by Ally Condie:  Despite this being in a genre I like (dystopian), I don't think I'm going to love Matched, but I'm trying to read books I would not usually choose at the moment to read a bit more of a variety.

Seizure by Kathy Reichs:  I enjoyed the first book, Virals, so I'm wondering if this is going to be as good, better, or worse....

Time Riders: City of Shadows by Alex Scarrow:  I only realised as I picked this up to read yesterday that it wasn't the first in the series! *facepalm*.  I'll still read it anyway, but if it's very confusing because I've not read the others I won't review it.