STRUCK by Amanda Carlson Series: Phoebe Meadows #1
on May 24, 2016
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Goodreads
I received this book for free from Author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
When Phoebe Meadows gets struck by a strange light in the stockroom of Macy’s, life as she knows it flies out the window. As if being hit by lightning isn’t bad enough, she’s accosted in the subway by a man with a missing hand, arrives home to find a raven on her kitchen counter, and her neighbor, Ingrid, shows up dressed like a gladiator hell-bent on protecting her.
Before Ingrid can shuttle her to safety, Phoebe is kidnapped and tossed into one of the Nine Worlds where she’s quickly forced to come to terms with what she is: A valkyrie. The only problem is, she has no idea what that means.
After a narrow escape, she finds an unlikely ally in Loki’s son, Fenrir. Together the valkyrie and the wolf must battle their way back to New York City and reach the valkyrie stronghold where Ingrid is waiting for her. But with danger and obstacles at every turn, she might not live long enough to learn the full truth about who and what she really is…
I think I could use a good refresher on mythology. I got so I understood most of what was going on and who the opposing parties were.
Phoebe is just plucked from her life as a shoe salesperson and dropped into a world of mythology that all turns out to be true. Luckily (maybe), she is dropped into one of the Nine Worlds where she found a guide to help her through the madness.
The depth of description of the torture and fighting had me cringing in pain. I don’t know if Phoebe’s new powers made her torture even worse than it could have been. How she survives what she is put through proves that she is definitely gaining the powers of a Valkrie. I’m getting the shivers just thinking of the torture. The descriptions were so vivid. It made Phoebe’s travels even more intense as you don’t want to see her go through that kind of pain again.
The characters of STRUCK keep you running at a fast pace. There is not much down time and putting the book down is nearly impossible. You just don’t know what the gang is going to run into next and who they are going to meet. The world building was done very quickly so you had to make sure to pick up everything that was going on. I found that a little difficult as the names of things were very hard to get my head around. Another reason I need a mythology update.
The character’s acceptance of their new world was a little quick, but you did not get time to dwell on it. I was particularly amazed at Sam’s reaction. I do totally love her character and her fascination with Tyr.
I think Amanda Carlson did a great job taking the mythological world and building this fun story around those characters. It will be exciting to move onto the next book in the series now that Phoebe is going to be a little more familiar with her new world.
About Amanda Carlson
I’m a Minnesota girl, born and bred. I started writing stories about teenage girls and their social missteps when I was in high school. I still have the handwritten spiral notebooks to prove it.
I started writing FULL BLOODED. because kickass heroines rock and I love shifters of all kinds. There aren’t enough warm-blooded girls to go around, in my opinion. I fell into Jessica’s story and had such a great time writing it and now I couldn’t imagine writing anything other than urban fantasy and paranormal romance. When you’re creating a story in this fantastic genre, it can contain almost any elements you can dream up. Creatively, for me, there’s nothing better.
Amanda is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, with a BA in both Speech and Hearing Science & Child Development. She went on to get an A.A.S in Sign Language Interpreting and worked as an interpreter until her first child was born. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband and three kids.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- May Clean Sweep ARC Challenge
