Struck By Lightning: The Carson Phillips Journal

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Struck By Lightning: The Carson Phillips Journal

3.95 of 5 stars 3.95 · rating details · 2,719 ratings · 480 reviews

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, d...more

Hardcover, 272 pages

Published November 20th 2012 by Little Brown Books for Young Readers

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Jan 12, 2013 Stephanie (Stepping out of the Page) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own, arc-or-review, young-adult, realistic-fiction, read-in-2012, movies-or-tv, lgbt-characters, contemporary

Okay, I'll openly admit it, I was very wary of reading this book, simply because it was written by someone from Glee and I really don't like Glee. However, I wanted a quick read so I picked this one up and gave it a go. I'll be honest and say that I'm glad I gave this book a chance - though it was pretty much what I expected, I wasn't disappointed.

Struck By Lightning is the journal of Carson Phillips, a high school senior who is determined to get into Northwestern and become a top editor. Carson...more Okay, I'll openly admit it, I was very wary of reading this book, simply because it was written by someone from Glee and I really don't like Glee. However, I wanted a quick read so I picked this one up and gave it a go. I'll be honest and say that I'm glad I gave this book a chance - though it was pretty much what I expected, I wasn't disappointed.

Struck By Lightning is the journal of Carson Phillips, a high school senior who is determined to get into Northwestern and become a top editor. Carson is also a bit of an outcast at his school, meaning it's difficult for him to get any support in writing a literary magazine which is essential for his university application. As no one will willingly help him, Carson turns to blackmail in order to get other members of the school to write for his magazine.

Carson is a character who feels very real. Though he wasn't particularly nice at the start, I did understand where he was coming from a lot of the time and I think that a lot of people will be able to connect with him in some way - he did tend to say things that a lot of us probably secretly think to ourselves at some point. I don't know whether I liked or loathed Carson, my opinion upon him changed a lot throughout, though I am very glad that he did seem to grow as a person as he realised some of his naiveté in regards to other people. Initially, Carson was pretty self absorbed, intolerant and not very understanding of others - he just saw what people were like on the surface. The whole story is about Carson discovering more about himself and the others around him and it succeeds in doing that.

The rest of the characters in the story were complete clichés, but it actually didn't matter one bit - in fact, it just added more to the whole feeling of the book. Though the book is generally quite humorous and easy to read, it does touch on some serious issues, such as alcohol abuse and dementia. I think that Colfer did a good job of interweaving these storylines in, not allowing them to completely bog down the book, but to add a some integrity to the book. I was quite impressed with how Colfer made the story seem realistic, inserting all sorts of elements from teenage life.

Overall, this was a fun enough book and for anyone who wants a fun, quick read, this is for you - it's amusing, authentic and easy to read. If you're a fan of Chris Colfer, I'm pretty sure this would make the book even better! (less)

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Dec 02, 2012 Connie Tang rated it 2 of 5 stars

I will be honest, I'm a huge fan of Chris Colfer, but I read this book trying to remain very unbiased.

For SBL the book (which by the way, the movie seems a lot better than the book and I'm extremely extremely excited for it).

This book is too obvious. It spells out exactly what the character is feeling and thinking, which makes sense for a journal-entry novel... but Carson, the main narrator also has such a remarkable clarity of how he's transformed that it's entirely too unrealistic. It rings f...more

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Dec 05, 2012 Skyla rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have already preordered this book. Why? Because it's CHRIS COLFER and the film was hilarious.

I saw the film version of Struck by Lightning at a film festival and I was really excited to get my hands on the book version and read it because the book version always has more in it but I found the book lacked a lot of the charm of the film.

This is supposed be the journal of Carson Phillips and yet I felt like it was more of someone narrating it rather than a diary. I mean who starts writing their d...more

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Dec 29, 2012 Monica rated it 4 of 5 stars

Being a huge fan of Chris Colfer, when I heard that he was writing books I decided to check them out. I have The Land of Stories which regretfully I have yet to read (it's not catching my interest enough yet) but I just finished reading his newest book Struck By Lightning: The Carson Phillips Journal based of the screenplay that he wrote. I fully expected to go into the book and be amused by it but still feeling that it was juvenile considering what it is about, but I was pleasantly surprised. W...more

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Dec 28, 2012 Sarehr rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: amazing

I’m sorry for all spelling mistakes as well as the grammar mistakes. I’ll correct them later. Also : SPOILER WARNING

So I got my copy of „ Struck by lightning- The Carson Philips journal” by Chris Colfer today and after aprox. 3-4 hours I finished it.

