A review by nucleardubs
The Odds of Lightning by Jocelyn Davies

adventurous emotional lighthearted mysterious reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This book was arguably one of the most infuriating books I've read in a while. Without spoilers, the book is very interesting, plot wise. It's set up as an end of the world scenario, which is why I picked it up in the first place. However, one of the four main characters was unlikable throughout the whole book; he was rude before and during his development (which involved an identity crisis) and even after, it was hard to like him solely because he was weird to his love interest. With spoilers,
let's get my main gripe out of the way: why the HELL does a college freshman kiss a high school freshman??? Why is it written off as NORMAL and ROMANTIC? The only reason I didn't put the book down immediately afterwards is because less than a page later, he gets hit by a car. I cannot believe that this book had the gall to say this character felt not seen or heard after this adult man consistently flirted with her when she was a preteen becoming a teen. And oh my god, don't even get me started on the ending. They go through all this development, and they decide not to end this massive storm with their discovered "fix" and instead want to live with their issues and try and cope with them. However, at the last moment, lighting strikes and, I shit you not, they lose ALL their memories from that night and go take their SAT like normal, no one's thoughts or specific actions being shared after that. The book ends with that.
Overall, I give it two stars for a very cool plot and mostly likeable characters on a base level, but poor writing and weird character traits outweigh the good in this one.
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