Cover Image: Blackout

Blackout

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K. Monroe's teen/young adult novel Blackout is a winner. The book is an account of a high school senior who after an accident following a teen party fails to remember the events of the wreck, the people she knew, her high school, and family. Allie the heroine has one friend Zoe who tries to direct her and Zoe's actions lead to flashbacks and discrepancies in the story of the accident that she has been told. She begins to sense that the young woman she was before the crash was often led astray, was a problem at school, and was a major party girl. A young man that had been her boyfriend in that life turns her off and an old friend from years ago begins to play a major part in helping her reconstruct the events of the night that her mind wants to forget. She begins to regain a sense of loyalty to her once alienated family and things come together in a whopper of an ending.

The book flows well, the characters are interesting and well developed. I was involved in the story almost immediately and wanted to find the answers to the questions plaguing the good girls and guys in the book. Well written and well told. A good story for any age. Thanks to #NetGalley#Blackout for the opportunity to read and review this book.

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Thank you Wattpad Books, Netgalley and Author K. Monroe for a chance to receive and read an eARC of Blackout in exchange for an honest review. Blackout is about a girl named Allie who wakes up after a severe car accident, only to learn that she now has amnesia. In a struggle to regain her memory and figure out who she was before her accident, she starts to gain information that what happened to her might've not been an accident after all. But who would want to harm Allie Castillo? This Book is jam-packed with jealousy, betrayal, lies and a roller coaster of emotions. I was instantly obsessed with finding out what really happened to Allie and playing investigator until the very end. Blackout is a YA Mystery that did not disappoint and my first book where the main character, or any character, struggled with amnesia. It is on my list of highly anticipated/recommended book for 2022. I want to again, thank Wattpad Books, Netgalley and Author K. Monroe for the opportunity to read such an incredible book with a plot and ending that fulfilled my needs as a reader.

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BRAVA

This roller coaster mystery will grip you from chapter one until the bitter end. Leaving you flipping pages, unbelieving that could really be the end of Allie’s story.

The clues and little snippets here and there really bring this one full circle. Jealousy, lies, betrayal, and teen angst are all wrapped up in this knock-out debut novel.

“I suppose I wanted something that was mine.”

I read the synopsis on a whim, honestly. It wasn’t one I’d been looking out for. Especially since I had just come down off a mystery/triller streak in October. But I am so flipping glad I did, this book seriously delivered. The twists and turns felt timed perfectly. The fragments of memories she gets during her recuperation felt very organic, nothing felt forced for the sake of the story. This journey of self discovery, and what happened the night she lost her memories, is one you do not want to miss.

Who do you trust? When you don’t even trust yourself?

Thank you WattPad Books and NetGalley for an advanced eARC! This review is being left voluntarily, all opinions and thoughts are my own.

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I'd give this 3.5 stars rounded up. I thought the writing was easy to follow, and the pacing seemed pretty good throughout. Allie is an intriguing character, and I liked her complexity. I also thought Zoe's character had good complexity (though I would've like a little more -- maybe a chapter or two from her POV, even).

The aspects I didn't like as much:
~the ending -- I felt like Allie was essentially running away. And yeah, it seemed realistic, but it also made me feel like the story was only about the mystery, and once it was solved, all the characters' purposes just stopped.
~Mason -- his character wasn't developed as much as I think it could have been, and because he played such a huge role in the last half/third of the book, it weakened the impact of the story (to me).
~ Damien -- his obsession with Allie seemed weird, and then to find out that Zoe liked him first -- and that Allie and Damien basically hooked up one night and she dated him from then on ... well, it certainly gave Zoe's and Allie's friendship a different feel.

Overall, I enjoyed it, even though I didn't love it, and the premise and intrigue was strong enough for me to keep reading (even though I guessed who was behind it pretty early on), which is why I'll round up.

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It was a really good, well written, and very enjoyable. I honestly really felt like i was Alina when in was reading and loved getting to know each character intimately. It was a bit predictable but I like predictable when done well, and this was enjoyable it was like the feeling of reading a favourite mystery book for the first time.

My favourite thing is probably how well I got to know every character, I need more details about them and how they think and feel 😅

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I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

One fateful night changed everything. If you had a second chance at life, one in which you remembered nothing from your previous life, would you take it? Would you change or drift back into your old patterns and personalities? Would you make a difference or let it slip?

I’m a sucker for YA Thrillers. Just enough suspense to make it a spooky book but not too much blood and gore to make it a horror book. See Natasha Preston for me. I absolutely loved her book so much that I went out and bought every other one she wrote. So when this appeared on NetGalley, I immediately requested it and hoped for the best. I mean who wouldn’t love a second chance?

