5 out of 5 ✨s — Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for the ARC of Blackout!! I loved this book with my whole heart.

“Blackout” delivers six stories of young adults stuck in an actual blackout in NYC. , who are either trying to make it back home or to a block party. Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon, some of the best contemporary writers for young adults, investigate not only love but also what means to be family. What is so wonderful about this book is that even though there are six stand-alone stories, each written by one the authors, it reads likes a novel. The authors show how connected we are to one another, but often without even knowing it.

As a teacher in a small, rural school, I would definitely recommend this to my students because it is not only a series of love stories but also about young people finding who they are. I also appreciate that it takes place in one of the most famous cities, but does not make it seem scary at all because of the kindness that the characters show each other. Plus there is a sense of adventure as characters navigate some iconic places in NYC including the subway, Broadway, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the public library (that was my favorite adventure). In addition, the authors navigated through characters’ sexuality and show how different families can “look”. This is important for students to see.

I would like to thank the authors, HarperCollins Publishers and Netgalley for sharing with me the Advanced Readers e-proof. I cannot wait to share this title with my students

An amazing grouping of Black voices in writing who tell phenomenal stories, cannot recommend this one enough.

Blackout by Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, Nicola Yoon; Quill Tree Books, 256 pages ($19.99) Ages 13 to 17.

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Six top African-American Young Adult authors joined forces during the pandemic to create this delicious summer treat of romantic storytelling, set during a blackout in New York City and dedicated to "Black kids everywhere: your stories, your joy, your love, and your lives matter. You are a light in the dark."

All six authors offer loosely connected stories of young Black love, centered around a Brooklyn block party, but Tiffany Jackson offers the framing story, "The Long Walk," in five acts. Tammi Wright and her ex-boyfriend, Kareem Murphy, bump into each other at Harlem's famed Apollo Theater where both have been offered, by mistake, the same summer internship. The power goes out all over New York City as they await the interview, and they head on foot to the block party where Kareem is supposed to be the DJ, as Tammi struggles with her anxiety issues and her feelings of betrayal over the breakup.

The stories are tender, full of yearning, accepting of love whether queer or straight, cushioned by both the generous affection of the family circle and the wider community. "Blackout" is irresistible.

With a collaboration of these authors, you can’t go wrong! This collection of short stories all take place in the same timeline. A heat wave causes a city wide blackout in NYC and we get a glimpse into 6 stories that show different friendships, enemies, and lovers. It really is a sweet story. I did enjoy some of the short stories better than the others. But overall, it was just really neat to see these stories come together. I don’t read many short stories, but I enjoyed these! ⁣
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Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a gifted copy of this book in exchange for review!

A wonderful collection of intertwined love stories between Black teenagers set during an NYC blackout by six stand-out authors. Each story is a gem, and the pacing moves perfectly through the book with a little love story trope for everyone, from exes to love at first sight. LGBTQIA+ representation is on point!

Solid story that did a great job of connecting to create a fuller developed plot. Certain stories were stronger than others.

Beautifully written, mind-expanding book. My daughter and I read it together and had many discussions while reading. Highly recommend

What an amazing group of authors!! This book was set on such a unique premise - a blackout in New York City. I quickly became enthralled by each story and its characters. It was such a fun read from a great group of authors.

Other than the fact it was a little bit challenging to remember where some of the stories connected, this book was beautifully written. But what else can you expect when some of the most talented authors team up and write together?! I loved the different storylines and the representation of the characters. I cannot wait to see this as a series!

I do not know if I will put this in the YA section of my middle school library but it is great read for teens. The stories are intertwined and connected (a little like Look Both Ways but instead of a starting point of commonality, an end)
and the characters are relatable and well developed in most stories.

Clayton, Yoon, Woodfolk, and Jackson really shine in this book!

A fabulous collection of intertwined stories set against the difficulties of a city-wide blackout. Romances of all types on display mean this title has something that will appeal to almost any reader.

Blackout is a phenomenal short-story collection featuring black teen love written by some of the best authors in YA fiction today. The six stories are interconnected and all take place when a blackout hits NYC in a heatwave. Some will have you swooning, some will make you giggle and some will bring you all the feels. This is a remarkable collection that had me hooked to my seat. Bonus for diversity! Highly recommended to readers who enjoy romance, rom-com's, and short story collections. This is perfect for you!

“We’re not the same person we were ten years ago, five years ago, or even yesterday...We don’t share anything in common with our old selves. So why do we say we’re the same people?”

