Seen at Scott Reads It 
 Chris Colfer has accomplished so much in his life so far. He is a New York Times bestselling author, a Golden Globe winning actor, and he has written and starred in his own movie. Now Chris Colfer has tackled adapting his own feature film into a book. 
 Struck By Lightning follows Carson Philips who desperately wants to get into North Western University. Carson is told that if he wants to get into North Western he has to make a literary magazine with submissions from other students. Soon he realizes that the only way people will submit anything is if he resorts to blackmail. 
 I really liked the concept of Struck By Lightning because it was original and unlike anything I have ever read before. The book is written in journal entry form which really helped the reader see exactly what Carson was thinking. 
 One of my major problems of Struck By Lightning is with our main character. Chris Colfer has created a very antagonistic and negative character who really got my nerves. Every single thing Philips seemed to have an issue with even the littlest things. Carson's attitude was very condescending and I couldn't stomach hearing him complain again and again. I guess Colfer succeeded in creating a hostile character but the problem is that I didn't like Carson much. 
 Considering Struck By Lightning is a coming-of-age story I expected more of a change in Carson's outlook. Carson does grow from the beginning of the novel to the end but it is rather abrupt and short. Carson Philips becomes a new person in like 2 pages and everything is suddenly good. In my opinion it was rather unrealistic and irritating. I really wanted to see Carson slowly grow into a better person because you can't be a jerk all your life and you decide to become a better person in one second. 
 Besides my dislike of Carson I did like the supporting characters a whole lot more. Melanie was a character that made me laugh a bit and her whole mix up with Suzanne Collins was extremely hilarious. The other characters are very stereotypical but it is a very accurate view of High School students. 
 The ending of Struck By Lightning is really strange and I have mostly negative feelings about it. I don't want to give it away but I felt like the ending of the book was overly dramatic and uncalled for. I just feel like a contemporary novel should have a realistic ending to it that really ties up everything nice and neat. The ending of Struck By Lightning makes you think but is way too unbelievable. 
 Struck By Lightning is a twisted story of one high schooler's attempt at a better future. SBL isn't always realistic but it makes up for it with humor. I haven't seen the movie yet but I do hope I like the movie better than this book. I look forward to reading Colfer's The Wishing Spell and his other upcoming books.