The story follows Alina “Allie” Castillo following a very suspicious accident that left her with no recollection of her life, including what happened that night. Trying to settle back into her new life, secrets of the past come to life and the more and more Allie learns about her accident, the more she realizes that maybe it wasn’t an accident after all.

Overall it was a decent book. My biggest complaint was it was definitely a slice of life that focused a lot of the day to day aspects. I guess what I’m saying is it was full of filler. A lot of conversations that didn’t add anything to the story. Trips that added nothing. The other thing I can complain about is I seen the ending coming a mile away. There was no suspense or anything. If there was a little more, I think I would have enjoyed it even more.

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After a terrible car accident Allie is left with amnesia that leaves her picking up all the missing pieces of her life.

She returns to her new life with her three best friends, one being her boyfriend, and more secrets than she can keep up with. Who was she before the accident? If it was even an accident..

Reuniting with her past Allie goes on a path to discover what really happened...was she really such a terrible person as everyone seems to think? As she continues to get flashbacks the pieces of that night slowly start to come back. Still Allie is left feeling helpless and as if someone may be watching her..or maybe she is just imagining things....

the part I enjoyed most was how the environment was described, the small town they lived in was painted beautifully.

This novel was easy to get into and hard to put down. The book leaves you wanting to know what really happened and all of Allies secrets to be revealed.

Can Allie trust her past or is there something more sinister brewing?

I just wanted say a big thank you to wattpad books and net galley for giving me the opportunity to read this incredible ya thriller! I throughly enjoyed reading it and I am excited for more people to read it! Thank you also to K. Monroe for this amazing novel!!

This will be posted on goodreads!!

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I received a copy of this book from Netgalley for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this and it hooked me from the beginning. Allie kept on finding more and more unflattering things about herself and her life and I wanted to know more! I thought the author did a really good job of writing the differences between Allie now and Allie before. The only thing I wasn't a fan of was the end. I just didn't love it for a number of reasons.

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Blackout is a mystery/thriller YA that tells the story of Alina (Allie) Castillo, a popular teenager who ends up losing her memory after a car accident. As if it wasn't enough that she doesn't remember anything about her life, she also discovers that her car accident may not have been a simple accident.

As a YA, there are several typical things of the category, but I must confess that I was positively surprised. I thought it was very good. It's easy and fast to read, the mystery was good, the apprehension that Allie didn't know who she could and couldn't trust… And when the mystery really starts, I couldn't stop reading until the end.

One thing I found interesting (and positive!) was that the romance had everything set to happen. But unlike many YA with this thrope (the girl with the mysterious/quiet guy), Allie chooses to focus on herself and on her recovery. That was pretty good, because we're used to see the protagonist jumping in romances right after (or even during) going through a trauma, without giving time to heal from what happened.

If you're into mystery/thriller YA, I think you'll like Blackout a lot. It's a bit predictable, and I couldn't quite understand the motivation of certain people involved, but it's worth reading.

I just hope they fix the formatting before release, because it was really hard to read (I know it's not the author's fault, it's was netgalley's formatting, so I didn't consider it in my review).

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Excellent and quick read. I am excited to read more from this author. As many others said, you will find yourself not wanting to pause in the reading of this one. Great pacing!

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Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ (+ .75 stars)

I really enjoyed this story. I loved the way Alli becomes a new person after restarting her mind. The way the whole novel is written out is easy to follow and it’s fun to make connections near the end to the start of the novel. I loved the very end of the novel. It seemed like a perfect way to wrap the story. The events leading up to the ending didn’t settle with me right. I didn’t like how the mystery is just solved. I wish there was a bit more. It was a wonderful book though and I hope to read more by this author.

I received a review copy and am voluntarily leaving a review.

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A big thank you to NetGalley and Wattpad Books for allowing me to read this ARC.

I won’t get into a recap or synopsis of the book because I feel that it is well covered between the author and reviews.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved the internal struggle that the MC has throughout. Her dilemma of knowing and doing what’s right is constantly at battle with finding out what kind of person she has been in the past.
I didn’t love all of the characters, but they all played a role in getting to the conclusion. The rekindling of an old friendship was a familiar, but welcome element in this story.
This is definitely a real life possible book. It had me thinking what I would do. I could not put it down. Thank had to know how it was all going to end.
I loved all the details the author gave without getting wordy. A big thank you to the author for giving me more to the story after the culmination of the plot! I have no unanswered questions.
This would make a great movie.

This is a great YA thriller, and I would recommend it to fans of the genre.

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Sadly, this was not as expected.

The characters ticked me off, and the plot went extremely too fast for my liking.

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There were definitely aspects of this book that I enjoyed, but it also felt very long and slow and it wasn’t helped by the fact that it was very predictable. I think it would have been a little bit better if there was a little mystery around her accident, but it became pretty evident rather quickly what had happened and who was involved.

