I picked this up from as a Chirp audio book deal for $1.99. I was honestly a bit hesitant at first. It can sometimes be hard to tell what the direction of a story will be when it's a female lead and a female author. I don't automatically shy away from these books, but I will often check reviews to see if it is a vastly female audience. After seeing a pretty good mix of reviewers and knowing $2 isn't much of an investment, I decided to give it a shot.

For the most part, I really enjoyed this book. I have a weakness for mythology. My love of the Percy Jackson books played a large part in my final decision to give this book a shot. Also, the most recent God of War game has given me a newfound interest specifically in Valkyrie. So, with that in mind, the story played really well into the things I was hoping for. Phoebe is older than Percy Jackson, so this is less a coming of age story and more a discovery of the unknown.

Phoebe is a really well written character. She is very determined and is willing to sacrifice a lot if her loyalty is questioned. Yes, there is drama. And yes, she complains about her situation, but I think all of those are warranted and I didn't find them to come off as whiny. And by the end of the story, she had made the strides and growth I wanted to see from her; accepting who she is and the new responsibilities therein.

I enjoyed the way other characters were introduced and returned in different parts of the story. It really helped the overall flow. Speaking of which, the flow of the story as a whole was really good, from the introduction to new mythos elements, to battles, and dialogue. I think what really holds me up from giving this book a higher star rating is the romance aspect. And it isn't that it was poorly written, more that it really isn't my style. Culminating in the...uh transfer of power. I'm pretty sure I was blushing and looked over to see if my wife could hear what was happening on my headphones.

In the end, I did find the story compelling, but I don't think this series is for me. If I see book 2 via a Chirp deal for $2 I will probably pick it up and give it a listen as I am interested in what happens next to Phoebe and friends, but I won't go out of my way to find it.

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Phoebe is just a normal young woman, working Macy's, until out of no where a light explodes and she's struck. Then things start getting strange and her whole world turns upside down instantly.

This story is full of mythology, I absolutely adored reading it. Phoebe's character is overwhelmed and unbelieving of what is happening around her. This in turn gets her into a lot of trouble. There are a lot of twists and turns, a lot of action and some fantastical beings. A non stop action packed book. I can't wait to read the rest.

What's sexier than a Norseman? A Norse god. Or demigod. I was so thrilled that this was a book with Fenrir. I don't think I've read another book with him in it. Weak ass werewolves can't make the grade when up against Loki's son Fenrir. And I did make note when Fenrir mentioned coming back with a key. hmmm. Could that be Loki's key?

Yep, this book has all my likes. Mythology, action, magic, and a bit of romance. I loved it!! So why 4 stars instead of 5? Amanda Carlson lost me from Sam's apartment and on. It fell out of book character. She had me firmly in her grip. Flipping pages and losing sleep. And then Amanda went stupid. I'm going to blame Sam because that's when the book lost it's grip on me.

I am excited to start the 2nd book to see if Phoebe's character grows and does some serious butt kicking.

I feel like I have read this book dozens of times already.
While the details are all unique, all aspects of the general template are horribly overused.
Instalove romance and smut with hunky half god combined with a wild rollercoaster of mythical characters and creatures.
It all just feels so arbitrary. The book utterly failed to get me to care about anything.

*I requested a copy of this book for an honest review.

Phoebe thought New York was dangers, until she gets a glimpse into the life of Asgard.

Phoebe is struck by electricity at her day job at Macy's. She's tossed into the whirlwind world of Asgard and more as the shock was sent to awaken her Valkyrie side. Phoebe comes to grips with crazy notion that the mythological gods and creatures really do exist with a first hand experience of the terrible pain they can inflict. Yet, she finds Fen who helps her at every turn when he doesn't have to. With Fen's help she returns to New York where her and Ingrid were separated, just to learn now she must find her way to the Valkyrie stronghold.

Phoebe is dropped into the dangerous mythical world of Asgard and beings of power to learn about them. Her way through it, is the rough way. By rough I mean painful and deadly. But in all the pain she suffers, she finds one person that helps her. Fenrir the wolf. Fen, as Phoebe has taken to calling him, is trapped in a different world and those wanting Phoebe dead send demons and more after her, drawing the two closer to each other.

Fen... Mmmm. He is a hot catch! Fen sounds delicious but he's also the strength that Phoebe needs at her side too. He's old in human terms but he know much of the Asgard ways and beings. Without knowing it, he's teaching Phoebe about his world as they come across dangers.

I love that Phoebe is an honest person. She's not hiding information from Fen. Well, maybe one piece of information, but that will have to come out. Right? Even if it's not verified yet. Phoebe trusts Fen and doesn't want to lose the one person that's helped her in this crazy new world. I love how Phoebe is determined to keep her friends with her and all are to stay safe. This is a strong will that I find great in a character.

A modern day girl trying to make a living has collided with the mythical world of gods, demi-gods, demons, the hags, and many more powerful creatures. Phoebe is stronger than she ever thought, and will have to fight to not be a victim, and she's determined to do just that. A great story of Phoebe coming to her power but still needing to understand it, but she suffers along the way realizing she is more and can do much more than she thought. She comes across many things and people, but she knows she has much ahead of her to set straight the prophecy that the Norn (the three hags) will do anything to stop, including kill her.

This book is the beginning for Phoebe. She never knew of the mythical world or valkyries, demons, demigods, and more. Her eyes are opened to the world that exists parallel to the one she grew up in. We get to see, with Phoebe, the dangers present and why they want her. This story is Phoebe learning who and what she is, and accepting it to live. I'm curious to see how Phoebe grows in the books to come, now that she finally has seen the truth. I didn't feel as drawn to Phoebe in this book, but I wasn't turned off either. I liked what a saw and I'm wanting to see it grow with each book. We have a cast of characters that have their own troubles and complications that could conflict with each other, but they have knowledge and power between them that will come in handy.

