A review by connorpan
Blackouts by Justin Torres

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad medium-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

4.0

Ooh my thoughts on this book are very conflicting.

On one hand, about a third of the way through the novel and i still felt as if it the experimental and fragmented writing style had not weaved together something i could comprehend. i began enjoying the style and story further on; this was especially true for middle part where juan tells the story of jan and zhenya gay through the lens of his (ficitonalized) life. i love how juan imagines it as a film, not in any particular chronological order, and a bit vague and eerie, reflective of the qualities of the novel itself.

what prevents me from rating the book anything higher than a solid 4 stars was my inability to more deeply connect with juan, the protagonist, jan, or zhenya gay. i’m not quite sure what in particular about the book made it so, but reading it felt like watching the characters talk and move through a glass wall. no matter how hard i tried i could not immerse myself into the story, and ended the book with no deep or profound emotions for any of the characters. one element i can think of that caused this disconnect is the very poetic and almost flowery prose, yet the lack of nuanced emotions other than pain in said prose. i’m only including this because i think the book has so much potential to make readers empathize and connect more with the story and characters in tandem with learning about the harsh history of our queer predecessors. Blackouts is an ambitious piece of experimental fiction that falls short of its lofty goals.