I love and adore Chris but like in my last comment I want to keep him out of the actual story, so I can judge it without problems. This was a little bit harder this time, since I knew that Carson is played by him. So all the time when I imagined Cars...more

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Jan 24, 2013 Princess Kayla rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: annoying-protagonist, boring, disappointing, just-ok, not-my-cup-of-tea, slow, the-infinite-shelf-of-blah

I’m going to keep this review short and simple just like the book. Struck by Lightening was a funny, quirky book that surprised me. I liked it more than I thought I would, but I didn’t like it all that much. I am a fan of Chris Colfer’s acting and singing, but his writing, eh not so much. I am however dying to see the movie because come on Rebel Wilson…

photo tumblr_menc0gogjX1qbabvao5_250_zps9a4b5051.gif

But her character in the book was so blah, which brings me back to why I only gave it three stars, and am seriously contemplating 2.

Pros
Colfer’...more

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Feb 03, 2013 Laura rated it 1 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jun 16, 2013 Victoria rated it 5 of 5 stars

(English is not my first language so there will probably be some mistakes)

Okay, let me just start up by making one thing clear: I usually only read fantasy. To be honest the only reason I read this book was because it is written by Chris Colfer. AND OH GOD I'M GLAD I DID.

I read this book I one day. It's not a thick book and you won't be able to put this thing down. So don't be surprised!

The main character is Carson and if you think your life is hard his is probably worse. I think many teenagers...more

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Jun 09, 2013 Rebecca Alora rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-own, books-read-in-2013

I'm actually giving this a 3.5, but here's my review crossposted at my book blog Vicariously!

This book...was nothing like what I expected. Coming from Chris Colfer, of Glee fame, I expected something uplifting and funny. What I got? It was funny, most definitely, albeit in a twisted kind of way. It was, however, not uplifting. It was unrealistically realistic, a contradiction on so many levels.

So Carson Phillips wants to go to Northwestern. He wants to go there so bad that a) it's the only schoo...more I'm actually giving this a 3.5, but here's my review crossposted at my book blog Vicariously!

This book...was nothing like what I expected. Coming from Chris Colfer, of Glee fame, I expected something uplifting and funny. What I got? It was funny, most definitely, albeit in a twisted kind of way. It was, however, not uplifting. It was unrealistically realistic, a contradiction on so many levels.

So Carson Phillips wants to go to Northwestern. He wants to go there so bad that a) it's the only school he's bothered to apply to and b) he's worked his butt off to get the credentials to get there. Only problem? Colleges aren't satisfied with good grades and a couple extra-curriculars anymore. They want you to show initiative, be innovative, and Carson gets the amazing idea to start a literary magazine. His issue? Getting people to participate. No one likes Carson, save Mallery, so getting help is gonna be difficult. Luckily Carson comes up with a solution: He'll blackmail his classmates into helping him. And it works.

Carson Phillips is an amazing anti-hero. He seems so distinctly prickly. He comes from a podunk little town where he doesn't fit in, his family is alarmingly dysfunctional, he has no friends, and the only person who he actually loves is losing their mind to dementia. He is not a well liked person, which is probably not helped by the fact almost every word that comes out of his mouth is laced with derision and condescension. He doesn't hide the fact that he finds everyone surrounding him classless, beneath him, and idiotic. He's constantly dreaming of the good life where he's at the top of the food chain, people fawning over him. He's a snob, a very loveable and snarky one, but a snob.

