Normally, I probably would never have read this. I tend to gravitate away from contemporary due to the cheesiness and angst I tend to find in them. However, I greatly admire Brenda Drake for the things she's done for the writing community with Pitch Wars and #PitMad. The least I could do was read her newest book.
This was an easy, flowing read that I finished in a few days. I'll tell you now, it was as cheesy and angst filled as I expected. These books never quite match up with how MY high school experience was, no matter how different or ordinary the main character turns out to be. There were a few times I had to cringe with the two main characters' interactions, but it wasn't enough to make me stop reading.
I'm a sucker for books with mythology and it was nice to read one that wasn't Greek. It introduced me to a lot of mythical creatures and stories I'd never heard of before, which was a real treat. It was also interesting that Drake didn't use Thor, but rather his sons to complete the quest. And might I add Thor is apparently one heck of a dirty dog, getting around just about everywhere with two sons born within a day of each other from two separate women. However, there were a few times when the myth used for the story seemed to border on a knockoff of the Thor films. It's silly, I know, especially since the comics take from the myth too, so there is bound to be several close parallels.
The pacing was quick and sharp, moving from day to day, event to event with ease. Now, I've never read Drake before, so I don't know if that's just her style or it was just for this book, but at times I found the pacing to be a bit too fast. This was a book where I wouldn't have minded if it were on the longer side, just to flesh things out a bit more, in the beginning particularly.
Overall, it was a decent read. I don't know if I would read it again, but I might recommend it to others for sure. 3/5

I wanted to like this, I really did. It had elements I like--Norse mythology, romance, geeky girl heroines. But it didn't come together well for me. It seems like the author had to try too hard to make things fit. The romance didn't grab me, the dialogue wasn't snappy, and the monsters weren't scary enough to make up for it. Overall, it was simply a boring book.

What a fast read full of twists and norse mythology with gods and goddesses. The plot was highly original and full of one surprise after another. I wish it would have included more interaction between Bake and Stevie but I am looking forward to the next addition. Thank you NetGalley and Brenda Drake for allowing me to read this book in advance and write a honest review.

This was a no for me. The writing felt all over the place and the story is too soon forgettable. I really liked all of the mythology elements in the story. That was great! The love triangle and the fast moving of the story, not so much. I was also unable to identity with any of the characters.

Blake Foster is not your ordinary transfer student, he’s actually the son of Thor and has been sent to recover the Norse god Heimdall’s sacred and powerful horn before someone uses it to signal the end of the universe but first Blake needs to navigate high school and our world. Since arriving Blake hasn’t had much luck finding the horn but another student has captured his attention, Stevie Moon.

Stevie is one of those girls that tries her best to blend in at school and not bring attention to herself even if she is internet famous. No one knows thought that Stevie is the one that runs her comic review vlog since she always wears a costume and hides her identity. But now Stevie has noticed Blake watching her and can’t figure him out, does he know her secret?

Thunderstruck by Brenda Drake is a fast paced young adult read that sort of mixes a contemporary story with fantasy by bringing in the use of Norse mythology within the story. I’m not quite as familiar with the Norse mythology but it was my favorite part of the book as I did recognize some things and enjoy when this type of book uses things I’ve heard about all my life such as Thor.

However, the contemporary side of this story was one that quite honestly was pushing my patience and normally the YA tropes don’t bother me a much as they do some readers. This book was one that forget the love triangle, at one point we were pushing a love square on to readers with Blake liking Stevie and Stevie liking Blake but another girl entering the picture and laying claim on Blake in which Stevie is the nice girl and pushes him to her but finds herself going out with Blakes brother instead… confused? Annoyed? Yeah, me too. Not sure why all of that had to be in there as the story probably would have been a ton of fun without all of the teenage angst.

In the end after trudging through the teen relationship waters I still thought the mythology side of the story was interesting enough to think the book was an OK read but I’d warn others of the teen drama before they pick it up.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Thank you Netgalley for this arc for an honest and fair review!
POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD
4 Stars

I'm not going to lie i did look at other reviews before reading this - looking a the star rating most importantly so I did go into the book hoping I would be pleasantly surprised and that I was.

I found that I enjoyed reading this book, it captured my attention from the first sentence, the characters and the language used by Brenda Drake had me hooked and kept me pushing through the some more cliche romance and pining scenes.

I am into anything mythological so it was refreshing for me to see something that is based on Norse mythology compared to the usual Greek or Roman. Aside from any Marvel.
I felt that having the main character as a comic book fan helped her seem more believable and gave me connect with her more (and i love a book more when I connect better with the protagonist.)

I felt that the action scenes were very good, the descriptive language had me reading quicker just so I could see what happened. They had me gripped though some did move a little too quickly at times, the first major battle scene I felt happened very suddenly and was over in a flash however the rest of the action scenes definitely made up for it.

The relationships between the characters I felt were very well depicted and very believable. I especially loved the brotherly love and rivalry between Blake and Kyle, it was incredibly believable and you could feel the awe and love they had for each other just coming off the page.
I also love the friendship between Stevie and Amira, the helping each other while pushing each other to extend their comfort zones always makes the best, best friend relationships.
My only fault with the relationships I would have to say was the relationship between Amira and her boyfriend, while only a background story many of their interactions would distract and honestly, annoy me at times.

