So good! Different timelines helped keep the uncertainty and and thrilling unknown of the novel. Loved the final twist and how it incorporated throughout the main story.

Missing money, no phone and the only choice Meg and Cat have is to walk home. A drunken night that, so often, would have no ill-effects other than a hangover. On this occasion, the girls are followed. They hide in an abandoned house. When the police turn up, we expect them to be safe. Unfortunately, those meant to protect them have their own agenda.
We’re not, initially, sure what happened to Cat. We see Meg trying to survive in an old cottage in Cornwall, desperate to stay under the radar and worried that someone is hunting her.
A blackout is the setting for the main part of our story where Meg’s past catches up with her. As we follow her through the night, we learn why she feels such guilt, what she’s running from and just what she’s prepared to do to survive.
With Stranded being a 5 star read for me, I had high hopes. I was disappointed. With characters that I felt little compassion for (apart from the initial victim), there was a disconnect throughout my reading of this. The basis for Meg’s behaviour came from a position of vulnerability, but that doesn’t justify many of her decisions. We know, sadly, that there are police like Craig…but linking him to Scarlett and her vendetta felt like an attempt to brush under the carpet the ramifications of such behaviour by those we should trust.
Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the chance to read and review this before publication. I’ll have to chalk this one up to experience, and keep my fingers crossed for Goodwin’s next offering.

This is a good read.
During a night out, Meg and Cat's luck takes turn for the worse when they have to walk home as they have no money. Taking a shortcut they become aware of two men following them so they hide in an abandoned building. Tragedy strikes, resulting in Cat's death and Meg escapes to a remote cottage on a cliff overlooking the sea.
A year passes, and a storm hits the village where she's staying causing a complete blackout. Stranded and isolated, Meg is scared, and has every reason to be.
The different timelines were very confusing as they were not clearly marked in the ARC I received.
A good thriller but a bit slow paced.
Thanks to Avon Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I have read and enjoyed Stranded by Sarah Goodwin so I was looking forward to reading her latest novel, published on 31st August.

The story follows Megan, a young woman who has had a difficult few years. Hiding in a ramshackle cottage at risk of falling off the cliff edge, she’s paranoid and in fear for her life. The story follows a dual timeline, allowing you to, eventually, find out why she’s on the run.

For me, I found the story too slow paced. It dragged for large sections and it seemed to take forever to get to the point. There are parts which could have been really tense and kept you turning the pages, but it fell flat for me. The book is dual timeline but it’s not always clear which time period you’re in and it jumps about so can be a bit confusing to follow.

The descriptions of the weather and the cottage were good and quite atmospheric, but it wasn’t enough to redeem the story.

I found the police officers part in the story implausible and if they wanted to cover themselves they should have used fake names.

Most of the characters are pretty unlikeable, and I found them all to be two dimensional.

I thought the ending was underwhelming and I was quite disappointed with the book overall. It had potential to be a tense and gripping novel but it missed the mark for me. I’m not sure if I would read more by this author. I would recommend her other novel, Stranded, instead.

Thanks to Avon Books UK and NetGalley for my copy to review.

Meg is consumed with guilt over the death of her friend Cat after a night out! They were out to help Meg cope with the anniversary of the death of her brother. Death seems to be the predominant force following Meg!! After the events of the night out, Meg runs and goes into.hiding from the people who caused the tragic events of that night. Just where is she safe and how long can she run? After changing her name and ending up in a cottage on the edge of a cliff which used to belong to an aunt of Cats, she finds the people she was running from have found her and there's nowhere left to go. Will she survive or has time run out? And just how is it one of the people chasing her knows ,all about her past and what happened years ago?! Can't say I warmed to Meg as a character the choices she made were very dubious and she didn't seem to learn from them.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read this.

Filled with realistic characters and red herrings galore, THE BLACKOUT was a fun mystery that kept me guessing throughout.

An atmospheric thriller spanning dual timelines. After a drunken night out, Cat and Meg are pursued home in the dark and end up hiding and trapped. The night ends with horrific consequences..Meg starts anew , but is haunted by that night. The past soon catched up with her, and she once again faces the perpetrators of that fateful night. Meg wasn't an innocent party, though, and choices from her early life have led to her present one. A well narrated audiobook that captures the tension of the story. #theBlackout #sarahgoodwin #avonbooks #audiobooks #netgalley

I really struggled with this one as I didn't really like the characters and I found I didn't care what happened.