It would be very easy to hate Carson, just by reading this review, or by the first three or four chapters of the books. But the thing is...his life is so incredibly awful. His mom is basically a pill junkie who lives off what his father decides to give them since he walked out all those years ago and wants to tear Carson down so that he'll stay with her for the rest of his life (how this manifests in the book is awful by the by). His parents aren't divorced because his mom won't sign the papers so they fight, scream, and Carson's mother just cries. His grandmother, the woman who was his rock, who made sure he was gonna be as okay as possible, reassured him that he was loved? She's in a home with her brain deteriorating from dementia. Sometimes she doesn't remember him. And those kids he's so condescending to? They're just as, if not more, awful to him. And don't even get me started on his dad.

Since the book is really about Carson's life, no other characters really get developed, which is sad, because some of the caricatures characters have a lot of potential. If watching Carson grow from a selfish, bitter, holier-than-thou, vindictive, one prozac prescription away from happiness-like humanoid, into a real kid, one who realizes he's not the only person in the world, and whom starts to care about the kids he's blackmailed. Of course he does it with a flair only Carson is capable of and a quip asking why they chose him as a therapist. And through the completion of his literary magazine he finds out that not everyone is what they seem.

The ending isn't a shocker so much as...wow. I can't believe they let it end like that, You'd be extremely hard pressed to find that kind of finality in any YA today. It's a black comedy to the highest degree. And maybe you kind of learn something.(less)

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May 27, 2013 Brynn Hoffman rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book was a nice, fairly short read, but it was also a very unique story. I had heard of the author, Chris Colfer and seen him on the show Glee, which I enjoy watching, but I wasn't sure if this book would be a success. After reading it though, I was very surprised at how good of an author he was. Overall, I thought that this book was unique, different, and very entertaining.

It's about a boy named Carson Phillips who is sort of a bitter person who has very sarcastic thoughts and says very w...more

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May 26, 2013 Becky rated it 4 of 5 stars

I love Chris Colfer, I obviously know him from Glee and know how talented he is. Last year I read his children's book 'Land of Stories' and really enjoyed it. I was impressed. I then saw him on the Ellen Degeneres show talking about a movie he had directed and starred in, Struck by Lightning. I then found out there was a book of it and I knew I had to get hold of it. I haven't managed to see the film yet but I am hoping to soon. It's not available in the UK yet so I have to wait for now.

I saw th...more I love Chris Colfer, I obviously know him from Glee and know how talented he is. Last year I read his children's book 'Land of Stories' and really enjoyed it. I was impressed. I then saw him on the Ellen Degeneres show talking about a movie he had directed and starred in, Struck by Lightning. I then found out there was a book of it and I knew I had to get hold of it. I haven't managed to see the film yet but I am hoping to soon. It's not available in the UK yet so I have to wait for now.

I saw the book in the shops though and knew I had to get it. This is nothing like his other book, this one is much more grown up and reads like a personal narrative. It has quite a bit of swearing in it and may bot be suitable for younger readers.

Carson comes across as a bit of an ass to be honest, thinks he is superior to everyone around him and just wants to move on to better things, but as you find out more about his past and what he wants from life, I came to understand and even like him a bit more. I could really feel his frustration and impatience with those around him who just don't engage their brains and i have to say I can totally identify with that. I have noticed myself get impatient like that too. I think at some point we've all dealt with people who are just idiots!

You actually don't get told much about any of the characters, but the bits you are told shape them well and I felt I had a good picture of who everyone was. Although I do think it is set up for more information to come out, you get a brief insight into their lives and their troubles but then nothing happens about them.

I already knew the ending from seeing Colfer talk about it on Ellen, but it did come quite suddenly and still surprised me in a way. It's quite a stark reality that anything can change in a moment and not everything works out as we might expect it to.

I agree with some comments that this would probably actually make a better film due to the way it's written, and I suppose that's how it first came about anyway, but that's not to say it's a bad book, it's really not, I did enjoy it and would recommend it. (less)

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Apr 17, 2013 Colleen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: humour, young-adult

Although my family watches Glee, I only catch snippets of it as I'm passing through the room and I really don't like it very much. I brought the book home from the library for my teenage daughter, who loves the show and the character Chris Colfer plays. After reading it, she suggested that I read it, so that's the only reason I gave it a shot. I'm actually glad I did. I enjoyed it much more than I expected I would.

