Blackout by Meredith McCardle (Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads)Published by Amazon Childrens Pub on January 13th 2015
Genres: Action & Adventure, Science Fiction, Time Travel, Young Adult
Pages: 343
Seventeen-year-old Amanda Obermann (code name: Iris) has more on her mind than usual. As a member of a covert government organization called the Annum Guard, which travels through time to keep history on track, Iris has been getting some particularly stressful assignments. Plus, Jane Bonner, the Guard's iron-fisted new leader, seems determined to make life as hard as possible. Thankfully, Iris has Abe (code name: Blue), her boyfriend and fellow Guardian, who listens to her vent—and helps her cope with her mentally ill mother's increasingly erratic behavior.When Guardians start to disappear on their assignments, Iris makes a terrifying discovery: a “blackout” squad is targeting anyone who gets in the way of a corrupt force that's selling out both the Annum Guard's missions and Guardian lives. Together, Iris and Blue must go undercover to untangle the Guard's elaborate web of secrets and lies. But when Iris discovers that the terrible truth may involve her own father, a former Guardian undone by his own greed, she must decide how much she's willing to risk to rescue her friends…and how dangerous the consequences will be for all of humanity.A thrilling time-traveling adventure that spans from Abraham Lincoln's assassination to the Cuban Missile Crisis and back to the present day, this pulse-pounding sequel toThe Eighth Guardian reveals that playing with time can turn into a deadly game.
Ahhh….that ending!!!
Blackout by Meredith McCardle is the second book in the Annum Guard series and I have been waiting (a bit impatiently) for this book to come out. Not only because I love time-travel books but because the mystery of what is going to happen next with these characters always keeps me turning the pages. Keep in mind that if you haven’t read book one, this review might mention some things that you might not want to know yet.
Amanda Obermann is Iris and she’s still a member of the Annum Guard, a covert government organization that keeps history on track, and things aren’t necessarily going as she had hoped they would once Alpha was killed. Now Jane Bonner is the interim leader and she is definitely making things difficult – for everyone. It is hard for Amanda to believe Bonner is there to make things better and as Amanda continues to dig into who she is and why she is now in charge, she finds out some interesting things.
The one bright spot for Amanda is that Abe now works for the Guard too even though it has created a tense situation with his grandfather. Abe balances Amanda out and while she continues to figure out what is going on with the guard as well as what to do with her mother, she is able to lean on Abe and he provides support, guidance, and at times, a bit of tough love to help Amanda figure things out.
As the guard continues to go on missions, things begin to get dangerous due to the fact that the guardians are disappearing and no one knows what really is happening to them. Amanda covertly begins working with Red to figure out what is really going on and what Bonner is up to and finds out some very interesting things about, not only those individuals with the Annum Guard now, but also those that started the organization.
McCardle does a wonderful job of pulling the reader into the time-travel by providing some great descriptions and keeping the story moving. I found myself turning the pages just to find out what was going to happen next – I wanted to know what else Amanda was going to find out. The mysteries really help move the story but I also love that there is a lot of action too and not just a history lesson – and this is from someone who loves history.
I thought this was a great second book that helped move the story forward and was happy to see that there was a great mix of action, character development, and story progression. Relationships change along the way and major things happen – I know that is so, so vague but I can’t say what without really giving anything away…so I won’t. Just trust me when I say, if you haven’t started this series, you should get started. I loved everything that McCardle did with this story, even if the end of this book almost killed me (figuratively…obviously). I have no idea what will happen next for Amanda and am excited to see what McCardle does next with this series.
Thank you to Netgalley and Skyscape for the review copy!
Blackout by Meredith McCardle is the second book in the Annum Guard series and I have been waiting (a bit impatiently) for this book to come out. Not only because I love time-travel books but because the mystery of what is going to happen next with these characters always keeps me turning the pages. Keep in mind that if you haven’t read book one, this review might mention some things that you might not want to know yet.
Amanda Obermann is Iris and she’s still a member of the Annum Guard, a covert government organization that keeps history on track, and things aren’t necessarily going as she had hoped they would once Alpha was killed. Now Jane Bonner is the interim leader and she is definitely making things difficult – for everyone. It is hard for Amanda to believe Bonner is there to make things better and as Amanda continues to dig into who she is and why she is now in charge, she finds out some interesting things.
The one bright spot for Amanda is that Abe now works for the Guard too even though it has created a tense situation with his grandfather. Abe balances Amanda out and while she continues to figure out what is going on with the guard as well as what to do with her mother, she is able to lean on Abe and he provides support, guidance, and at times, a bit of tough love to help Amanda figure things out.
As the guard continues to go on missions, things begin to get dangerous due to the fact that the guardians are disappearing and no one knows what really is happening to them. Amanda covertly begins working with Red to figure out what is really going on and what Bonner is up to and finds out some very interesting things about, not only those individuals with the Annum Guard now, but also those that started the organization.
McCardle does a wonderful job of pulling the reader into the time-travel by providing some great descriptions and keeping the story moving. I found myself turning the pages just to find out what was going to happen next – I wanted to know what else Amanda was going to find out. The mysteries really help move the story but I also love that there is a lot of action too and not just a history lesson – and this is from someone who loves history.
I thought this was a great second book that helped move the story forward and was happy to see that there was a great mix of action, character development, and story progression. Relationships change along the way and major things happen – I know that is so, so vague but I can’t say what without really giving anything away…so I won’t. Just trust me when I say, if you haven’t started this series, you should get started. I loved everything that McCardle did with this story, even if the end of this book almost killed me (figuratively…obviously). I have no idea what will happen next for Amanda and am excited to see what McCardle does next with this series.
Thank you to Netgalley and Skyscape for the review copy!
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