The Odds of Lightning by Arya T
I started The Odds of Lightning (written by Jocelyn Davies) a few weeks ago and I'm just about halfway through the book. It's an imaginative book that describes the struggles of teenage life and how friendships can be remade over time. The story focuses on four friends: Tiny, Lu, Will, and Nathaniel. Each person has their own internal struggles and throughout the book, the reader can see how these struggles affect each individual's daily life.
The book starts off by describing each person's individual struggle. Tiny has an affection for Josh and is insecure about herself. Luella (or Lu for short) is dealing with her dad leaving her. Nathaniel is worried and stressed that he won't live up to his brother, and Will is nervous about how the rest of high school will turn out. Each of the descriptions in the book goes into depth about how these characters are feeling, and it sort of establishes a personal connection between the reader and the characters in the book. The book provides the conflict that is essential for the book while still establishing a personal connection to the reader which really emphasizes how these characters feel at the time. Even though these characters used to be friends, they have grown apart over the years, and they don't hang out with each other nearly as much as they used to.
The friendship between the four of them is reignited when they all meet at Will's party. They decide to take a stroll to the roof to talk about their past lives when they unexpectedly get locked out on the roof during a dangerous thunderstorm. For a second, there's a bright light and then everyone sees darkness. Nathaniel (the "smart one") realizes that they've been hit by lightning and are somehow still alive and unhurt. They notice a few other things too: Will has been turned into Jon (a minor side character), Nathaniel has superhuman strength, Tiny is invisible, and Lu is just feeling really weird. They all want to get back to their normal selves, so they plan to go to Tobias (Nathaniel's older brother) for help. They get delayed at the subway due to the storm, but that doesn't deter them from achieving their goal. As Will states, he "would sooner drown than give up" (this subway delay is where I stopped in the book).
So far, this book is a very unique and interesting read. A lot of the chapters are filled with character development, emotional conflict, and personal conversations which I find to be very interesting. The chapters also contain flashbacks which really add on to the development and understanding of the characters. The book has two conflicts which intertwine with each other. Every person has their own inner conflict as well as the overarching conflict of the story (the weird side effects from the lightning strike). It's very easy to form a connection with the characters and the book is filled with quick character development and change, but I feel like the story moves too quickly for me to fully comprehend what is happening in the moment. From what I've read, I would give this book a 7.5/10 stars.
The book starts off by describing each person's individual struggle. Tiny has an affection for Josh and is insecure about herself. Luella (or Lu for short) is dealing with her dad leaving her. Nathaniel is worried and stressed that he won't live up to his brother, and Will is nervous about how the rest of high school will turn out. Each of the descriptions in the book goes into depth about how these characters are feeling, and it sort of establishes a personal connection between the reader and the characters in the book. The book provides the conflict that is essential for the book while still establishing a personal connection to the reader which really emphasizes how these characters feel at the time. Even though these characters used to be friends, they have grown apart over the years, and they don't hang out with each other nearly as much as they used to.
The friendship between the four of them is reignited when they all meet at Will's party. They decide to take a stroll to the roof to talk about their past lives when they unexpectedly get locked out on the roof during a dangerous thunderstorm. For a second, there's a bright light and then everyone sees darkness. Nathaniel (the "smart one") realizes that they've been hit by lightning and are somehow still alive and unhurt. They notice a few other things too: Will has been turned into Jon (a minor side character), Nathaniel has superhuman strength, Tiny is invisible, and Lu is just feeling really weird. They all want to get back to their normal selves, so they plan to go to Tobias (Nathaniel's older brother) for help. They get delayed at the subway due to the storm, but that doesn't deter them from achieving their goal. As Will states, he "would sooner drown than give up" (this subway delay is where I stopped in the book).
So far, this book is a very unique and interesting read. A lot of the chapters are filled with character development, emotional conflict, and personal conversations which I find to be very interesting. The chapters also contain flashbacks which really add on to the development and understanding of the characters. The book has two conflicts which intertwine with each other. Every person has their own inner conflict as well as the overarching conflict of the story (the weird side effects from the lightning strike). It's very easy to form a connection with the characters and the book is filled with quick character development and change, but I feel like the story moves too quickly for me to fully comprehend what is happening in the moment. From what I've read, I would give this book a 7.5/10 stars.
Whoa, this book sounds cool. I liked the way you give a basic description of everybody, then explain the events. When I began reading the review, I thought this book would be a cliché high school romance novel. But as I continued reading, I got more and more intrigued (especially the lightning part). I hope you have fun finishing the book. Great review!
ReplyDeleteI think that this now sounds like a great novel to give a shot at, if I'm searching for a fast-paced action book. I think you did a great job describing the pros and cons of this book, especially talking about the pacing. You also summarized well, leaving me curious about The Odds of Lightning. Nice review!
ReplyDeleteVery nice review. Your summary was very clear, and I experienced the character development of the four main characters as well. I liked how you described some of the down sides of the book instead of just good things. If you hadn't said that you're not finished with the book, I would've thought this is a complete review. I don't really think its my type of book, but your review still makes it sound interesting.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like this book is pretty good at making sudden plot twists and getting the reader’s attention. It’s nice to see that it focuses a lot on the development of the characters, which I can imagine would be dramatic having received fantastical powers. You wrote a helpful and descriptive review, and I’ll definitely look into reading this book.
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