Levi Montgomery

I received this book for free from BookRooster.com. That did not affect my review.

Lightning of Her Own is a post-apocalyptic story, taking place about 70 years after an alien invasion that resulted in electricity no longer functioning on earth, and the subsequent chaos that caused. Teenage Amarylla travels with her father, an engineer, and two guards out of the Republic of New York in search of a man her father has heard of who has made electricity work again.

I enjoy a good post-apocalyptic story, as I like to see the world the author creates. This was a very interesting world. People don't really know what the aliens (which they call "bugs") are, though there's much speculation, including that Earth was treated as a penal colony, and the electricity was destroyed to prevent the bugs from leaving.

Amarylla and her party leave the relative glamor and riches of the Republic of New York to head into the wilds outside their walls. During the trip, Amarylla grows into a strong woman, one who abandons her frilly dresses and stuffed animals for practical pants and shirts, and learns how to shoot, stand guard, and drive a wagon.

This is told from a third-person omniscient point-of-view, which is a little disconcerting at first, but I ultimately liked it, because it lets you see the thoughts and feelings of characters without convoluted POV changes or annoying repetition of events.

This is part of a trilogy, but, unlike many books in series, I didn't feel like anything was missing from this book that could only be solved by reading the next. It's complete in itself, but reading the others would probably give one a more complete view of the world.… (lisätietoja)

This is a novella about life in small-town America. It is not a very pretty picture.

It was summer in Bumford, Kansas, it was hot, and there was nothing for four adolescent boys to do. That is, until Babyface, Spittle, Farm Boy and Stud, the leader, met a new kid whom they named Patsy. He was kind of fat, and looked like he waddled, so, of course, he was continually tormented and made the butt of their jokes. They held out the promise that when the local high school started the fall semester in a few weeks, Patsy would be part of the group. No one wants to be the "new kid" in high school. Their treatment of Patsy started with the usual adolescent hazing, then quickly degenerated into cruel and downright evil treatment.

The story consists of reminiscences about Patsy and those days by several of the group as they return to town twenty years later for a funeral. They knew then that they could have stopped Patsy's torment, or at least reduced it, but they didn't do it. Perhaps it was some sort of groupthink, or wanting to be one of the crowd, that stopped them from speaking up. They were tracked down on the Internet by Patty, Stud's younger sister. She stayed in Bumford, and is a waitress at the local diner. She remembers the many quickies she gave the local boys in her family's barn.

In a way, this is very unpleasant reading, especially for anyone who was on the receiving end of such treatment. It is also really good reading. The author does a fine job with this tale of regret and bad choices from several different perspectives.… (lisätietoja)