Title: Blackout (Blackout #1)
Author: Robison Wells
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release date: October 1st 2013
Source: Edelweiss
Format: egalley
Rating: 2.5/5
Buy on: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository
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.
Blackout feels like a science fiction novel with a dash of apocalyptic. The story revolves around four teens with supernatural powers, X-Men style and we see through their eyes what is happening with all adolescents in the United States. Because there had been several terrorist acts across the United States in recent weeks, the country enters a kind of martial law, where due that the suspected terrorists are teenagers, the government decides to capture all adolescents in the country and take them to some sort of concentration camps where they get a DNA test to determine if they are infected with a virus that is causing these changes in adolescents.
The story is told from the point of view of four teens in the third person : Laura, Alec, Jack and Aubrey. Laura and Alec are terrorists who are trying to harm the country, destroying several important land marks , they belong to a group of teen terrorists who have been trained since childhood for this mission. Both are infected with the virus so they have supernatural powers but what I didn´t understood and isn´t explained in this book is the reason for their mission, because they are destroying dams , monuments and historic buildings with the aim of killing the citizenry and cause chaos.
Meanwhile Jack and Aubrey are ordinary teens, they has been friends since childhood, despite their friendship recently had problems, but after being captured and taken to the "camps", their friendship becomes stronger, both are loyal to each other and there is a romance between them.
Overall, I feel like there were missing a lot of world-building in the story and the story is very slow pace and left me with many questions and I did not know the reason behind this teens terrorists attacks to their own country. I really expected more from this book but unfortunately I didn´t enjoy it.
I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange of an honest review.
The concept sounds really good; it's too bad it was lacking in world building. I still want to read this though.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review!
I'm sorry to hear this fell flat for you. I had really been looking forward to reading this book but the issues you had with it, especially the world building, would be problems for me too. In novels that don't take place in our time and world, it's crucial for me to be able to visualize where I am and why the characters are doing the things they are doing. If I don't get that, I have a hard time focusing on anything but my ability to understand. Thanks for the review! I'll probably just skip this or check it out from my library later on.
ReplyDeleteChristine @ The Bookish Daydreamer
Thank you for sharing your review! I want to know why you didnt enjoy it..so ..Im thinking of reading this book, also i love characters with supernatural powers.
ReplyDeleteI really like the premise of this book, but it sounds a bit disappointing in the end. Too bad!
ReplyDeleteI think with all of the povs we lost out on some world-building and I wanted the characters fleshed out more. I ended up giving this a three, but I really loved the action scenes and the abilities. I am hoping book two gives more details and adds depth to the characters. Based on reviews I think the author needs to address these issues, because it wasn't a bad book, it just needed more!
ReplyDeleteI really want to read this but I am scared of the 4 person viewpoint thing going on! I'm kinda bummed by all of the so-so reviews.
ReplyDeleteAs interested as I was in this one, the more reviews that I read the less interest I keep. It sounds like there are just a lot of.... things, important things like world-building, ANSWERS and REASONS, missing. I just don't know if it is even worth giving it a shot. Very disappointing, because the premise leads to serious potential.
ReplyDeleteLooks like an awesome book !! I'm going to add t to my tbr list !
ReplyDeleteTerrorists? That sounds very exciting! Though, from the sound of it, it's not as good as it seems. Thank you for a thorough review! :)
ReplyDeleteI often concern with the world-building. If it dull, well, I'll never read it ._.
ReplyDeleteSorry you were less than thrilled with this one. I am still torn on it. I'll keep in on the back burner of possibilities for now.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear you didn't enjoy it. I have a copy of it to read on my TBR pile and I'll probably give it a chance still, as I kind of like the author. Very well thought out review!
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