I enjoyed reading the book-----stayed up late-----changed my morning plans etc.... yes at times the book is unrealistic. Many have criticized the ending---it wasn't a terrible ending---just not a lot of details. Maybe there were plans for a second book or maybe it was the author's way of allowing you to imagine what came next. I have read books with less of an ending where you had no idea what happened to the characters at all. I wanted to know what happened to her original friend. I gave this a 5 star rating because I really enjoyed reading it------it totally captured me and I become a part of the book. I loved the part where she had the kids read Alas Babylon ---I happen to like books that kind of follow a book I have enjoyed. I didn't feel like this was a copy of Alas Babylon----just a similar type of book. By having the kids read it,I thought she gave credit to the fact that Alas Babylon is a true classic. My only disappointment in the book was Jimmy-- Post-Apocalyptic Love Story???3.5 StarsCovers can be deceiving. So too it is with this book, although that is not entirely bad. Let's call a spade a spade: This is not a gripping edge of your seat thrill-fest where the world ends and each page is filled with suspense. For those expecting the post-apocalyptic standards of blood, guts, and glory, this is not your book. There is no build up to "the blackout". And when it happens after many pages, you realize this is probably not the story you expected. This is a love story between a wife and her husband, separated because of a solar flare caused blackout. The whole story is about their coping with the world around them while they struggle to reunite: a sort of post-apocalyptic romance. Surprisingly, this is not a current Amazon genre. Okay, here's my admonition... After reading further, I was taken in with the author's eloquent writing, and I needed to know how these two characters would get back together. If it weren't so well written, I probably would have given it three stars or less, because the cover is all wrong for the story, and the plot was somewhat predictable. Regardless of all my complaining, I really enjoyed Ms. Erickson's writing and would consider reading other works by her in the future.
What do You think about The Blackout (2000)?
Not impressed. No new ideas for this particular genre. Dull.
—Ang
fairly stupid. Not much to the plot, very predictable.
—keonna