The action that Amanda is known for writing is present in this book as well! There are terrible troubles at every turn that Phoebe has to face, along with decisions to make. If you enjoy Amanda's Jessica McClain series, you'll love this one too!
~~~~~~~~~

I read the book, and enjoyed it. I was thrilled to get the opportunity to listen to it as I've become a huge fan of audio books lately. And this one ranked well in my list.

Emma is new to audio for me and she did a wonderful job. I'm a huge fan of narrators doing different voices, tones, and attitudes when narrating secondary characters. Emma does that, giving each character their own voice and personality vocally, making them easy to differentiate as she narrates. My attention was drawn to the story's details when I heard a new voice come to live in the narration, drawing the world with words and voice. If Phoebe was whispering or thinking, we get a softer feel to Emma's voice, portraying the feel for us. Emma's cadence is measured so we clearly hear all the words, but the emotion in her voice brings the moment alive for us, relaying the feel of fear or anger. As the story goes we hear different emotions of Phoebe through Emma as she becomes the character. I love that she did different voices for the different creatures...demons... and more that appear in the world and talk.

I think I enjoyed the book much more in audio than reading. I got the feel of all the characters vocally along with the words written. Also the middle that seems long when reading, did not have as long of a feel to me in the audio version.

~~~~~~~~~~

Struck is book one in the Phoebe Meadows series by Amanda Carlson. Struck is deeply rotted in mythology, it’s full of action-packed fast-paced adventure, and gripping characters that will enthrall you from the moment they are introduced.

This novel moves at a whirlwind, giving you multiple twist and turns. Once Phoebe meets the people she feels she can trust, she gives them her un-devoted loyalty and will stick with them. Together they make a powerful team and will make their way to a safe haven for the time being, until the next adventure.

Phoebe was a great heroine. She felt genuine and some of the things she goes through, all I can say is that the author made those moments very vivid, and I can’t believe she held herself together so well. WOW! Fen is pretty awesome. I liked him. He’s strong, loyal, and I look forward to seeing more of him. Their is a little insta-love thing going on that I didn’t really get into, but I understand why the author put it in. I would like to see it flushed out more. Tyr, he doesn’t talk much, but he defiantly has a presence. I’d like to dig deeper into him. Sam I really liked as Phoebe’s best friend. She was funny and rolled with everything that went down. I’d love to see her hook up with Tyr.

Last, I loved the sneak peek into Freed. I did a little girl squeal. Can’t wait for the next adventure in the Phoebe Meadows series.

Many reads will love this world. It’s unique and their aren’t many stories like this one. If you love valkyries, you are guaranteed to love this series. If you haven’t had a chance to try a valkyrie story then I suggest picking this one up and giving it a try. It was my first valkyrie book and I relished the story.

Rated: 4 Struck Stars

*Disclaimer: I received a complimentary ARC copy provided by Amanda Carlson with the sole purpose of an honest review. All thoughts, comments and ratings are my own.

Phoebe Being Struck (literally) set the book in motion.
I loved meeting Phoebe's friends. They were hilarious and as we later found out, more complex than we thought.

Another thing I enjoyed is the way Phoebe dealt with the situation she was thrust into. She had no idea who she really was, and after the initial shock faded, she kicked ass.

She was scared (any smart person would be) at finding herself at a different environment and not knowing who the good and bad "people" are. But she still stayed strong and fought.


The world building was done well and explained in a simple way. We were thrust into the action alongside Phoebe and had no trouble following the events/characters etc...

I did enjoy the romance in the book.

Phoebe and Fenrir are a good pair. But I felt it was trust on them because the situation they found themselves in. I would have liked to see more interaction outside of the danger they faced ,for the connection between them to appear more deep and solid.

I gave it 2.5 stars

I really hate that I didn't love STRUCK. It had such a great idea going in, but there were some pretty big issues that kept me from falling in love with the storyline and characters.

I liked the characters enough that I wanted them to make it to the end of STRUCK. Phoebe, although kinda foolish, had an interesting background to learn. I probably would have loved her if she wasn't so ridiculously unwilling to see and believe what was right in front of her face. Because she was so adamant that everything was some huge mistake or joke she got in more trouble and did the stupidest things that I'm surprised she made it past the first couple of chapters. I liked Fenrir and don't really have any big complaints about his character. He seemed to make good decisions and did a good job of protecting Phoebe. There were a few other side characters that seemed to have decent heads on their shoulders as well. The relationship between Phoebe and Fen had it's moments, but I didn't feel there was enough development involved. It was more of an insta-love situation and I thought they needed to grow a bit more than they did for the amount of feelings they were feeling.

A lot of the dialogue just about killed me. Not only is most everything way over explained, but it felt fake and somewhat forced a lot of the time. The whole book wasn't like that, but enough of it was that it totally ruined the flow for me.

The action is one thing that STRUCK didn't lack. There is danger and fights around every corner of the book which left the characters with very little down time. There were a lot of different nookes and crannies in the world that Carlson created in STRUCK and they were all very well built. I had no problem imagining I was there.

The biggest bummer I had with STRUCK is that I didn't feel the need to read book two when it was over. That is something that I look for in every book I read and if you don't feel that urge it's hard to want to put the next book on your wishlist. Unless I see some reason that will make me think that book two will fix some of my biggest issues —I really do hope I do see something because this series has great potential—, I don't think I will be reading it.

* This book was provided free of charge from the author in exchange for an honest review.

I can do without protagonists who whine. The Asgard element was interesting

DNF'ed