Vous l’avez peut être remarqué, mais je poste de moins en moins vu que je suis en pleine phase « phase terminale des lectures obligatoires pour les cours ». Même si je continue à lire des livres qui m’intéressent, je dois avouer que je suis vite lassée ayant déjà 2h de lecture dans les pattes (et la lassitude de ces satanés romantiques qui font trainer l’intrigue en longueur avec leurs descriptions ^^). Comme je ne veux pas laisser tomber le blog, je vais tenter de chroniquer des livres que j’ai lus il y a longtemps et pour qui j’ai eu un véritable coup de cœur. Comme je vous rabats les oreilles avec elle, je vais commencer par la génialissime Meg Cabot. Je ne vais pas faire un résumé des cinq livres de la série (je ne serai pas fidèle) mais je vais tenter de vous en donner une vue d’ensemble. Il faut savoir que cette série était celle qui me tentait le moins et dont j’ai longtemps différé la lecture mais qui est, selon moi, la plus réussie. L’héroïne principale, Jessica, est une héroïne crâne-brûlé comme je les aime : forte, indépendante, osée, drôle… Mais, dans son lycée, son franc-parler n’est pas apprécié de tous. Jess s’en fiche. Elle n’a besoin que d’une moto et de sa meilleure amie. Ah et si elle arrivait à choper le canon Rob, ce serait parfait. Un jour qu’elle finissait une colle, elle rentre à pied chez elle malgré l’orage. Dieu seul sait comment, elle est frappée par la foudre et a des visions étranges qu’elle ne comprend pas. Puis, plus l’intrigue avance, plus la situation s’éclaire : Jess est capable de situer les personnes disparues en voyant simplement leur photo. Voilà le cadre. Les cinq tomes tournent autour de cinq enquêtes visant à retrouver une cible en particulier, enfin sauf le dernier qui développe surtout l’histoire Rob/Jess. Le résumé a l’air bateau comme ça, mais ce qui est étonnant c’est que l’enquête ne prédomine pas. On suit Jess au lycée, ses débâcles avec Rob et ses mésaventures de justicière. C’est donc un récit rythmé, haletant mais qui reste extrêmement drôle et léger. Jess s’adresse à son lecteur, lui fait des blagues et ne se plaint jamais. Que demander de plus ? Sans compter que les scènes sont aussi variées que nombreuses. Vous pouvez suivre les conflits avec sa mère qui souhaiterait voir sa fille un peu plus féminine et enchainer avec une vision qui éclaire Jess. Ou bien encore, vous pouvez suivre l’évolution de ses relations (houleuses) avec le FBI et enchainer avec une dispute des deux ados. Au fil des pages, on devient plus accro et chaque tome nous semble encore meilleur que le précédent. Les deux derniers tomes sont vraiment caricaturaux et chaque page tournée nous fait éclater de rire tout en se demandant ce qui va encore arriver à la pauvre Jess. Chose exceptionnelle, aucun tome ne nous ennuie et je ne regrette qu’une chose : qu’il y ait seulement cinq tomes x) Un extrait sur chacun des cinq tomes ici : http://lecturesdunenuit.blogspot.fr/2...
Jessica's life is tough. Her older brother is schizo, so she frequently goes into fistfights with people who play jokes on him, even when they're twice as big as her. That's why she always spends her after school time in detention.Jessica's life changes completely when a lightning strikes her and she gets a supernatural power to find missing people. She just dreams about them at night, and when she wakes up in the morning she knows exactly where they are.Jessica calls 1-800-Where-R-U and gives them the location of missing kids. Soon enough, people start to get interested in her special powers. With FBI agents forcing her to help them and reporters waiting outside her house, Jessica has to decide what to do with her powers.I liked some parts of the book, and some parts I didn't.I liked Jessica and I think she is a very likeable main character. She is very clever, and I admire her ability to think of ideas even under stress. She never gives up, and always finds a way to win even when it seems like she has already lost the battle.What I didn't like was the plot of the book. The plot was very unrealistic and I couldn't believe many parts of the story. I mean, a lightning strike gives supernatural powers? Seriously?! How did everybody in Jessica's world believe that?I think that if someone in our world would really be gifted with these powers, nobody would believe him, and especially not the FBI. They would rather think that he's the kidnapper himself.I think the author could try harder to build a more believable story.This book was readable, not much more than that. The story was interesting, but a little unbelievable. I don't recommend it much, because there are better books in this genre of supernatural and action. I am not sure if I will continue the series.
What do You think about When Lightning Strikes (2007)?
Oh, Meg. Just when I thought I couldn't love anyone more than Suze Simon from the "Mediator" series, you hand me this. I love this book. Love it, love it, love it.Why, you ask?Let me tell you.Firstly, our protagonist. Jess is fantastic and not just because we share a name. She kicks ass and takes names and is fierce. She also has a wit to her that I really enjoy and just isn't your run-of-the-mill lead lady. Instead of lying low and freaking out about everyone's opinion of her, Jess gets into punch-ups, lands herself in detention and lusts after motorbike-wielding hottie, Rob. She's a rebel, but she also has a brain quite capable of thinking on its own and a strong moral stance, especially when defending her friends. She's a breath of fresh air to a category full of weak-minded damsels in distress, who find themselves completely codependent on their love interests.Secondly, the plot. I read "When Lightning Strikes" before the paranormal genre got popular, but even now it remains uncontested as one of the most unique storylines I've read. While the premise itself (getting struck by lightning) isn't exactly awe-inspiring, it is new, but the true merit of the book is the way Meg handles it. As a result of her accident, Jess can find missing people simply by looking at their photograph's before sleeping. This, predictably, gets her into trouble. But how delicious that trouble is!I could wax lyrical about this book forever, but if you want to know more you're just going to have to read it. The entire "Missing" series is well-delivered (the last book less so but that's a whole other story, literally), full of strong characters, believable romance and an enthralling plotline. Read it!
—Jessica
I hate Meg Cabot. she is a terrible writer. she doesn't write sentinces, she writes fragments and then puts more fragments at the end to clear up what was perfectly clear in the first place. she leaves out things that are important. she doesn't describe stuff. her prose stinks. how on EARTH she became a best selling and popular author, i have no idea.but. i read the first book of her series here, "When Lightning Strikes," and seriously had to read the others. i still haven't read the last book, my library doesn't have it in right now, but this book got me hooked to a story that was written by (excuse me) a sucky writer. it was wild, weird, crazy, funny, and had some very creative twists in it. great story. now if only she could learn to write. sentinces, i mean. (<-- example of what she does. i swear i don't write like that normally.)
—Haley Mathiot
The thing I appreciate the most here, especially as I've read more and more books in the genre, is that the author doesn't mess around with delaying movement in the story. Every time I read a book or see a tv series with a character who spends most of the time procrastinating or trying to figure out some vague vision they've had, I think of this series. The ability is simple: character goes to sleep, character wakes up knowing exactly how to find someone whose picture she looked at that day before. Most of the plot comes from the fame that Jess gets as a result of her ability (an obvious point from a skeptic's point of view: a real psychic would get noticed), and the fact that some people don't want to be found or are difficult to save. It's sad that more authors (or maybe publishers?) aren't this brave.(Incidentally, that description of the book on this site is so wrong... Jess couldn't give a pig's fart about popularity from what I remember.)
—Josh
