Saturday, October 26, 2013

Review: Blackout by Robison Wells

Blackout
Release Date: October 1, 2013
Publisher: Harper Teen
Blackout Book #1
ISBN:  0062026127
ISBN13: 9780062026125
Genre: Young Adult/ Dystopian
Review Copy Source: Edelweiss


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.

As the blurb states, a mysterious virus is spreading that only infects teenagers. All the teens are rounded up and tested for the virus and those that have it are taken away to the unknown. Jack and Aubrey are no longer friends but when they see all their friends being round-up at prom they successfully hide and escape being round-up. Unfortunately that doesn't last long and they are eventually taken like the rest of the teens and test positive for the virus. Laura and Alec use their superpowers for evil. They are part if a terrorist group trying to take down America and now they infiltrate the other kids that have been found to have the virus to further their destruction. 

I enjoyed BLACKOUT but there were way to many POV's. Looking at other reviews this is a common complaint. It was akin to getting whiplash jumping from one character to the other and it kept me from feeling connected to them and becoming fully invested in their struggles. I did still enjoy the storyline. The pace was fast and the story did have a way of drawing you in. The virus giving superpowers was a fun concept. I wanted to contract the virus by the end of the book! I think we could have learned more about the virus. The author doesn't really dive into it like I wanted. I also was not crazy about how the book ended.

I could probably be persuaded to pick up the next book in the series but it's not one of my must buy, wish list series. It has potential though so maybe I will be surprised.

I gave it 3/5 stars