There were moments of wit, sadness, humor, and unexpectedness in this book that made it worth reading, but an excellent novel it was not. Pretty much every single character was a stereotype, and they all played their roles. The character who irritated me the most was Carson's mother, who had no redeeming qualities that I could find in the novel.

The ending , however, was rather brilliant.

Great writing. Strong beginning. Interesting choice of conclusion but left me wanting more.

I always forget how amazing this book is. It gives a lot of food for thought and is funny. It's ridiculous and smart at the same time. Exactly the kind of book I'll pick up when I'm not having the greatest day - this will cheer me up every single time. My favorite for so many reasons.

Underwhelming. Predictable. Unsatisfying. I really liked The Land of Stories but this was blech. I could hear Kurt reading the words to me in his whiny voice.

Probably one of the most cynical, bitter and premature teenage protagonists I've read about since Holden Caulfield in JD Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. It's about a guy who endures his last year in High school, surrounded by people who dislike him just as much as he dislikes them, while he nurtures his dream about becoming an editor for The New York Times. He tries to keep his dying school magazine alive, because the school he applied for required him at least having run a literary magazine to qualify. A few blackmailing situations later, he finds himself with the most awkward crew for his newly-found school literary magazine. Despite this somewhat depressing plot, it's a hilarious read, sprinkled with a few heartbreaking, cringe-worthy scenarios. It should be if it's written by an actor from Glee. The ending -no spoilers- was one I certainly didn't see coming.

After hearing such great things about his first book, I had high expectations for Colfer's Struck By Lightning: The Carson. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed. The novel is a cliche and pessimistic account of the high school experience. The plot and characters are never developed enough to justify the character's impressions or plot events. Further more, too many story lines are introduced without development. The beginning of the book was entirely predictable, then Colfer throws a curve ball at the reader that ruins any potential this novel had at being good. The only redeeming qualities are the author's reading, engaging and accurately portraying emotion, and the snarky humor littered throughout the story.

Exceptionally interesting book. While this book deals with problems of teens and high school, a good number of them, the approach is not typical of most YA fiction. Not sure why the author chose the ending. It was a total surprise.

You know that the most difficult thing I seem to do is giving objective reviews.
You know I gave an extra star to Hush, Hush because Patch Cipriano.
What makes you think this book won't already get three stars from me just because it's written by holycrapmybabyilysm.

BUT YES! I'LL TRY TO BE OBJECTIVE. Try.

It's 2am and I can't sleep and Kurt and Blaine is not together yet,. Let me start. I loved the book (and the author but don't tell anyone). It's very different from Land of Stories, and it sucked me into Carson's mind and point of view. His journal entries are very literary, but I convinced myself that Carson is in a Writer's Club, why wouldn't he write his journal like that? (I mean, I would.)

I have indeed seen the movie, and it's very interesting to see the stuff in the movie through Carson's eyes and hearing his opinion, his little train of thoughts in everything. I especially love his thoughts during his council/journalism meetings and Grandma visits. Sadly, it made the ending so much more depressing, since we know how hopeful he was of the future he never got to reach. How he regrew his wings after they were clipped, finally managed to flap his wings and fly, only to have his personal raincloud cackle at him and his dreams. And typing that sentence made me even more depressed. Why. Carson, my baby, he should've been more

I give up trying to write a completely objective slash unbiased review about this sarcastic, funny, witty, and pleasingly depressing book written by one Christopher Paul Colfer.

((Scott/Nick Forbes adds a bit of extra bonus.

I give it a four.

I didn't know what to expect but Colfer was an interesting writer. Definitely laughed aloud a few times. But for all the reading I do, I'm surprised I didn't see the end coming--and it was beyond obvious once I finished.

I liked it. Although the main character, Carson, kind of annoyed me but I can see myself in him at parts.But I had so much respect for him because with all the bad things in his life he never got depressed. He stayed strong and fights. This book is about a smart boy who has a passion for writing, dreaming of getting the hell out of his small hometown Clover. His dream is to go to Northwestern in Chicago to become a big famous writer in the New Yorker. This has been his dream since he was asked, what do you want to be when you grow up? And ever since he was laughed at for it. At school no one really likes him, he has only one real friend who's a bit odd. He didn't care though, because he knew he was leaving Clover. Until he got a letter from Northwestern saying that being president of the Writing Club and Teacher of Journalism wouldn't be enough to get it. He had to make a magazine that had written work by his classmates, to show that he can inspire people to write. The thing is, everyone hated him so no one would do it, and he knew that. So he blackmails the most popular kids at school and the football coach, who graduated last year. He finds the most dirty and scary secrets you can imagine. One being a kid from Florida pretending to be a foreign exchange student from Mexico and having sex with a lot of women and girls at school. There is to much drama for this small school. But aside from dealing with the BS at school he also had to deal with his drunk mom at home. His dad left his family when he was young and ever since then his mom has been glued to the couch drunk or hungover. His dad later comes back and invites him to dinner to meet his new fiance. Dinner went awful though. Also, Carson has a grandmother he always visit. Although she may never remember Carson, he still goes over to visit. Towards the end, Carson started to see the people who had made his life suck like normal people with their own problem. In the end I can't tell you how messed up it was. The ending pissed me off and broke my heart a bit. I wont spoil the ending but there are a few thing i learned from this book. 1.)Life sucks and it's not easy. 2)People can really be messed up. 3)When life gives you a hundred reasons to cry, show life that you have a thousand reasons to smile. And 4) You are never alone.
So Yes i recommend it, maybe you'll get something out of it. You might not like it and I wouldn't blame you but its a easy read and it keeps you reading.