Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this advanced reader's copy and the opportunity to read this early. Review has been posted on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

If you're looking for some survivalist, apocalyptic work, this isn't it--so I understand why people feel misled. What bumped this up for me was the sincere and honest portrayal of what it's like to have a sibling with a disability. My brother has intellectual and disabilities and is autistic, and Simonet nails the complicated feelings that happen as a sibling. Yes, there's love and pride, but there's also frustration and anger. For that, I'm bumping it up a star, because I really did feel like my thoughts and feelings were on the page.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

This was a DNF for me unfortunately. I didn't feel like I was getting enough backstory and overall it felt a bit choppy/slow. I do feel like the book had strong characters and potential for good development but I just wasn't engaged enough to see it through. I appreciate the representation of having a family member with autism. This one might work really well for another reader.

From the synopsis, this book sounded like it was dystopian and I never really abandoned that genre like most, so I was super excited. However, this book is not really the traditional dystopian we think of. I think some of the elements are there, but it lagged a bit for me in that respect.

I did really like the characters, I think Alex and Anthony are great and this is definitely a character driven story, but I felt there could have been something more. I will say though, I'm highly appreciative of the autism rep the author included.

Overall, I didn't hate this book, but I didn't love it. It sort of fell right in the middle for me.

I thought this book would be a fast dystopian novel with some deeper elements, and I was really looking forward to it. Overall, however, this missed the mark for me. While I love the characters and I found Alex incredibly interesting, I found that the story jumped around a bit and was lacking.

I appreciated the representation and the inclusion of an autistic character, as well as the real life difficulties regarding relationships, family, and racism.

I think some people will love how character driven this novel is.

The summary of this book sounded like a dystopian story, and it sort of was, but not as much as I was hoping for.

Alexandra Waters has been hiding out in her house for the past 3 weeks during a nationwide blackout. She and her mother have been going through the motions of living for the past year, ever since Alex's brother, Georgie - who has autism, was removed from the home after an accident at the lake.

One day during the blackout, Alex's good friend Anthony asks her to walk miles and miles to the closest town to try and connect with his mom via a radio someone supposedly has at the VFW. They encounter some interesting people on their journey and ultimately end up at Georgie's school and take him along on their quest.

The story jumps around from the action taking place during Alex and Anthony's journey - including their budding romance, Alex's rants about how the special needs community is treated by "Normies", and the challenges of caring for a child/sibling with special needs.

I was definitely looking for something different with this book than what it was. It was just ok.

3.5 stars A Night Twice As Long by Andrew Simonet was not what I was expecting. This book was a little confusing as I couldn't quite put my finger on what was missing. There was some character growth early in the book but overall there wasn't much later on. As a character driven reader it was a let down for me. The plot was ok but without that connection to any of the characters I found myself just wanting to finish so I could move onto the next book. I just wanted more from this story overall.

Andrew Simonet's story of a teenage girl who goes on a journey in the middle of a blackout has incredibly well-written characters and touches upon some very difficult issues such as living with and raising a disabled child, divorce, ableism and racism.

We find ourselves in the middle of a long blackout. I's been twenty two days since the lights went out and there is a lot of uncertainty as to what caused it and more importantly how long it will last. Alex's best (the only one who keptcomingtoherhouse and worrying about her after what happened with her brother) friend Anthony suggests walking ten miles to the nearest town to try to contact Anthony's mother who is in the navy. After Child Protection Services removed Alex's younger brother Georgie from their mother's care and placed him with another family, Alex has been spending most of her time at home. Their little family seems to have fallen apart, permanently stuck in their own blackout, grieving the loss of their life with Georgie. Now Alex finally is ready to leave the house and face the journey which is going to bring so many changes.

I loved the metaphor of the blackout and the surreal, dystopian feel it gave to the story-the darkness, the uncertainty, the way we people adapt and continue living. Alex's brother Georgie is on the autism spectrum, so most of the book is about the effect of living with, taking care of, loving and cherishing a disabled child has on their family. Their love of each other is undeniable, even though the world doesn't always get it.

Alex is such a powerful character. She is honest, considerate, caring, and, no, she hasn't got it it all figured out. After all, she is a teenager and there's still a lot to learn about the world and people in it and this includes her complex feelings towards Anthony. There are also some honest observations about racial discrimination.

he plot is centered around Alex's journey, but, of course, it isn't just the day orthe ten miles that we are talking about. It's the moment of reflection and profound realization, of feeling what you are feeling and accepting it. I thought the pace was excellent, as it allowed the reader not only to follow what was happening, but also feel the changes in the characters' perception of their life and their relationships.

