Hardcover, 243 pages
Release Date: June 22, 2021
Published by: Quill Tree Books
Read from: June 26 – July 2, 2021
Stand-alone
Source: Bought
TW:
For fans of: Contemporary, Romance, Coming of Age, YASix critically acclaimed, bestselling, and award-winning authors bring the glowing warmth and electricity of Black teen love to this interlinked novel of charming, hilarious, and heartwarming stories that shine a bright light through the dark.
A summer heatwave blankets New York City in darkness. But as the city is thrown into confusion, a different kind of electricity sparks…
A first meeting.
Long-time friends.
Bitter exes.
And maybe the beginning of something new.
When the lights go out, people reveal hidden truths. Love blossoms, friendship transforms, and new possibilities take flight.
Beloved authors—Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon—celebrate the beauty of six couples and the unforgettable magic that can be found on a sweltering starry night in the city.
*MY THOUGHTS*
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.
Overall, I give this