The book is in journal format. Carson Phillips, a 17-year old high school student,...more

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Apr 05, 2013 Jenny Jackson rated it 2 of 5 stars

I am somewhat conflicted writing this review. I didn't actually realize that the author of this book was the guy from glee. I think I would have read it with a different perspective, actually I probably would not have read it at all... This book was about a high schooler in a small town that couldn't wait to leave. He has a dream of being a writer for the New Yorker and he will do anything to get there. He learns that, in order to go to the college he wants, he needs more extracurriculars so he...more

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Mar 24, 2013 Sabrina *The REAL Princess* rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: good-message

When I found out that Chris Colfer wrote a book:

When I read said book:

That was not what I was expecting ... at all

But that's not saying I didn't like the book; on the contrary, I found myself really enjoying Colfer's book.

What I found surprising was the main character, Carson's overall ... douchiness (for lack of better words). He was well, most definitely not Kurt Hummel! He was conceited and so arragont and simply negative.

I loved him.

He was so genuine and I could visualize Carson roaming the...more

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Mar 24, 2013 Joanna rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Mar 20, 2013 Ellen Cohen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Overall I found this an easy read and very enjoyable. The main character is very sympathetic even though it is quite clear he is not the most likable character. He is fleshed out and quite in depth while the other characters are not, though that makes sense as this is all written from his own perspective. Although the book is quite funny and witty throughout, my overall impression, especially at the end was more sad and longing than it was hopeful. I finally felt like I really wanted this charac...more Overall I found this an easy read and very enjoyable. The main character is very sympathetic even though it is quite clear he is not the most likable character. He is fleshed out and quite in depth while the other characters are not, though that makes sense as this is all written from his own perspective. Although the book is quite funny and witty throughout, my overall impression, especially at the end was more sad and longing than it was hopeful. I finally felt like I really wanted this character to succeed and it seems like everything and everyone is so against him. I do always find that is the hallmark of a great piece of fiction - if it truly makes me feel strongly - even if that feeling is sadness.

I liked the observations and insight - both the earnest ones and the witty ones. A few times it seemed like the main character was getting almost preachy, but he then calls himself out on that and goes back to being a bit of a jerk, so it never seems too forced. There were a few times when a metaphor seemed awkward, but even those were always interesting, so I didn't mind it.

While I am sure the overall story as well as its details are entirely fictional, it is very interesting to see a character that is so angry and uses his anger as a way to fuel his drive and ambition to make something of himself and to compare that to the author's own story of getting out of a small and constricting town and achieving great things.

I will say there is a lot of cursing throughout the book. That's no problem for me as an adult and it probably makes it appealing to the young adult crowd, too, but it might be good for people to know this ahead of time if they are concerned about what their children might be reading. However, it certainly isn't anything they wouldn't have heard already if they're in high school.

I got the audio version of the book because I find it really interesting to hear the author's take on the way the characters sound. Although most of this is in the main character's voice, the author does have the chance to do some other voices, which is always interesting. It also is interesting to hear the emphasis used by the author, so I highly recommend listening to the audio version. I also am really looking forward to the movie because I would like to see what differences there might be in the two versions.

I am glad to have this in my collection and I really can't wait for more writing from Chris Colfer. He really shows such promise as an author.(less)

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Feb 27, 2013 Judy & Marianne from Long and Short Reviews rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary, young-adult, non-erotic

Originally posted at: http://www.longandshortreviews.com/bo...

My high school was never this interesting.

I’ve never watched Glee and I didn’t know anything about Chris Colfer before I read this book. Maybe I’ve lived under a rock, but that’s okay. When I passed this book at the store, I stopped to check it out. The title grabbed me right away. Struck by Lightning. Okay, I’ll give it a try. I’m glad I did.

