Author: Chris Colfer
Publisher: Atom
Release Date: 20 Nov 2012
ISBN-13: 978-0349001357
Synopsis
Life comes at you fast. It hits you and tries to escape and be expressed in any way possible. In a way, it's a lot like... Lightning.
Carson Phillips is at the bottom of the food chain in a high school filled with people he hates, stuck living with his depressed single mother in a small minded town at the corner of nothing and nowhere. He has just one goal: escape to Northwestern University as a hard-hitting journalist.
He can practically smell the ink on the admission letter when disaster strikes: his guidance counsellor tells him that he needs to bolster his application by creating a literaty magazine which means he needs submissions. From other students.
With Seventeen years of animosity standing between him and his dreams, Carson resorts to the only thing he can think of: blackmail. After all, desperate times call for desperate measures, and everyone has a secret they'd do anything to hide.
My Review
I love Chris Colfer, I obviously know him from Glee and know how talented he is. Last year I read his children's book 'Land of Stories' and really enjoyed it. I was impressed. I then saw him on the Ellen Degeneres show talking about a movie he had directed and starred in, Struck by Lightning. I then found out there was a book of it and I knew I had to get hold of it. I haven't managed to see the film yet but I am hoping to soon. It's not available in the UK yet so I have to wait for now.
I saw the book in the shops though and knew I had to get it. This is nothing like his other book, this one is much more grown up and reads like a personal narrative. It has quite a bit of swearing in it and may bot be suitable for younger readers.
Carson comes across as a bit of an ass to be honest, thinks he is superior to everyone around him and just wants to move on to better things, but as you find out more about his past and what he wants from life, I came to understand and even like him a bit more. I could really feel his frustration and impatience with those around him who just don't engage their brains and i have to say I can totally identify with that. I have noticed myself get impatient like that too. I think at some point we've all dealt with people who are just idiots!
You actually don't get told much about any of the characters, but the bits you are told shape them well and I felt I had a good picture of who everyone was. Although I do think it is set up for more information to come out, you get a brief insight into their lives and their troubles but then nothing happens about them.
I already knew the ending from seeing Colfer talk about it on Ellen, but it did come quite suddenly and still surprised me in a way. It's quite a stark reality that anything can change in a moment and not everything works out as we might expect it to.
I agree with some comments that this would probably actually make a better film due to the way it's written, and I suppose that's how it first came about anyway, but that's not to say it's a bad book, it's really not, I did enjoy it and would recommend it.
My Rating
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