Megan is young and single and although she is still mourning the loss of her brother Damien and his haunted by a tragedy that happened when she was 14 she puts on a smile and tries to do her best to have a good life. That is why on the night we meet her her and her friend Card are going out for a proper night out and although they have a blast the night ends tragically when she loses her best friend Cat to two demented police officers and this is only after almost being sexually assaulted by two random jackasses who followed them down a dark alley after they missed the bus. Megan is lucky to get away with her life but when she arrives at her apartment building the neighbor is ragging her about the police showing up and so she immediately knows she must leave the area ASAP this is how she finds herself living in a rundown windswept cottage on the edge of the cliff… Literally… If you walk out her back door you’ll fall off the cliff but she makes the best of it and even flirts with the postman Paul her only close neighbors live on a farm and do not like visitors nor strangers. So and Megan who is now going by Sally comes home and sees tire marks in the road in front of her cottage she fears that they found her and to make matters even worse there’s a severe storm that throws the electricity out and makes her nightmare even more hellish. I love How in Sarah Goodwin’s books she makes part of the nightmare the location and then this one it is the wind swept cliff and trust me what Megan goes through is definitely a nightmare if there is only one drawback to the book I thought she reiterated the wrong things she’s done and the wrong things that have been done to her way too many times I mean she kept going over and over it and I was just over it but besides that I still read the whole thing and thoroughly enjoyed it there were a couple of times my heart was palpitating in that no time was there I rolling or unbelievable situation is this is a solid four-star read and I thoroughly enjoyed. I want to thank Avon books UK and Net Galley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

2.5 stars

The Blackout by Sarah Goodwin is a psychological thriller.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Avon Books (and Maddie Dunne Kirby from Harper Collins for sending me a widget), and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.


My Synopsis:    (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)
Meg and Cat go out for one of their many girls nights.  Meg has her purse stolen, and Cat is over-drawn, so they are forced to walk home.  Then they are running for their lives, as two men follow them.

A year later, Meg has found an old cabin, and tried to safe-proof it, always worried that her past will catch up to her.   When a blackout from the raging storm plunges her safehouse and the nearby village into complete darkness, Meg realizes that she has been found.


My Opinions:
This is a fairly fast read, filled with action.  The alternating time-lines was good (although in my copy the chapter titles didn't mention those time-lines...so it took a bit to figure it out).

This book is about grief and regret.  But mainly it is about guilt and revenge.

Unfortunately I didn't like the characters.  There was nobody to cheer for, no-one that was inherently good....which is always true, but in this book, there were few with any redeeming qualities.  Damien may have turned out good if he had lived.  Cat was just a little too "flighty", and Meg was just annoying.  She drinks too much, her self-preservation techniques suck (she runs in stilettoes because she's afraid of hurting her feet), she blames herself for everything.  If she didn't forget the cat food, or to charge her cell phone, or that her hide-away was just a trap for herself....she finds fault with everything she does.   Bottom line, I had a hard time not blaming her too.  Meg's only saving grace was that she tried to be a good friend...but didn't really succeed at that either.

About half way in (way too late), it got a bit better, but that wasn't sustained.  I did not like the epilogue.

Anyway, this one just wasn't for me, but because I've read something else by this author which I truly enjoyed, I will be watching her.

3.5 stars rounded up.

When Meg and Cat arrange a night out in Bristol, it's the perfect distraction from Meg's grief over her brother. But, after accidently spending their cab money on drinks, they must walk home all across the city. Hungry, exhausted and barefoot, they decide to take a shortcut along a dark canal path. Thet's when they notice two men silently following them. Suddenly forced to run for their lives, Meg and Cat scramble into an abandoned house and hide for hours before eventually the police show up to rescue them. But then the night goes from bad to worse.

Meg is hiding after experiencing a tragedy.... The story is told in alternating chapters in the past and present-day format. The past is what happened that leads up to the events in the present day. The story starts of as a deadly game of cat and mouse. The further we read on, the more creepier the vibe is, and the tension rakes up a notch or two. Megan knows people are after her, and she's scared for her life.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #AvonBooksUK and the author #sarahGoodwin for my ARC of #TheBlackout in exchange for an honest review.

This is a sharp,intensive read which keeps you guessing throughout. Different timelines and events merge but still it is impossible to guess the final outcome. I read it in one sitting which says it all!

Thanks to Avon Books UK, Avon & Netgalley for the Arc!

However, I was really not a fan of this book and had a really hard time following along. It was almost like the first part of the book accidentally got the wrong second half put on and then got a epilogue that ruined both stories. A lot in this book didn't made sense to me, and I had to keep going back to see if I missed something, but I didn't. It was just disjointed and hard to follow. I had to check to make sure I was reading the right book because I was so lost!