Carson Phillips is the standard outcast kid with huge dreams. He’s not had the best start in...more

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Feb 18, 2013 Enchantedtoreadyou rated it 5 of 5 stars

I honestly picked that book up because I am a fan of Chris on Glee. But that it would turn out to be my favourite book in 2012 came out as a surprise. It was witty, emotional and totally gripping. Even though it was short, it still was stuffed with hilarious comments, cynical thoughts and very true and through-thought passages. The characters he created were all placed carefully and contributed to the whole.
All in all, I gushed about this book over an hour, but my fingers would hurt too much if...more

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Feb 18, 2013 La Mala rated it 4 of 5 stars

Esto no tiene nada que ver con los romances melodrámaticos y exagerados de Glee ni con la personalidad esterotipada y DIVA de Kurt Hummell.

Habiendo aclarado ese punto .... QUE LINDA SORPRESA fue esta historia . Sacando el modo de escribir normal para el género de novelas adolescentes (bien simple ; no es Faulkner pero por suerte tampoco terrible como la voz insoportable y llorona que narra The Perks of being a Wallflower) , es una historia bien original sobre un pibe de diecisiete años cuya may...more

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Feb 11, 2013 Emily Stringham rated it 5 of 5 stars

This easily jumped up to take the spot of my 'favorite book'. It's cynical, sarcastic, and brutally honest. It puts high school into perspective- and, in doing so, makes some profound statements about the education system. "... elementary school, aka the first place they try to brainwash you in a small town." (6) "Can I please just say that it has been scientifically proven that teenagers learn and test better when they go to school later in the day? Which I suppose would be taken into considera...more

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Jan 28, 2013 Taylor rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favourite-books

There seems to be a lot of wavering reviews about this book. For me, even though it's different than the normal genre of books I read, Struck By Lightning turned out to be one of the best books I've ever read. It was not only impossible to put down but also sarcastic, witty and humorous.

I guess one of the reasons people rate this book down is because of the main character: Carson Phillips. Carson is a difficult character, yes, but he isn't annoying or painful. He is just difficult to understand...more

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Jan 21, 2013 Juliette Straub rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-reports

Struck By Lightning
Chris Colfer
Realistic Fiction
8.2

Carson Philips lives in a small town called Clover. He has lived there all his life and wants to get out of there as soon as possible. He is a senior in high school and wants to graduate and go to Northwestern. Since he was ten it was just him and his mom at home. His dad left after years of fighting every night with his mom. His mom tried to do everything she could to try and fix the marriage but it didn't work and they ended up separated. Now...more Struck By Lightning
Chris Colfer
Realistic Fiction
8.2

Carson Philips lives in a small town called Clover. He has lived there all his life and wants to get out of there as soon as possible. He is a senior in high school and wants to graduate and go to Northwestern. Since he was ten it was just him and his mom at home. His dad left after years of fighting every night with his mom. His mom tried to do everything she could to try and fix the marriage but it didn't work and they ended up separated. Now Carson's mom lives her life on the couch with nothing else to do. Carson is the editor of the school newspaper and the head the journalism class. He also runs the writers club. He hates just about everyone at the school he goes to because he thinks they are all stereotypical jerks with nothing going for them. All he wants to do is get out of Clover and get to Northwestern. From there he wants to become the editor and chief of the New Yorker. Also he wants to be the youngest published journalist in the New York and LA times along with many other very popular newspapers and magazines.

The conflicts of this book start when Carson realizes that all the literary work he has been doing to get into Northwestern won't be enough to get him in and that he must do more. With not enough time before the application deadline he decides to make a literary magazine involving many members of his schools help. Except only one person will help him. His best friend Malorie and he needs more then that. So he decides to start blackmailing the other students. With Malorie’s help he is able to find something to hold over the students he needs to get involved for everyone else to get involved.

The climax comes at the first meeting for the literary magazine. Carson explains the jobs of each of the blackmail victims to all of them and they get into a fight. They are all mad at Carson for using their personal lives against them and he retaliates. He screams saying that they have tortured him and so many other for years and that he needs them to help just once and that he doesn't care whether or not they like him afterwards he just need their cooperation until the project is finished, then screams at them to get out of his sight. Just a few days later he already has entries from the majority of people at the school, because if the cheerleaders and jocks do it then everyone has to do it, which is exactly what Carson wants. Also during this point of the book, Carson and his mom go to visit his grandma in a retirement home. They got a call that she had fallen and they wanted them there to take care of her and to be with her while she recovered.

