Struck By Lightning: The Carson Phillips Journal follows the story of outcast high school senior Carson Phillips who blackmails the most popular students in his school into contributing to his literary journal to bolster his college application; his goal in life is to get into Northwestern and eventually become the editor of The New Yorker.
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30 of 33 people found the following review helpful.
~*Amazing*~
By Les Diva
So...I finished reading Struck by lightning. It is hard to find the right words to describe my feelings right now. I will still try to write a little review, though.Again, Chris Colfer really amazed me. This story is about Carson Phillips, an outcast because he is different, stuck in an little town, desperately wanting to get out of there...he sure isn't perfect, in fact he is a prick sometimes. But still...he is full of dreams and is ready to do almost everything to reach his goal. No matter what. He fights for it. With Carson, Chris created a character who shows that everyone is able to dream, one just has to find themself, find something to fight for. Sure, that isn't easy. But if you trust yourself, trust your heart, you can do it. You just have to crack that nutshell around you, everyone else telling you what you can't do, everyone who hurt you and everyone who did you wrong trapped you in and...fly. Loving and accepting yourself, knowing it is ok to be you and show it, is an great start to do it. I personaly loved one passage in the book:Like having a great idea, life comes at you fast. It hits you and tries to escape and be expressed in anyway possible. In a way it is a lot like...lightning.So...what did `Struck by lightning' show me? What did it inspire me to do? A good question. I think...it inspired me to try and accept myself a little more every day, to actually get to know myself more. And who knows...maybe I will some day find my own dream and fly, even if that day seems to be so far away right now. And if that should ever happen, Chris Colfer will have done a lot to make it happen, without even knowing it. So I am saying THANK YOU, Chris. Thank you for being so amazingly talented, being such an inspiration, for...just being you. Please...never stop to fly.Greetings, Meike
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful.Great book
By Alicia McMahon
Purchased for my 12 year old daughter who is a huge Glee fan. She devoured this book, it is well written and for the most part, age appropriate. There is some adult content but it is not at all graphic, and for the most part, implied. if your child watches Glee, the book is much more tame. I also recommend Chris Colfer's other book, Land of Stories.
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful.Poignant and Insightful
By Manningstar
Overall I found this an easy read and very enjoyable. The main character is very sympathetic even though it is quite clear he is not the most likable character. He is fleshed out and quite in depth while the other characters are not, though that makes sense as this is all written from his own perspective. Although the book is quite funny and witty throughout, my overall impression, especially at the end was more sad and longing than it was hopeful. I finally felt like I really wanted this character to succeed and it seems like everything and everyone is so against him. I do always find that is the hallmark of a great piece of fiction - if it truly makes me feel strongly - even if that feeling is sadness.I liked the observations and insight - both the earnest ones and the witty ones. A few times it seemed like the main character was getting almost preachy, but he then calls himself out on that and goes back to being a bit of a jerk, so it never seems too forced. There were a few times when a metaphor seemed awkward, but even those were always interesting, so I didn't mind it.While I am sure the overall story as well as its details are entirely fictional, it is very interesting to see a character that is so angry and uses his anger as a way to fuel his drive and ambition to make something of himself and to compare that to the author's own story of getting out of a small and constricting town and achieving great things.I will say there is a lot of cursing throughout the book. That's no problem for me as an adult and it probably makes it appealing to the young adult crowd, too, but it might be good for people to know this ahead of time if they are concerned about what their children might be reading. However, it certainly isn't anything they wouldn't have heard already if they're in high school.I got the audio version of the book because I find it really interesting to hear the author's take on the way the characters sound. Although most of this is in the main character's voice, the author does have the chance to do some other voices, which is always interesting. It also is interesting to hear the emphasis used by the author, so I highly recommend listening to the audio version. I also am really looking forward to the movie because I would like to see what differences there might be in the two versions.I am glad to have this in my collection and I really can't wait for more writing from Chris Colfer. He really shows such promise as an author.
