Whiteout by Angie Thomas, Nicola Yoon, Dhonielle Clayton, Ashley Woodfolk, Tiffany D Jackson, and Nic Stone - Review

Can you remember the book Blackout by the same group of authors as above, which I reviewed here? I loved it, so when I saw that the same six amazing authors had written another book I really wanted to read it. It turned out to be 99p on Kindle after Christmas, so I bought it and picked it up over New Year. It is set just a few days before Christmas, but it isn't particularly 'Christmassy', so I'd say you could read it whenever. It does feature a once in a generation snowstorm hitting Atlanta, Georgia, hence the name. 

The book starts with Stevie, who is a very clever scientist who has a dreamy romantic for a girlfriend, Sola. The two of them have been friends forever and then started a relationship. They have their futures all set out: university together, marriage, kids, all of that. Sola plans a special meal with her family - including some from out of town - so that the two of them can come out as a couple. However Stevie messes it up and Sola is left angry and embarassed. Stevie has her phone taken away so can't contact Sola for days. She finally gets her phone back on the day that the book is set, when she finds Sola's ultimatum: Stevie has to apologise by midnight or they're over for good. Stevie asks her group chat for help and then takes off in an Uber to the local stadium, where her friend's brother works, so that she can get her plan underway. 

So first of all there's Kaz and Porsha. Kaz has a massive crush on Porsha and plans to tell her today, when his family will be celebrating Eid late, with a huge breaking of the fast meal. He's got it all planned out. The two of them head to the mall to help Stevie, but while there, the mall shuts because of the snow, and Kaz and Porsha get stranded as their car breaks down. But Kaz does tell Porsha how he feels, and it's adorable.

Evan Rose is Stevie's best friend, but she attends a private school a way away, and is coming home for the holidays. Stevie and Sola have been to the school and considered going, but ultimately didn't. But they did do like a camp there, and Stevie wants a souvenir that Evan Rose has managed to bring with her. Evan Rose is also travelling with Van, who she's been having an on and off thing with. But Evan Rose also had a thing with someone else, who they end up running into at the airport... it's messy and I liked it!

Next there's Jordyn who is driving home from Howard university (which is where Stevie and Sola want to go) (and which I know is historically a black university thanks to the Real Housewives of Potomac, haha). She is bringing home some branded stuff for Sola, from Stevie. She's also driving her friend Omari home. The two of them kissed and haven't spoken since, so maybe 'friends' is a stretch, but... Then they get stranded on the motorway due to the snow and Jordyn feels really bad that she's letting Stevie down by not getting the stuff to her. She isn't exactly friends with Stevie - her sister Jimi is. But as with Blackout, everyone in this book is connected. 

Then there's Jimi herself. She is busking near the stadium by herself. She was in a band with two people called Kennedy and Rakeem, and she had a strict no love songs policy in their band. Then Kennedy and Rakeem revelead they were seeing each other and wanted to write love songs, and Jimi got upset so the band is kind of on a break. She's busking in the snow when her old friend, now known as rapper Lil Kinsey, turns up. It turns out that Jimi wrote him a love song years ago and he never told her how he felt about it, and now he's world famous. The two end up getting involved in Stevie's thing while maybe having a thing with each other...

Finally there's Ava and Mason, who work together at the aquarium where Stevie's mum is the director. They used to be together but have broken up. But does that mean they can't be friends? They're trying to choose a perfect gift for Sola from the gift shop. 

So will Stevie's big gesture work? That's the question! This is a glorious book, filled with Black joy and Black queer joy. It's lovely! I'm giving this five out of five. 

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

I saw someone reading this book on instagram and thought it looked good, so bought it a few weeks later. I'm lucky that I can often afford books when I want to just pick them up. I also do like to support authors of colour, especially black authors, and I'm lucky I can afford to do that too!

So this book was the brain child of Dhonielle Clayton, who I have not yet read anything else by. It is set in a New York black out and has a bunch of different characters, all of whom are connected but they may not realise exactly how. Each set of characters has a love story and they are all SO CUTE. All of the characters are black, I think, which was great to read. 

The main characters are Tammi and Kareem. They both turn up for the same internship and just as they're getting stuff sorted the black out starts. They used to be a couple but have broken up. Tammi had different plans for the two of them post school and for college, but now she's got plans of her own to get out of the city. Hence the internship. But now she and Kareem need to walk back to Bed-Stuy together. Tammi is still angry at him but also full of regrets... 

Next, two boys get stuck together on a subway train. They kind of know each other - and had an encounter in a gay club not too long back. JJ knows that Tremaine is very claustrophobic so he breaks them out of the train and gets them to safety. I loved this story, I could have read a whole novel about these two!

Two girls meet at the home one of their grandparents lives in. He knows they will hit it off so sends them off on a wild hunt around the home. Lana and Tristan are in the library when the black out happens and are trying to find their favourite books of all time. Lana has a huge crush on Tristan but daren't tell anyone. Her two dads had a very meet cute beginning to their relationship and Lana really believes in love. A girl visiting from North Carolina or something has a crush on one of the boys in her class, who she's also travelling with, but there's the problem of her boyfriend... And Seymour and Grace meet when he's her cab driver trying to get her to Bed-Stuy for a party - the same party that Kareem is supposed to DJ at. 

Between each story we go back to Tammi and Kareem and watch them trying to make their long way home. 

