Blackout by Robison Wells

July 15, 2014     erinbook     Book review

Blackout (Blackout #1) by Robison Wells


Release Date: October 1, 2013
Publisher: HarperTeen
432 Pages
Received: Bought from BookOutlet
Format: Hardcover


Rating: 

Description: 

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: I don’t know what to make of this book. I had started with the intention of just reading two or three chapters before I went to bed. 305 pages later it was 2AM and all of my expectations had been turned on their head.
So you’ve got this teenage terrorist cell working in the US who had apparently been planning for this their whole lives. Ok, why? Not explained in this book, sorry. Ugh fine. I’m not even going to go into the dubious plausibility of some of the stuff they do. I’ll allow my disbelief to be suspended.
So you’ve got Alec, Dan, and Laura, three teenage terrorist that would do Magneto proud if they were in X-Men. And really out of the characters in the book that we actually get to know, they have the coolest powers. A lot of the rest of them can do things like counting a lot. Oooh, ahh, I’m riveted. All three are relatively intelligent which makes them interesting to follow. Then there’s the mutants that aren’t terrorists and don’t want to kill anybody, hmmm ok sounds familiar but I’ll let it go.
Jack starts out pretty bland and while he gets a little better once he has his powers he doesn’t really grow into a full blown personality. Aubrey is much more interesting with a trouble home life and all that. Not original but at least engaging to a point.
It’s the plot that really drew me in, not really the characters. There are two sides and both have mutants. America has declared martial law and teenagers are being locked up left and right. After finishing the book I still have tons of questions, not many answers where given. There’s a lot going on in the background that we don’t get to see but only hear about secondhand as it unfolds and I wonder how much of it will come back and become important.
The need for answers was what propelled me through this book so quickly and makes it worth the three and a half stars. I hope there are more character driven moments in the next book because it is a bit lacking here, they need chances to show their personalities and growth.
What did you think of Blackout? Share your thoughts in the comments.
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