Perfect for summer reading, Blackout is a YA romance novella collection by superstar Black authors Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon.
- Setup: On a hot hot summer day, NYC has a power blackout that cuts electricity to the entire city.
- Concept: Six interconnected novella-length love stories feature Black teens experiencing new love, old love, straight love, queer love, etc.
- Timing: Set in the present day; created during COVID-19 quarantine
- Purpose: For Black and brown youth to read romances where characters who look and love like themselves "get big love stories."
Each novella is as unique as its author. Small sections of one are interwoven between each of the others while another is filled with footnotes. One features a philosophy-loving Uber-type driver and another takes place in a senior citizen assisted living community. One involves teens from Mississippi on a school-sponsored trip, and another is set primarily on the subway. The novel culminates with all of the primary characters enjoying a street party that's mentioned in each story.
I enjoyed reading this on a hot and humid Saturday, but it wasn't created for middle-aged white women like me - I'd love to read some #ownvoices reviews. I hope it find its way into the hands of readers for whom it was written. Thank you to Quill Tree Books, HarperCollins, and EpicReads for the review copy; all thoughts are my own.
- Setup: On a hot hot summer day, NYC has a power blackout that cuts electricity to the entire city.
- Concept: Six interconnected novella-length love stories feature Black teens experiencing new love, old love, straight love, queer love, etc.
- Timing: Set in the present day; created during COVID-19 quarantine
- Purpose: For Black and brown youth to read romances where characters who look and love like themselves "get big love stories."
Each novella is as unique as its author. Small sections of one are interwoven between each of the others while another is filled with footnotes. One features a philosophy-loving Uber-type driver and another takes place in a senior citizen assisted living community. One involves teens from Mississippi on a school-sponsored trip, and another is set primarily on the subway. The novel culminates with all of the primary characters enjoying a street party that's mentioned in each story.
I enjoyed reading this on a hot and humid Saturday, but it wasn't created for middle-aged white women like me - I'd love to read some #ownvoices reviews. I hope it find its way into the hands of readers for whom it was written. Thank you to Quill Tree Books, HarperCollins, and EpicReads for the review copy; all thoughts are my own.
