REVIEW: Blackout

Blackout by Chris Myers
Genres: New Adult, Romance, Thriller/Mystery, Contemporary
Published: April 2015 by Chris Myers
Pages: 400
Format: Kindle Edition
Rating: 5.5/10
Description:  No restraining order will stop Dare from protecting Teal. The blackouts started happening when Teal was eight. There are long periods of her youth she doesn't remember. She has woken up in strange places, feeling disoriented and unaware of how long she's been out. After two years abroad attending a private school and sessions with a top-notch psychiatrist, she's been deemed cured. The blackouts have ceased, or so Teal thought, until she wakes up in a ditch back home in North Carolina. Dare, the man pulling her broken body from the wreckage, has a restraining order against him. He’s no longer the clean-cut boy she went frog gigging with but road-hardened. His lean, muscular arms, riddled with tats, drag her out of the SUV. She should fear him, but instead, his touch sparks memories that tell her she once worshiped him with all her heart.

Blackout is a physiological thriller, a romance, a mystery book all rolled into a New Adult format. It was a very interesting book that had a compelling premise. There is a great romance and a lot of cool physiological aspects. There is a fantastic, dark mystery that we get to explore, limited by our protagonist's memory loss. However, I found that a lot of potential was lost with the book as I found a couple problems with it.

Let's start with the good. The ambiance was executed very well. The unease and disquiet of an unfinished mystery in this town is definitely exemplified through the writing. The murder story that we only receive bits and pieces of throughout the book keep the story interesting and thrilling. It was much like a "whodunit." The narrative was engaging. The wrap-up in the end was very well done, bringing all the pieces and clues together to form a shocking and satisfying conclusion. The romance was steamy and passionate, and I did enjoy the relationship of Dare and Teal. I always looked forward to those scenes.

Some of the problems I found with the book was mostly to do with the characters. Most, if not all, of the characters were very flat and static, most of the supporting characters were just flat out stereotypes. Our protagonist, Teal, is a very typical "girl-next-door-turned-hot" character. I was annoyed with her at times by her ignorance to how attractive she is. Literally, every man she sees hits on her and she get's embarrassed and blushy every time. Her character was not very believable at all. Also, many of her decisions were pretty dumb. (*Spoilers: Her arm is broken and she decides to drive a car! She found out a boy got slaughtered and she goes to a distanced swamp with only one other person as protection! She knows she has a stalker and she walks home alone in the dark!)
There were a lot of potential side story lines that I felt could have made the story much richer.

I found that the book was very heavily focused on physical appearance, which did take away a lot from the story itself. Teal is beautiful, Dare is beautiful, Graham is beautiful, Kami is beautiful, everyone is beautiful and attractive, and there would be pages and pages going on about how pretty every character is. This did take away from actual character building for me. The characters turned into nothing more than there appearance. The Tuckers were nothing more than the hot family. There are also a lot of cat calls and just random compliments that are thrown at Teal which seem misplaced and odd. It just felt weird for me and that did distract me from the story.

Overall, Blackout is a strong book in terms of the setting, the ambiance, and the story line, but weak in terms of character building. There was a great accompanying romance, however the dialogue and personas in the book fell flat for me. There is a lack of deep or believable characters. Blackout is recommended to those who wish to read a New Adult with some suspenseful elements.

*I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.*