Brenda Drake

I received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.

Hmm, I must say that I expected a whole lot more intensity, so I'm a bit disappointed.
The major part of the story consists of the love story between Blake and Stevie. Sadly, we only get a short summery of their rough start. I'd really would have liked reading about it in detail, perhaps then the feelings developing between the two wouldn't have felt so rushed because their first kiss came pretty much out of the blue. The drama in form of Grace doesn't quite fit either and seems fabricated somehow. I don't think it is needed, there should have been enough drama concerning Blake's mission, Stevie possibly feeling used because of it (well, she should have, in my opinion, she accepts it all practically without freaking out, I certainly would) and Blake being expected to return to Asgard. Along with all the action of a lot of other creatures trying to get a hand on the mysterious horn and the puzzle of Blake's brother Kyle, of whom you do not know if he can be trusted, the story should have been dramatic and exciting enough. I enjoyed the love part better close to the end of the book because it's where the dangerous situations accumulated and the tension I missed before increased. I could feel their fear and love for one another.
The characters ... except for Stevie, Blake and Kyle, there wasn't too much colour to them. And still I would have liked to get to know more about the two brothers. What do they do when they are not on horn-hunting mission? What do they like / hate to do?
The idea to develop a story around Norse mythology fascinated me. I'm not too familiar with it, so I expected a lot of new stuff to explore. Reality turned out to be different. I had to google a lot to get background information because many of the names I did not know and explanations were sparse, kept to the absolute minimum. You can follow the story but it feels like there is something missing. At least a glossary would have been much appreciated.
The action / godly fighting parts have been too short to really get into them and imagine them properly. Towards the end it got better although it felt a bit as though the author needed to cram in a lot on the last few pages, ending with an epic happy end that was a bit too much to be believable.
The things I loved about this story were, for one, Kyle. I'd love to read a spin-off with him as the main character. And the other thing is Blake's utter cluelessness when it comes to American slang. The misunderstandings caused by it are as hilarious as they are cute.

All in all, "Thunderstruck" is an okay read. I liked the idea behind the story, but it needed more time, details and intensity to properly intrigue me.