Blackout (Newsflesh, #3)

by Mira Grant

[clementine]

Due to the plot of these books, there's no way for me to really talk about Blackout without spoiling both Deadline and Blackout. If you have any interest in reading these books, or if you are reading them but haven't made it to Deadline, you should probably skip this review. I'm using spoiler tags for super spoil-y things, but it's unavoidable that you WILL get spoiled if you read this review, even WITH the spoiler tags.

I read this ~600-page book in one day, because that's just what you do when the ~600-page book is gripping the whole way through.

Blackout was an almost seamless continuation of Deadline, this time alternating narration between Shaun and Georgia. Or, well, clone Georgia. Every time I finished one of their chapters, I was like, "NOOO, GIVE ME MORE SHAUN/GEORGIA," but then I started reading the next section and I'd forget all about the cliffhanger from the last one and be mad about the cliffhanger in the current one. It was definitely very, very exciting, and the storylines collided at the perfect point.

I was especially impressed by how well Grant brought everything together, tying up the loose ends from Feed. Ryman and Rick weren't present in Deadline, which I personally didn't mind, but having them back and explaining their absence - and what they'd be up to in that time - was certainly welcome. The entire CDC conspiracy was explained really well, and this time I didn't feel like there was a tonne of expository text just dumped all over the place, which was really my main issue with Feed.

Once again, Blackout grappled with some seriously tough issues. Medical ethics, are, of course, at the heart of this series, this time with a focus on cloning, which was really interesting. Seeing the different characters' reactions to Subject 7b was awesome, and every reaction seemed realistic. From Shaun's elation at having his sister back to Becks's anger and mistrust of Georgia, it all made sense. And, of course, there were some truly touching, sad scenes. Becks was an awesome character whose death was certainly very emotional.

I would say that Deadline is my favourite book in the series, but Blackout was, like the other two, intelligent, amazingly plotted, and generally pretty damn awesome.