Carson is sitting with his mom outside the rest home and he tells her that he got accepted to Northwestern but never confirmed so he was denied. His mom tells him that she knew he was accepted but she threw his letter away. She says she wanted to protect him and that she didn’t want him to turn out like her, following a pipe dream that would never come true no matter how hard he worked. Carson can’t take it and drives away. He doesn’t go home for a while but eventually has to. On the last day of school as Carson is walking to his car, he gets struck by lightning. The reporters and the principal say that everyone will miss him and that he was loved but everyone else knows that’s a lie.

I find Carson to be a lot like Holden. Very judgmental and critical of everything. He absolutely refuses to be sucked into the typical high school life and brands himself as an outcast. Just like Holden he thinks that people are fake because they aren’t different from anyone else and he thinks that he is original because he feels different. Carson and Holden are just like any other high school self branded out casts, rude and cynical. They want so badly to be different that they can’t figure out that they are the same. Carson’s way of being different is being obnoxious and looking down at people the same way Holden does. This shows that the human experience is really the same from “out cast” to “out cast” they haven’t been struck down by anyone they just want to feel like they matter. That they aren’t the same as the sea of people around them. Except just like Holden and Carson, they are the same. They are normal people that want attention. They will do anything to find it. Whether it’s wearing twenty pounds of make up to be “beautiful” or it’s refusing to follow social norms. Everyone around you is somehow identical to you in the way they act. They do it for attention.
(less)

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Jan 21, 2013 Nicole rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: light, fiction, male-pov, read-in-2013, teenage-wasteland, ya

I have not seen the movie yet and I’ve heard (can’t remember where right now) that it’s very “film school project”-ish, very obviously a first project. I figured I’d give the book a go, though; I like Chris Colfer. And I was super involved in my high school lit mag (that’s what the cool kids call literary magazines, guys, get with it) and I thought this would probably resurrect some fun memories.

Struck by Lightning was a strange read for me. Carson Phillips is not a sympathetic character, necess...more I have not seen the movie yet and I’ve heard (can’t remember where right now) that it’s very “film school project”-ish, very obviously a first project. I figured I’d give the book a go, though; I like Chris Colfer. And I was super involved in my high school lit mag (that’s what the cool kids call literary magazines, guys, get with it) and I thought this would probably resurrect some fun memories.

Struck by Lightning was a strange read for me. Carson Phillips is not a sympathetic character, necessarily—he has a very high opinion of himself, doesn’t hesitate to rub his self-perceived superiority in others’ faces, and he even describes himself as a prick at one point—and yet I felt bad for him. His grandmother, the only person who understands him, has Alzheimer’s and rarely recognizes him when he comes to visit. His father pulled a disappearing act (“He makes Carmen Sandiego look super reliable”) and destroyed Carson’s mother, who now passes her days watching talk shows and washing down her scrips with booze. Carson’s life is rough and his attitude only makes it harder. So I was never sure if I wanted to slap him around or hug him.

He is funny, though. One of the submissions to his lit mag is a girl’s account of standing outside Justin Bieber’s house, titled “Being Mrs. Bieber.” Quoth Carson:

Like, are you kidding me? Do you seriously think he’s gonna walk outside, see you, and be like, “Girl, I’ve watched you watching me for months now and I think I love you.”

HA! And the submission ends with the girls deciding to go stand outside the house of a Glee castmember. Oh, C. Colf!

