Having just finished reading Blackout, I can't help but compare it to Feed where the explanations were scientific and logical, everything backed up and well fleshed out. Just something about the book made me think the author had boys in mind as he was writing.
Not so much about the plot, because I'm of the opinion that both genders can and will and should read any book they like. I got a vibe from this book of it being strongly aimed at boys - a lot of the points of view that we get in the book are from the boys. They can be very frustrating and be realistic. Of course, that's part of the interesting bit when it comes to reading about teenagers. It's enjoyable in a lot of ways, though there were times when I was very frustrated with some of the characters. I'm in a bit of a bind for time right now, but I wanted to post my thoughts on this book. Books like these that base one gender's main worth on their unbearably torturous beauty (unicorns weep, angels pass bricks, etc), are not going to be books that are particularly intelligent and/or nuanced, let's just say. Top this off with rigid cliques and stereotypes, and heaps of unexplained world-building, and you've got a book that didn't so much drop its potential as it did hurl it off the peak of Kilimanjaro, never to be seen again.Also, a huge warning that I would not enjoy this book probably should have been the fact that every female character of note is impossibly beautiful (the first two girls namechecked in the novel are described as "gorgeous" and "if she ever posted a naked picture on the internet, all the comments would be angry claims that she was photoshopped.") On one hand I have to laugh because a lot of female-driven YA books do this too, where all the guys are super gorgeous and buff omgz1!!! But on the other hand, it made me roll my eyes because come on. Then we have super drab cutout characters who make the lint in my dryer look witty and scintillating. But the more I read, the more my heart sank.To begin with, the writing is bad and unpolished ("throwing her head back in ecstasy, her lips quivering" - Jesus Christ, shoot me now). (I love locked room stories! and stories where people have to fight each other to survive! and gore!). I was excited when I first heard about this book, and nearly abused my librarian privileges so I could get it the moment it went into circulation.
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