Most of the time,in many instances, hearing the same joke or seeing the same meme for the second time will not give us the same feeling of laughter we had when we first heard or saw them. But not in the case of reading the dark, hilarious, witty, and sarcastic novel "Struck by Lightning (The Carson Phillips Journal) ''. I've read this book three times due to boredom and because I've loved it since the first time I read it. Yet,I am still laughing out loud and sniggering like the way I did when I first read this. It's my comfort book for these uncomfortable times.
Lightning is formed by the attraction between positive and negative charges. Struck by Lightning( The Carson Phillips Journal) is almost the same too. It's a perfect combination of positive—humor, sarcasm, and hilarious dialogues; and negative—sad side stories and some happenings that reflect on our world like bullying. This book is beautiful yet hurtful like lightning.
The Book and the Author
Struck by Lightning is a young-adult epistolary novel written based on the screenplay of the film of the same title, starred in and written by Chris Colfer. He is a #1 New York Times best-selling author, a Golden Globe-winning actor, honored as a member of the TIME 100, and well known as Kurt Hummel on Glee. His works include Struck by Lightning, Stranger Than Fiction, and The Land of Stories series.
The Summary
Struck by Lightning follows the journey of Carson Phillips, an outcast high school senior in school with people he hates and hated him too, and is stuck with his depressed single mother in a conservative and small-minded town. He had a goal: to escape to Northwestern University to become a hard-hitting editor and journalist. In order to do that, he needs to bolster his college application by creating a literary magazine. Doing this means he needs submissions from other students who hate him. There's no possibility of students' submissions, so he will create possibilities—blackmailing is the key.
The Review
The plot of Struck by Lightning is unpredictable, engaging, and interesting. The main character may inform the readers of future events and his plans, but you can't predict what will really happen next. The story is filled with clichés, especially the characters, but the plot is pretty new for me and interesting,not like the revenge-of-the-nerd movies you have watched. The story contains some scenes and events that seem irrelevant, like reminisces and flashbacks, but these may help you understand more about Carson and his situation. The plot and the whole story are as thrilling and beautiful yet hurtful as lightning.
The characters have a big impact on the development and enrichment of the story. Most of them, as described by Carson as walking clichés, include the antagonists: mean queen-bee cheerleading captain with her bully varsity athlete boyfriend; a weird emo loner; a competent student council member; a high school fvckboy; and Carson's dumb best friend. You can see most of these characters in every romantic-comedy high school film. Their characteristics, actions, and dialogues might have made them total stereotypes, but their secrets and backstory made them the other way around. Numerous characters are very common, but not the protagonist, Carson Phillips. He's a unique character with great and relatable principles, opinions, and vision, and a sarcastic and smart personality. I love his motivation and dreams. I can relate to him most of the time. Characters differ in the story; there are dynamic, static, flat, and round.
The point of view of the story was in the first person's POV given the fact that Struck by Lightning is an epistolary composed of Carson's journal entries. The pacing of the story is easy to follow, with a date indicated in every journal entry; sometimes, it becomes slower because of Carson's side comments and thoughts, and his memories. The setting in the story is perfect for the plot and has a huge impact to characters' actions, backstories,and personalities. The dialogues in Struck by Lightning are hilarious and relatable. They are perfect for each character and reflect the character's role and personality. Every element in the story fits together.
There are a lot of conflicts throughout the story. The small conflicts contribute to and connect to the main one, which is bolstering Carson's college application by creating a literary magazine that needs students' submissions. The conflict really made this story interesting. It is not all about comedy. Tension is also created between the readers and the book. Readers can sympathize with the characters, especially Carson. Also, at the times when Carson tells about his plans and future events in school, the readers' excitement and curiosity about what will happen next grow.
I highly appreciate the author's writing style in this story. He demonstrates versatility and differences in writing that can be seen in different literary entries by different students and other articles in the book.
In conclusion, Struck by Lightning has an interesting and unpredictable plot. The characters are stereotypes, yet unique at the same time. It's an epistolary in the first person's POV with not so slow pacing and a perfect setting. The dialogues are funny and relatable. Conflicts are effectively aligned with the main one and with the plot. Tension is there between the book and the readers. The author showcased a great writing style. Struck by Lightning will zap you to death by laughing and will shock you in the end.
Here are some of my favorite parts:
Not really funny, but I found these relatable. I can see myself in the character sometimes.
Reference
All photos were mine.