Tally should never have written that email. Then again, she didn’t believe her doctors or her parents when they told her the life she remembered, the friends, the love, the parties, had all just been a dream within her coma. A coma she had slipped into after taking drugs. She knew she wouldn’t do that. On her release she had reached out to the popular kids, her friends, but in return received only scorn and mockery. She had been popular once, if only in her dream, and she was determined to be again. She would find her way back, and along the way clear her name. Of course, if she didn’t take the drugs, then it was clear something else must have happened, and her regaining her memory is not in everyone’s best interest.
I have read a number of books by Joey Paul, and no one quite writes like her. I love her engaging first-person narrative, especially how they are tailored to the focal character’s personality. Tally is a great character, confused, funny, and determined. Once you pick up Blackout time will lose all meaning as you find yourself enthralled in the expertly told tale. The style of this book reminds me a lot of the point horror I used to read while in school, while it is aimed at a young adult audience, adults will find it just as gripping. Well-written, enjoyable, and moving, well deserving of five stars, and I’ve already picked up another book by this author for my to read list.
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