The “learning a lesson about the world and changing for the better” part of the ending was predictable, but the actual ending-ending? Not gonna lie, it surprised me. I didn’t like it and it gave me a sad, but it surprised me. I look forward to seeing what else Chris Colfer does in the future. This is just his warm-up act. I don’t think he’s going away any time soon and since he’s multitalented and makes me laugh, I’m okay with that.(less)

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Jan 16, 2013 Frezanda rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: youngadult

I've just finished reading this book. Due to the many movie references in this book, let me describe how I feel using a movie scene.
I feel like Pat from Silver Linings Playbook after finished reading "A Farewell to Arms" except I couldn't have the satisfaction of throwing this book away and burn it if possible (I compensated by punching the delete button at my reader with passion)
First, the tone of this book is pretty condescending. All the characters are one dimensional and full of themselves....more

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Jan 15, 2013 James rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: guy-reads, ya

Fresh, original story told in a real way. The main character, Carson Phillips, is the smart, ambitious kid in school - he's also the head of the Creative Writing club & school newspaper (which no one reads!) - which means he picked on & bullied by everyone. But rather than sit down & take it, he fights back the only way he knows how -- with words.

Carson's sarcastic wit is biting at times, which can be off putting to some, humorous to others - but the author lets us know that Carson...more

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Jan 14, 2013 Shannon rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

I absolutely LOVED this book! You can get away with watching the movie before the book. Normally I always read the book first, but in this case, since he made the movie first, I think it was appropriate to watch it first. Then, when I read the book, it was neat to see a couple gaps that happened between scenes of the film. However, if you want to read the book first that's fine too! It really can go either way.

The novel is filled with witty and hilarious humor. However, it will also break your...more

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Jan 05, 2013 Ingrid rated it 4 of 5 stars

As Chris Colfer's #1 fan, I had been looking forward to the movie about a year before the release date. So when I found out it was also a book, I figured, why not? First off, let me say this: In all of Chris's interviews when they ask him, "What is the difference between you and Kurt?" (his character on Glee) he always mentions that Kurt is very eloquent while he is very sarcastic. HE'S NOT KIDDING ABOUT BEING SARCASTIC. Even though I was fully aware that Kurt's not real and Chris is just an act...more

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Jan 04, 2013 Lizz Dorovitsine rated it 3 of 5 stars

I was incredibly excited when I first found out that Chris Colfer had written the screenplay for a new movie, and the first thing I did was order the accompanying book from Amazon. And while I genuinely appreciate Colfer's talent and creativity, I think the book gets far more attention than it deserves because of its author's fame. That being said, a lot of important themes found their way into the book, and it was definitely thought-provoking at certain points. I adored the idea of blackmailing...more

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Jan 03, 2013 Rebecca rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: pretty-cover, hilarious, awesome-writing, light-read

So I've just finished this book ... and I want to begin with saying that it was completely HILARIOUS!

Sure, I was already expecting a lot, from reading it, but it still kept on surprising me a lot through-out the whole reading.

So, Carson Philip is a 17 year old boy who lives in a small (also small-minded) town, Clover. The town itself has around 9000 people in it, and he practically hate everyone, except his grandmother.

Carson write a journal. Almost everyday, for around a year. It's mostly, o...more

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Jan 01, 2013 Cheyanne rated it 3 of 5 stars

First of all, I'd like to give my favorite quote from this book. "Sometimes a personal rain cloud can be deadly."

If you've seen Glee you will know that Chris Colfer's character is Kurt Hummel. Either Chris Colfer really is his Glee character in real life or he wrote his Glee character into a novel and renamed him Carson Phillips. I say this because Chris Colfer=Kurt Hummel=Carson Phillips.

I thought this book was pretty kitschy but I wanted to give it a try because I had read articles in Entert...more

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About Chris Colfer

Chris Colfer is an American actor and singer, known for his portrayal of Kurt Hummel on the television series Glee. "The Wishing Spell" is his first novel for children. Chris has also released a book based off the movie he produced and starred in.

More about Chris Colfer...

Books by Chris Colfer

The Wishing Spell (The Land of Stories, #1)

The Enchantress Returns (The Land of Stories, #2)

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“...because a life without meaning, without drive or focus, without dreams or goals, isn't a life worth living.” — 101 people liked it

“You've got to show the world who you are before it tells you. Otherwise you become victim to someone you're not.” — 91 people liked it

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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15789823-struck-by-lightning?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347699317l/15789823.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15789823-struck-by-lightning?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Struck By Lightning: The Carson Phillips Journal by Chris Colfer[/url]

Struck By Lightning: The Carson Phillips Journal

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