A Night Twice as Long is a multi-layered, emotional, real book which kept my interest all way through. Highly recommended.

3.5 stars

Many of us, if not most, have lived through a blackout and we know they’re no fun, for a lot of reasons, chief of which is the uncertainty of just how long it will last. In this case, the weeks-long outage has the feel of a post-apocalyptic scenario but without the tension I expect to find in such a story. That lack is detrimental to my way of thinking, creating a plot that’s a little too nebulous for me but the author has done a nice job with his characters, bringing them to life with significant issues that today’s teens face in real life.

Alex’s autistic brother, Georgie, was removed from her mother’s care a year earlier and Alex has become almost a shut-in because of how it happened. The truth is he may be in an environment that’s more suitable for his needs but her guilt interferes with her ability to see this; on the other hand, the blackout has given her a sort of new look at life and the journey she takes with Anthony opens her eyes even more.

Besides his depiction of severe autism and the effect it has on those around the disabled person, the author touches on racial animosity and parental issues and watching Alex learn to understand the world and herself is what makes this book tick.

Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, June 2021.

Alex and her town have been living in a blackout for weeks with no answer as to how and why and with no end in sight. Her friend Anthony convinces her to walk the ten miles to a VA where he thinks he can find a phone to contact his mother who had been deployed before the events occurred. Alex is living with a mother who won't leave the house and she feels like she may become just like her if she doesn't take this trip with Anthony. But Alex's life isn't so simple. A tragedy resulted in her autistic brother being removed from the household and she's been living with the guilt ever since. This trek will not only bring to light her secrets but open her up to new experiences and new loves.

I thought the premise of the story was awesome. We have a blackout that could be the end of the world or couldn't be. Alex's world seems to have hit a snag in the very same way. I loved her characters. She's curious and outspoken and not afraid to speak her mind. She fiercely loves her brother and her mother. She's open to change and her character arc is top-notch. Her grief over the abandonment of her father and accident with her brother weighs on her, but with the love of her friends and people she meets along the way, she finds out more about herself than she ever would have she stuck around with her shut-in mother. Coming to terms with the past is crucial to her development and it was portrayed nicely.

This is a quick, honest, character-driven novel that will have you mad, glad, and sad all at once. It's a look into our understanding of each other and of the world around us.

Teen friends Alex and Anthony are three weeks into a blackout but no one is sure if it's only affecting their community, their state, the whole country, or even the whole world. No one is sure what caused it either. Alex is missing her brother Georgie. Georgie has autism and is living with a foster family in a neighboring town following an accident. Alex and Anthony set out to see if they can get answers about the blackout. Along the way, Alex confronts her grief over being abandoned by her father and the role she played in her brother being removed from her home.

This is definitely a character-driven novel without a lot of action. It gives a nice explanation of what it's like to have a sibling with a disability. While I appreciated that aspect and the few snippets of racism that it featured, it was just too slow-moving and uneventful for my liking.

Thanks to Macmillan Children's Publishing Group/Farrar, Straus and Giroux and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

Thank you to Fierce Reads and Netgalley for a review copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

In this heartwarming story we see from Alex's point of view. When the story opens, Alex has been living in a blackout for weeks. There is no estimation of when or if the lights will come back on so life can return to normal. One day Alex agrees to go on an adventure with a friend that results in them kidnapping her younger autistic brother who was removed from the home due to an incident involving Alex. Before they return home Alex will learn not only about herself, but also about those closest to her and the secrets they've been keeping.

I thought this was very well written. There were transitions from present to past and back again that felt effortless to navigate. The writing had a smooth flow that carried the story along nicely. It was the perfect pace to make the story equally engaging and sad. (Pace is a big thing for me and I personally think it can make or break a book.)

Alex was a solid main character. I enjoyed seeing her growth and watching her find and forgive herself. I really felt bad for her throughout a good portion of this story. Her anger at herself and her mother really came through the page and seeped into my soul. Anthony was a really strong supporting character. I found he was developed enough to be enjoyed as the second next to Alex but yet not so focused on as to take away from the MC.

In the end I ended up giving this one 4 stars instead of 5 because I found it just didn't have that BOOM. I still recommend this book. I still think a lot of teens and adults alike would enjoy what this story has to offer.