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The premise of this book is a great idea. Allie is in a terrible accident, and when she wakes she has amnesia. She remembers nothing of what happened, and people who say they are her mother and sister are total strangers to her. Leaving the hospital and returning to a "normal" life is thought to help her remember. Zoe introduces herself to Allie as her best friend, and Allie falls into what is her expected routine. She still remembers nothing, and it seems there are problems associated with the circumstances of her accident. That is when the story begins to have problems. The relationship with Allie's sister, Aubrey, her mom, and an absent father are never developed. The relationships with her friends are also are complicated because of things that happened before the accident, and those things are never developed so that the ending seems a bit abrupt. Maybe a little more time should have been taken with character development. I did keep reading because I wanted to know what happened, but I was left a bit dissatisfied.

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📚 Blackout by K. Monroe 📚

DEBUT NOVEL - Expected Publication January 2022

First off, thanks to @netgalley @wattpadbooks publishing & author K. Monroe for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

HOLAY. What a ride that was!

Blackout is the story of a girl named Allie who wakes up from a car accident with head injuries and has no idea who she is or what happened to cause her car accident.

Once released from the hospital to go back home, she tries to navigate a new norm. A senior in highschool, Allie has no idea who her friends or enemies are or what type of person she is.

Is she good or bad?
Did she cause the accident?
Did someone else?

Allie needs to keep her friends close and her enemies closer…but the only problem is….who is what?

This book was awesome. A solid 4 stars from me! I am excited to see what else K. Monroe cooks up in the future!


My Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ /5
Goodreads Average Rating: 3.90/5

* 352 pages
* Young Adult/Fiction/Thriller/Suspense
* Dark
* Fast Paced Read

**Some of these triggers may contain spoilers**

⚠️Triggers/Warnings⚠️

* Cursing
* Violence
* Toxic Relationship

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Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this title.

After a car crash, Allie has amnesia. She has to learn how to navigate the world when even her mother and sister are strangers. As she starts school back and begins to encounter more people, odd dreams and flashes of strange hallucinations begin to haunt her. Are her friends really her friends, or do they have something to hide?

This was a quick, engaging little read. I found myself reading it almost compulsively, as though I couldn't put it down. It wasn't the most twisty or shocking novel I've ever read, but enjoyable nonetheless!

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Woah, this was such a ride! Like the other reviewers said, I can easily see this becoming a movie! Blackout kept me glued to my screen the entire time reading it!
Thank you to Netgalley and Wattpad for this arc ebook! All opinions are my own.

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DNF at 25%. I found this book very difficult to get through. The characters and plot seemed monotonous, with no grappling characteristics for the reader. At times, it felt like she was just 'going through the motions' and I was hoping for something more compelling after reading the description as well as other reviews. I wanted to see more differentiating characterics to make this novel not feel like every other ya thriller novel. I gave it two stars because the writing was pretty good, just needed a little more complelling attention to the characters and story line.

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Ehhhh. It was okay I guess 🙃

I had a LOT of trouble getting into this one. I don’t know what it was, but I think it’s a mixture of several things. The generic nature of the plot, the lack of high stakes, the overall feeling that this is something I’ve read before a million times. Don’t get me wrong, I realize nothing is truly *original* anymore because everything has been done before. But I could not shake the feeling I was basically rereading another one of these YA thrillers that was basically identical to at least 5 that I’ve read before in the past. I love a good thriller, went through a thriller phase where I read and and all thrillers. This did not stand out at all whatsoever, and basically rehashed what I’ve read a million times already. I realize nothing is truly original anymore since everything has been done at this point, but with successful thrillers, there’s always some sort of unique touch that makes it stand out. Whether it’s standout characterization, an extra inventive twist, high stakes, or an overwhelming sense of urgency, those are the thrillers that stand out. This was not even close to that.

The ending was also so damn predictable I almost laughed. You know when you think they couldn’t possibly end it that way because it’s too obvious so surely they wouldn’t do that, just for it to be exactly that? If you want your thriller to stand out, at the very least make the ending a harder for us to guess. That’s the whole selling point of a good thriller; the fact that it keeps you guessing on who is behind it all. If you screw up the big reveal there’s not much left going for you then.

Lastly, isn’t the fault of the author or book but the formatting of this netgalley arc was soooooo bad. Like the worst I have ever experienced in my 30+ arcs I’ve reviewed. It was so terrible but as soon as I opened page one I instantly debated not even trying this and having my first non completion of an arc ever. I could not truly accurately review this book because the terrible formatting was so distracting that I skimmed at least half this book. Netgalley requesters beware!

2.5 rounded up to a very generous 3 stars. I debated with a 2/5 but that just didn’t sit right with me, partially due to the fact that I skimmed so much of this because I just could not take the formatting.

Thank you to Netgalley and Wattpad Books for sending me an advanced copy in return for my honest review.

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