Book Review: The Odds of Lightning

Title: The Odds of Lightning
Author: Jocelyn Davies
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Teen Reviewer: Se Choi

Before the first day of high school, four friends parted ways to try to do what they believed was right for themselves. Nathaniel wanted to be an amazing geologist like his brother so he stayed away from his friends to study and write essays for scholarships for school. Lu wanted to be independent and feel no emotional pain so she was never telling the truth to her friends and so she was far from a real friendship. Will wanted to impress Lu so he joined the soccer team and became famous in the high school and was caught in the wave of fame.Tiny wanted to be invisible and tried to avoid people. But in the background of this corroded friendship, there was a huge superstorm that is about to strike New York. Now after a couple years it is the night before their SATs, so Will and Nathaniel throw a party to let their minds rest from studying for the test. Many people come to the party, and so do Tiny and Lu, and they eventually meet on the roof. They accidentally close the door behind them and they are locked outside. While they were trapped on the roof, they were shocked by lightning which made the four of them have unnatural abilities(which are not always a good thing). Nathaniel became a superhero because he always wished to be better and smarter than his genius brother. Lu became numb to everything because she wanted to be impenetrable to feelings, Will could change into people(not at his own will) that he thinks Lu likes and Tiny was becoming invisible. When Nathaniel opened the locked door with his super strength, Lu rushed out to go to a concert where her boyfriend was and the other three friends go on a wild goose chase to follow her through New York. As they ran around in Manhattan, they once again bond with each other and eventually realize that their abilities were effects of what they wanted and that they should be who they really are, not a modified version of themselves. Then, after the exciting run through the city, they wait for the lightning to strike them again so they can be changed back into their normal state and go take the SATs.

This novel is very creative and full of scenes that you wouldn’t see on a normal day. But aside from that, The Odds of Lightning is fun to read and is very exciting.