Reviews with content warning for Cancer - Blackout

Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

Blackout by Angie Thomas, Dhonielle Clayton, Ashley Woodfolk, Nic Stone, Nicola Yoon, Tiffany D. Jackson

18 reviews

melodyseestrees's review against another edition

emotional hopeful relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

The biggest drawback is the amount of time you spend with each character. I wish there was more of several characters and really dig in how they know others well enough to show up at this party. There are plentiful good poignant moments for most of the characters.

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cranedphoenix's review

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funny hopeful reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

End of year book went into this year
Tough read as in wasnt very much into it, shame because like some of the authors
Have many cute points/moments/sections but overall was like chewing bricks to get self to read and considered DNF a lot
Maybe just not in mood for stories
Cute overall though

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mel_muses's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

This was so good, I didn’t expect to like it this much! One of my favorite anthologies! Every story was strong on its own, and I loved spotting the connections between them. I'm definitely gonna have to look into a lot of these authors' backlists because they were all so phenomenal and some were completely new-to-me!

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tigger89's review

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was another read for work, and definitely not my preferred genre. However, I was surprised by what I was able to find to enjoy. I think if you're someone who enjoys short, sweet, YA love stories, this book would be perfect for you. I will caution that these aren't romances, as not every one ends in a happily-ever-after or happy-for-now. But I will say that the main character in each story winds up fulfilled, whatever that might mean in their situation, so there are no bad endings in this book.

Aside from the obvious not-my-genre situation, the other thing I didn't like about this book was how inconsistently well anxiety was portrayed. Contrasting Mask Off with The Long Walk, I found the depiction of Tremaine's claustrophobia very relatable, and while at first Tammi's anxiety over the impending bridge situation was also spot-on, at the end it evaporated in a puff of plot resolution. True love doesn't overcome crippling anxiety! That's like everybody cheering as the guy in the wheelchair gets up and starts walking at the end of the movie. It just…doesn't work like that. Sure would be nice if it did!

There's some LGB content in this book, for those who look for that. Mask Off is about two boys, and Made to Fit is sapphic(also ownvoices, or close enough — Ashley Woodfolk is bi). T+ content is limited to the background, however.

If rating just off my own opinion, I would probably give this a 3.5, based largely off of how much I (unexpectedly!) genuinely enjoyed No Sleep Till Brooklyn. However, because I have few constructive complaints and mostly just feel that it was Not For Me, I'm going to be generous and bump it up to a 4.

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taylorleilani's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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laurataylor's review

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adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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thebakerbookworm's review

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hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was such a cute collection of short stories about young love and discovering who you are—all set against a blackout in New York City.

For being short stories, they were all connected and worked well together; these characters are all unknowingly trying to get to the same block party, which made for a fitting finale. I loved how much we learn about each character even though we don't spend a ton of time with any of them—it was great writing! I loved that NYC felt like its own character; it's always fun when authors do that.

Overall, these were sweet stories celebrating young Black love that made my heart happy and hopeful. Definitely recommend if you enjoy YA romance or if you just need a lighthearted pick-me-up book.

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