Hello friends, happy Wednesday! I hope you’re all having a good week so far. Today I’m posting my review of the novel Blackout by: Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk & Nicola Yoon.

Blackout by: Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk & Nicola Yoon: It’s the middle of a hot New York City summer when the power goes out. Across the city a bloc party is about to get underway, but first everyone has to get there. Over the course of the evening this novel follows the stories of a handful of teens all trying to make their way in the dark. This novel was filled with really touching short stories of love; whether it was new love, rekindled love, new friendship love or love for yourself all these stories were so well written and were just layered really well. The reader liked how all the short stories weaved together; they were their own individual stories but there was the underlying story arc of everyone ending up at a bloc party. Sometimes there would be these little mentions or callbacks to a previous story that was like a little Easter egg. Each story was engaging; some were better than others but the way they all came together really made it worth it. The fact that we didn’t get to spend too much time with the characters meant we didn’t really get to know them to their full potential. For the most part, they were developed and some of them figured out more about themselves than others but the reader just wished we could have gotten a little more time with all of them; it felt like we were just scratching the surface on them all. The reader is aware that these were just short stories, but the authors put so much heart and soul into them that we just want more. The LGBTQ+ and the mental health rep in this novel was also explored and executed really well. In the end, this was such a cool idea for a novel; it was beautifully told and held so many great quotes.