*thank you to bloomsbury for sending me an eARC! all thoughts are my own :)

honestly elliott was a great insight into the tumultuous life of a sixth grader, including ADHD, divorced parents, a new step-sibling and making friends. elliott is such a lovely and relatable character -- especially when it comes to his ADHD and his emotions -- and a really fun narrator. each plot line is explored in enough depth for readers to understand without being too much to focus on, and they all work together really well. maribel is a great match for elliott in the story, with their celiac/ADHD comparisons, their "friend groups," and how they talk about their feelings. overall, a great read with some great avenues for kids to understand what they or their peers are going through.

(3.5 stars) the story sucked me in really early on, and the writing was beautiful, but the lack of character development/emotional display and the complete lack of any foundation to either of the romances made this a bit flat at times, especially at the climax. i don’t do well with plot-driven stories over character-driven, and the plot took over in this one. i did give it at least half a star more for the STUNNING cover. seriously, look at it.

i really enjoyed this one! set over the course of a few hours, blackout follows several different love stories during a NYC blackout in july. i loved the idea of all these puzzle pieces coming together at the end, but there were some stories that i felt needed a bit more of an ending. overall a super fun and quick read!