Y’all. This was the SWEETEST story! Well, I guess technically I should say stories. Six amazing authors came together to write this. It gave me all the best vibes! I binged it in 2 sittings 😊

Blackout tells the story of young love through the lens of Black teens in New York City during a city-wide blackout. All the characters are connected somehow and it was so sweet to figure out all those connections - and see them all end up at a giant block party in Bed-Stuy by the end of the night.

A solid ⭐⭐⭐⭐ for me!

Thank you to @netgalley and @harpercollins for the advanced copy!

Hella cute, a nice quick fluff read. The ending is a bit unsatisfying as a whole, but works well as an anthology.

I absolutely adored this fun collection and the way that the stories connected together. Not only was this collection full of endearing love stories by authors whose writing I really enjoy, but it's an important collection that will mean so much to young Black people wanting to be able to see themselves in love stories.

Anthologies aren't usually my thing but with this amount of talent I had to give it a try. Some stories were stronger than others especially Thomas and Yoon but overall it was enjoyable.

Four out of six of the authors in this anthology (story?) can be described as one of my favorites. Because of that I knew I had to get my hands on this book. It’s definitely one of the only good things that came out of this stupid pandemic. So naturally, I had to grab this one soon as it was released.

Six different authors who came together to tell linked stories of Black teen romance during a Blackout. They’re all different and all at different stages of their relationships. Will they survive the Blackout? I figure I can review this by story and then averaging them all together, like I do with other anthologies. If it doesn’t make sense now, just read thee rest and hopefully it will!

The Long Walk by Tiffany D. Jackson: This was my favorite story. I LOVED how she had a little piece of everyone’s story in hers. It made me wonder, did she write hers in entirety with all these extra random characters and the other ladies chose which extra characters they were going to use? Or did she write hers after they wrote theirs and just chose the MCs? Or maybe she wrote them chapter by chapter? Idk, but it was pretty cool. Aside from the semantics, the story itself was good too. The whole thing was completely relateable, from the arguments to the insecurities. I was also impressed on the readability of it. I was able read whole other stories between this one and the next “Act” and it felt like no time had passed. This one got 5 stars from me.

Mask Off by Nic Stone: Nic’s story was a tale of one teen finding himself. There wasn’t a lot of mushy romance scenes, but it was definitely a “real one.” The beginning stages of any relationship are rough, so that’s why it wasn’t that mushy. But once things finally came together, it was very sweet. The main characters were cute but something was just missing for me.. I gave this 3 stars.

Made to Fit by Ashley Woodfolk: This one was sad. And I wasn’t prepared for it. (For some weird ass reason I thought they were mostly going to be rom coms?) This was one of those stories where I was shocked that it was a short story because it was so good it felt like a whole story. If that makes sense lol And, there was a dog! You know how I feel about dogs in books lol I gave this one 3.5

All the Great Love Stories… And Dust by Dhonielle Clayton: This one was weird. And I didn’t care for the writing style either. This made me realize that I have yet to completely read a book by Clayton. (Yikes….) This one had the romance and was even set in a library, but I still found it to be kinda boring. And then I’m lucky I was listening to the audio when I got to this story because Man, let me tell you… Trying to read those footnotes would have driven me bat shit. And that foot thing was creepy too. I gave this one 2 stars.

No Sleep Till Brooklyn by Angie Thomas: This one was ok, but it didn’t stand out to me. And that’s saying something lol} Thomas’ story was a coming of age story too. There was no real romance., It was about a love rectangle. I couldn’t figure out what I didn’t like about it until Amber @dulivre and some others said something that stuck with me, “not everyone is built to write romance.” This felt exactly like that. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t a great romance. I gave this one 3 stars.

Seymour and Grace by Nicola Yoon: This one wasn’t a favorite, but it was still cute. It was hella short though, so that sucked. And it seemed even shorter because it also served as the wrap-up for the entire book. At the end you see but don’t see everyone come through where they are. It was also kinda boring if I’m being honest with you. But I’m wondering if that’s because it was last and it needed to be short or what? I liked it for what it was, but even then it was only ok. I gave this one 3 stars.

Although this was a cute idea, I do think it was just a quick way to get something out there. The editing in this one seemed like it took a backburner to just getting it out there. I read a finished copy that I bought, and there were misspellings and some discrepancies between facts. It could have dealt with a few more read-thrus. This one had a huge mix of stories, and although they were mostly good together, it wasn’t the 5 star read together that I thought it would be.

Get this book and read it now. Put it in your classroom. It is so much fun to see how this book came together and all these stories intertwine by these amazing authors

Great set of stories by a great set of authors. I loved the subtle and not-so-subtle hints of how the stories connect. Each individual style of the authors are allowed to shine while simultaneously complimenting each other. I especially loved Tiffany Jackson’s story between them all.