Having them go to an event like comic con and own their geekery and nerd is something that I found totally awesome, it is not often you get a book character that owns up to being a geek and would go to a comic con or event similar and this makes the characters so much more believable for me. ( It helps that I am an avid marvek and comic nerd myself).

I thoroughly enjoyed the ending of the book, it was different and I felt it rounded the story off reall well and made up for any of the little nitpicks I had through out the book.

I would honestly recommend this book to anyone who loves fantasy, Norse mytholog, Thor or any form of Marvel. I feel they would thoroughly love this amazing novel.

"Just as Thor had been the protector of humans, so would Einar. They were different from the gods. Because mortals coould die in an instant, they valued life more. And loved more."

Einar is the son of Thor and on a mission on Earth ot bring back Heimdall's Horn before someone can start Ragnarok with it. Since it was last located nearby a high school Einar enrolls at the school as Blake. His half brother Lajos is also attending the school als Kyle in order to find the horn first and win Thor's favor. On top of that other deadly creatures and Loki himself come to Earth in order to find the horn for their dark purposes.

While searching for the Horn Einar finds himself drawn to Stevie Moon. As Comic Cam she is famous for reviewing comic books but the rest of the world doesn't know about her identity except for her best friend Amira.

When I read the description of this book for the first time I was very excited to read it beause of the Norse Mythology including Thor and etc. But after reading the first bit I was already disappointed. I could not get into the story because it was only scratching at the surface of the emotions and thoughts of the characters. I was unable to identify with any of them. In my opinion they were totally lacking depth and character development. I admit on person acted differently than from how he would have acted at the beginning of the story. But it felt totally unauthentic and forced. There is a love triangle if you can even call it that since feelings are only occuring between two persons. It was more like an act. But it didn't make the story any more interesting for me. They story is likable though.

Please note that I was provided with an arc via Netgalley for a fair review.

I love Thor, and mythology, so this was a good book for me :) Blake is one of Thor's sons tasked to find a missing Asgardian item list on Earth before it falls I to the wrong hands. Blake is great. He's hot like his dad but without the cockiness. Stevie is great too- she has a secret life as a famous cool vlogger/ cosplayer, which no one knows about because at school she's quiet and blends in a crowd. I really liked Blake and Stevie's chemistry. Kyle was a surprising character, I didn't expect the character growth so that was a pleasant surprise. I recommend this book if you like modern takes on myths, or want a light YA action/ romance.

Leaving reviews on Goodreads and Amazon.

DNF at 40%

There's a reason why I prefer YA Urban Fantasy over Contemporary YA: less teenage angst, less high school drama and, usually, less rambling inner monologues about petty stuff... but this seems to be one of the exceptions that prove the rule. I just couldn't put up with those melodramatic teenagers' antics any more.

Also, I have to say that throwing around names of mythical Norse gods, creatures, places and artefacts without explaining any of them does not make for good world building. At some point I just refused to keep on looking stuff up on Google only because I'm not that versed in Norse mythology.
Plus, the choppy writing and inconsistent pacing didn't work for me, which only made it harder to bear.

I'm sure that actual young adults will eat this stuff right up. Me, though... I'm with Murdock this time. Sorry.

This honestly ended up being a bit of a disappointment for me. i was super excited because I love all things mythology related, and I've only ever read one other Norse mythology books before, so I was looking forward to more. But I just couldn't connect with the story or the characters, ans I was left feeling unsatisfied with a forgettable book.

Things I Liked
I did end up enjoying all of the mythology elements in the story! Like I said above, I was excited to see Norse mythology represented in the story, and it ended up being my favorite part! I loved that there was so many different characters, creatures, and myths included. And everything was still very clear and easy to follow!

Things I Didn't Like
I thought the pacing was really fast. We never really got to live in the moment or take a breath - a lot of crazy stuff was happening. I would have liked to see more reactions from the characters, really be able to see their mindset.

The writing also felt a little repetitive at times, especially regarding the love triangle. There's lots of emotional drama in the love triangle, but it was rehashed repeatedly and made the writing seem a little more juvenile targeted.

This was an unfortuante miss, because I love all things mythology related, and that part didn't let me down. I like the myths and worldbuilding we got from it. But the characters and the relationships didn't connect with me.

I received a copy of the book from the punlisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you netgalley for an arc for an honest and fair review.

I really really really really REALLY wanted to like this story. I did. I love Brenda Drake's other books and really thought I would like this, but gosh...

The cliche "girl thinks she is ugly and has no one is interested in her until the *NEW* student and hottest guy in the entire world takes an interest in her even though her life is sooo boring and dull and she turns out to be gorgeous all along but no one saw it but him." Also, Blake is the son of the God Thor and he is on a mission. And he is going to high school.

The writing is just as good as I thought it would be because Brenda Drake really is a great, fantastic writer. I just couldn't get past the annoying pet peeve of a cliche to actually enjoy the book.