A blackout has covered the country, possibly farther. Life is redefined when electricity and cars and such are not available. Alex finds a new freedom and clarity with her new environment and is able to embrace most aspects of this new life.

I’m still trying to figure out exactly what this story was about. There was some great character development for one but I don’t feel Alex was developed at the beginning. I kept wanting more backstory, more details, just more. The story abruptly starts one day and and I don’t feel like I got to know her.

I loved hearing about Georgie. This book is REAL about caring for disabilities. Alex’s brother is severely autistic and non-verbal and it is hard. I loved the realism. This book is the first I’ve read about the realities about autism and how it affects family members. Props to Simonet for adding that to his story.

Thank you to Fierce Reads for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review. The full review with content/trigger details is on my blog!

The writing of this book was just off. There was more telling than showing and I don't think the author did the best job creating the characters. I liked the autistic representation but felt like it was portrayed in a very stereotypical way. Of course, maybe the author has experience with someone with same kind of autism, but I've just seen that so many times at this point and it's kind of repetitive.

The story took place over a day (or two?) and even though Anthony and Alex have been best friends for years, them falling in love in just a few hours is unrealistic. Sure they could have had feelings before but that was never mentioned and Alex only started seeing him differently on the day they set out on the adventure.

There was also not a lot happening for most of the book. There was hardly any conflict, and when there was, it was dealt with so quickly that I forgot it even happened,

Overall, the plot could be better, and so could the writing,

Content warnings at end of review.

Thank you to Netgalley and Fierce Reads for an arc of this book!

After 3 weeks of blackout and no communication about what is happening, Anthony convinces Alex to leave her self-imposed solitude and walk 10 miles with him to try and get ahold of his mother. Alexandra has been a shut-in for long before the blackout started, since last year when an accident she feels responsible for caused her mother to lose guardianship of her autistic brother. Throughout the journey, Alex's understanding of her life and relationships will be forever altered.

The writing in this book is absolutely visceral. The brutal honesty behind the words reminds me of Mindy McGinnis or Rory Powers. I had a hard time putting this book down, and then was left thinking about it for hours afterward.

I like that this book took a apocalypse-esque setting but that's not what it's about at all. This book is completely about relationships and our understanding of the world. I thought that was done really well.

As far as the autistic representation goes, it is my understanding that the author has an autistic sibling which he based the relationship between Alex and Georgie on. I don't really feel qualified to speak to the authenticity of the representation here, so I will definitely be looking into ownvoices reviews once they are available.

Some of the descriptions in this were a little off-putting to me because it was a male writer vividly discussing a teenage girl's connection with her own body. It felt a little strange in that way. I also thought that some times it got a little too bogged down in memories instead of the present, but not overly so.

Pub date: June 1, 2021

Content Warnings:
Graphic: Ableism, Grief, and Kidnapping
Minor: Racism, Sexual content, and Violence

Book Review: A Night Twice as Long
by Andrew Simonet
Pub Date: 01 Jun 2021
read courtesy of http://netgalley.com

Andrew Simonet represented what it is like to live with a sibling who has autism in a genuinely authentic way. We learn much about the main character, Alex, through her interactions with and thoughts about her non-verbal brother, Georgie, in comparison with how the people around her respond to him. It make her both a likable character and a character with depth. Through Alex we get the perspective of the "Normies," people without disabilities who are strange in their own ways, and of the progression of an autistic child as he grows up and figures out how to "impose his will."

But that's only part of the story... Alex and her neighbor/best friend/boyfriend, Anthony, and from what they can tell, the entire United States, are in an electrical blackout from an unknown origin. They don't know how long it will last, either. Anthony's mother is in the military, and he hasn't seen her in a while, so when he gets word that someone actually has a working telephone, he jumps at the chance to try to connect with his mom. But without transportation (gas pumps don't work), he'll have to walk to another town to find the person with the phone. He cajoles Alex into taking the trek with him, and what they encounter on their journey makes for great reading.

Complicating their journey beyond transportation is the fact that Alex's mother told her she couldn't go (she does anyway), and Alex is white, while Anthony is black. On top of that, Alex decided to chop off all of her hair and is often mistaken for a boy.

The author provides vivid descriptions that help the reader picture what's going on; my favorite was a descriptively interesting way of describing hair at one point. Simonet also gives great onomatopoeia.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

I enjoyed the book. There are a few paces where the story line lags, but the characters are interesting which is what keeps you reading. The book confronts some of the real issues that teens face -- divorce; stepparents; learning disabilities; relationship; self discovery.