It's an interesting concept for a book and I think it worked really well; I liked the back and forth and the little vignettes. I loved the setting of the black out and how it made familiar things unfamiliar. I liked how New York City looked through all of the characters. I'm giving this five out of five, I loved it! 

Jackpot by Nic Stone - Review

Where did I get it? Netgalley, many thanks to Simon & Schuster for the book! 

What's it about? Rico is seventeen and lives in Atlanta Georgia. She lives with her mum, Stacia, and her younger brother, Jaxon. The family struggles to make ends meet every

month. Rico works at a local gas station to make money to give to her mum for their bills. On Christmas Eve, Rico sells two lottery tickets to an old lady, for a jackpot of 312 million dollars. The lady gives her one of the tickets. When the numbers come up, Rico is convinced that the lady has a winning ticket and, to begin with, wants to find her to steal it from her. That amount of money would obviously be life changing for Rico's family.

She enlists the help of Zan Macklin, the richest boy in school, who she is sure can help her to hack the gas station's CCTV so she can see how the old lady arrived that night. The two begin to form a friendship through a ridiculous treasure hunt, and there's feelings between the two of them. She assumes Zan's life is free from all pressures, but though he is very privileged, he doesn't have a perfect life. Rico has never had much time for friends, but Zan's friends Jess and Ness warm to her too, and Rico has some lovely rites of passage throughout her last few months at school. 

This is one of those books where subjectively, I didn't love it, I would probably have given it three out of five. But objectively, I can see that there a lot of teens that would need this book, that will see themselves reflected in it, and I think that it's a good book in that way and deserves a higher score. It is different to Odd One Out, the last book by Nic that I read, but I don't think that's to its detriment. I do have a few criticisms, I'll get to those later.

Oh, there's also a few parts told from the point of view of inanimate objects. I thought these were good and added something to the book. They definitely told the reader something that we didn't know, and they were kind of cute. 

What age range is it for? 15+ I'm going to say

Are any main characters LGBTQ+? No. 

Are any main characters people of colour? Yes. Rico is mixed race - Stacia is mixed race and Rico's dad was Spanish although she's never met him. Zan is also part-Mexican, something which came across well I felt. 

Are any main characters disabled either mentally or physically? Not really, but I'll trigger warn for illness and mentions of addiction and abuse. 

Is there any sex stuff? No 

Are drugs mentioned or used? No I don't think so 

Is there any talk of death? Some, it's not graphic

Are there swear words? No 

What criticisms do I have? Hmmm, ok. I found it hard to fathom Zan's motives at times. His privilege did annoy the shit out of me sometimes, too. I thought the romance was cute, but it was on a strange footing from the beginning. I also didn't understand why Rico had literally no friends, and I wish we had seen how she was at school. I genuinely think a lot of my criticisms are just because I'm 35 and white and British - the book isn't for me and doesn't need to be. I didn't hate it! I just had problems with it 

Would I recommend the book? Yes if the premise appeals 

Why did I choose to read it at this point in life? I was on my Kindle and just scrolled to it. 

What do I think of the cover? It's cute! I like how Zan looks, it helped me to have a picture of him in my head. 

What other books is it like? I'm drawing a blank, sorry! 

How many stars? Four out of five. 

Jackpot will be published on the 15th of October 2019. I was given a free electronic copy of the novel but was not compensated in any other way for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Odd One Out by Nic Stone - Review

Where did I get it? I pre-ordered it way back in April and it arrived in mid-October

What's it about? It's got three points of view, splitting the book into thirds. In the first part we meet Courtney Cooper, star on his basketball team, who is in love with his female best friend, Jupiter. They've been friends forever and are extremely close, but Jupiter is gay and has been out of the closet for years. 

Then there's a new girl in town, Rae, and Jupiter is all over her, leaving Coop feeling pushed out. The middle of the book is Rae's point of view and we see how she feels about both Coop and Jupiter, and how she feels split in the middle by them. 

The last part of the book is Jupiter's point of view and we see how she feels sexuality changing and being fluid. 

I liked the set up with Coop and Jupiter's families, that they were basically one big family that lived next door to each other. Coop lived with his mum and his dad was dead, and Jupiter lived with her two dads. I felt like Rae's family could have joined in this eventually too; I like to think this would happen in a sequel! 

I didn't like the end too much, I felt like there was a lot unresolved. But it was very lifelike. I liked Coop best of all, I think. I wish Rae had been more open with either of them. I would absolutely read other books by Nic Stone, though (I own Dear Martin, which I'm looking forward to). 

What age range is it for? 15+, I think. There is quite a lot of traumatic past, so be careful with yourself. 

Are any main characters LGBTQ+? Yes

Are any main characters people of colour? Yes, all three main characters. I liked how this was written. 

Are any main characters disabled either mentally or physically? I don't think so, but I might have forgotten? 

Is there any sex stuff? Yes, it's not explicit and I think they use protection

Are drugs mentioned or used? I don't think so? Maybe weed? 

Is there any talk of death? Yes, trigger warnings. 

Are there swear words? A couple, very judiciously used. 

What criticisms do I have? As above, I just didn't like the ending much. And I felt like we were supposed to like Jupiter much more than I actually did/ 

Would I recommend the book? I would, actually. I think this review is much more negative than I mean it to be. 

Why did I choose to read it at this point in life? It arrived and it was in a pile of new books by my bed!

What other books is it like? I'm not sure. 

How many stars? Six out of then. 

Where is the book going now? I'll probably keep it, I have friends who would love it.