Blackout
Author: Robison
Wells
Series: Blackout
Pages: 432
Publisher: Harper Teen
Amazon
Release
date: 1st
October 2013
Synopsis.
(Goodreads)
Laura and Alec are trained terrorists.
Jack and Aubrey are
high school students.
There was no reason
for them to ever meet.
But now, a
mysterious virus is spreading throughout America, infecting teenagers with
impossible powers. And these four are about to find their lives intertwined in
a complex web of deception, loyalty, and catastrophic danger—where one wrong
choice could trigger an explosion that ends it all.
Review: 2 ½ out of 5 stars
I was initially drawn to the cover of Blackout and the unique premise, the idea of a virus
spreading throughout America and infecting teenagers with strange powers
is quite exciting but unfortunately this one really lacked the world-building
that was desperately needed to pull it off, we are given the basics but no in
depth detail about what had happened or why.
The start of the book introduces us to
teenagers destroying landmarks of importance all over the country and the
government trying to stop the acts of terrorism by rounding up teens with useful,
powerful abilities to fight against them – I found the concept interesting.
What I also
enjoyed was the diverse abilities we were introduced to and how the virus was affecting people in
different ways, the action sequences which started from the onset of the book
were also entertaining and kept the pacing consistent and the suspense exciting.
Told from
numerous POV’s it became a tad too much and didn’t
leave a lot of growth for development. The characters were ok - Aubrey Parsons
has the ability to be invisible and in the initial stages she came across as
shallow when she placed so much emphasis on her social standing but she
progressed throughout the book, Jack who has super hearing was really sweet and
my favourite character, our antagonists are Alec Moore who has the
ability to put thoughts into others minds (I’d love this one!) and Laura
Hensen who has speed and strength, I didn’t connect with both of them at
all.
Despite a few issues, Blackout
has a lot of promise and I was always eager to learn more about the overall picture
– the purpose and motivations behind the attacks, small hints were given along
the way but nothing was ever clear and we still receive nothing definitive by
the end of the book. I am eager to read the next book in the hopes we
eventually will get the much needed answers.
Overall, Blackout is well
written and filled with manipulation, secrets and astonishing situations.
An engaging read but unfortunately one I wasn’t completely wowed by.
Thank-you to Harper Teen for providing me
with a copy of Blackout to read and review.
I enjoyed the multiple pov's but like you wanted the characters fleshed out more. I really enjoyed the action scenes using abilities, but have so many questions. Lovely review Sharon
ReplyDeleteThanks Kimba! I had high hopes for this one but it was lacking for me.
DeleteI only read one review of this and the reviewer mentioned the exact same problems with it that you did. It's such a shame that the world-building was weak because this definitely has an interesting premise. And multiple POVs isn't something that I enjoy either.
ReplyDeleteGreat honest review, Sharon.
Thanks Nick! It's a shame this one didn't work out but I needed more from the world-building with this one to fully appreciate it.
DeleteI wasn't really crazy about this one either - kind of left me feeling stuck. I didn't love it, but didn't hate it either. Still haven't done a review. Your described this excellently in your review.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ellen :) I feel exactly that way, I just wanted more from it.
Delete