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.
At once laugh-out-loud funny, deliciously dark, and remarkably smart, Struck By Lightning unearths the dirt that lies just below the surface of high school. At a time when bullying torments so many young people today, this unique and important novel sheds light with humor and wit on an issue that deeply resonates with countless teens and readers.
I'm still kinda in shock over the ending...not quite the resolution I was expecting...
The book does a great job introducing the narrator in the opening 'chapters'. If you don't like him in the first chapter, you probably won't like him in the rest of the book.
Carson is snarky to a fault, and downright nasty sometimes. He sees himself as the smartest guy in the room and has to prove it to you, and has the tactfulness of Dr. House. You do see where he's coming from and how shitty his life is, so I ended up rooting for him eventually, but I think on the whole I would liken him to Squidward. Yeah, he's the highschool version of Squidward with maybe a bit of Holden Caulfield thrown in.
Still, there were more than a couple times where I wanted to slap him, especially when it came to his dismissal of mental health issues/medications.
I'm a little interested in the film, to see if any of my hangups were altered a bit, but I don't see myself reading this book again. An okay standalone, but there was more highschool drama and bullshit than I'd like to return to. Again, if you can make it through the first chapter, you'll probably enjoy the book just fine, or at least sympathize with the narrator enough to make it worth it.
That ending though...
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
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