A few chapters in this book threw me for a bit of a loop. It caught me so off guard I had to double check that my ereader hadn’t messed up and somehow switch books, lol. Of course it hadn’t, what had happened was that the story had jumped ahead a year or so, leaving me wondering what the heck had happened, especially as I read on and saw how different Meg’s life was from those early chapters. Goodwin does of course eventually bring us back to the past to show us the events that happened. In fact we jump back and forth a number of times. Goodwin does a great job pulling us into the story and crafting some truly intense and atmospheric situations. At times you can seriously feel Meg’s anxiety/fear. While there are a few bumps along the way, overall The Blackout is a solid thriller. Thanks so much to Avon Books UK, Avon and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review an eARC.

I do enjoy a locked room book and this one set in a house on a cliff was particularly a good place for one. It's pacy and slow all at once. There was just something I couldn't get into and I'm not sure what it was. I love this author and did like this book but I am going to get her next one as I don;t think I will remember this one.

It's true that I've had mixed reactions to Sarah Goodwin's books so far, but I do love a good locked-room thriller and in the end I couldn't resist The Blackout. The blurb sounded intriguing with the attack after a night out and the main character hiding in a remote location a year later... Add a storm, and this story had SO much potential. And while I did enjoy most of it, there were also certain aspects that prevented this book from reaching its full potential for me.

First of all, I honestly don't know why this story is classified as a locked-room thriller. Sure, the main character has a very secure cottage in a remote location, but this fact alone doesn't make it a locked-room thriller and it's pretty clear who are trying to get to her. No true secrets to unravel, no puzzle to be solved; just the main character trying to survive... It's not a bad plot, but I was excited about the locked-room aspect and it dampened the reading experience for me. That said, I did love the remote Norfolk setting, and the storm made for a great backdrop for this story. It might be a bit cliche, but it sure added that ominous vibe to the plot.

The Blackout switches between 2022 when the attack happened and the present one year later. These timeline switches helped adding tension and it was a great way to hide certain information and add twists. There is also another flashback to 2013, where you learn more about the main character's secrets... The different timelines complemented each other, although I did think that the present timeline was the strongest. We see the events happen through Meg's eyes, and it's an interesting perspective indeed. I can't say that I ever warmed up to her, but there was something about her that made me want to keep reading to see how things would end.

The pace is quite good in the first half, and I already started to wonder why The Blackout has such a low rating... But it started to become more clear in the second half. There is a lot of repetition going on in the second half, stating the same feelings/events over and over again. This had two effects: the pace slowed down and I started to get really annoyed. The events during the storm went a bit too far for me to be credible as well; I don't always mind over the top and farfetched elements in a plot, but it just didn't match the first half for me. And then I'm not even talking about that epilogue... It leaves you with so many questions, and not in a good way.

All in all, there were things I enjoyed in The Blackout and other elements that didn't work as well for me. The first half was definitely stronger than the second, which is a shame because I usually tend to prefer the more intense 'fighting to survive' scenes. It's not a bad read though; just not as good as I thought it would be.

During a night out, Meg and Cat's luck takes a sour turn. A stolen purse, a shattered phone, and no money force them to navigate their way home late at night. Opting for a shortcut through a forsaken part of town, they become aware of two men trailing them. Sprinting in fear, they seek refuge in an abandoned building. Tragedy strikes, resulting in Cat's death and Meg's frantic escape to a concealed cottage on a cliff overlooking the sea, situated at the fringes of a quaint village. Her past identity remains a secret, and she lives a life off the grid, concealed behind a false name and fortified walls.

A year passes, and a fierce storm engulfs the village, causing a complete blackout. Stranded and isolated, Meg braces herself for the tempest's fury. But the storm also heralds the return of her haunting history.

The narrative is recounted from Meg's perspective, gradually unveiling her enigmatic past through fragmentary flashbacks. The distressing events of their night out lead to Cat's unforeseen demise, plunging Meg's life into chaos. Coping with the recent loss of her brother, she flees and constructs a life in hiding.

The story commences with an engaging tension that steadily escalates, capturing the terror of being pursued and the fear that resonates with many women who have encountered similar situations. Yet, the subsequent events following Cat's death and Meg's retreat to the cottage felt increasingly implausible to me. The circumstances surrounding Cat's demise, Meg's escape to her improvised fortress, and the traps she sets up seemed slightly disjointed. The pacing decelerated notably as Meg grappled with her guilt in seclusion. The return of their assailants after a year raised eyebrows, and the ensuing sequences stretched credibility. While there were moments of promise, the story's middle and conclusion ultimately fell short, preventing it from resonating with me on a deeper level. Overall, it fell a bit shy of the mark.

*I received a review copy of this book from NetGalley; however, all opinions are entirely my own.

This book actually had a promising storyline and plot. However, this was actually a disappointing book in my opinion.

Meg and Cat go out for the night for drinks but when they spent all the money on the drinks, they were forced to walk together alone in dark alley. And while walking, they realize that the two men were following after them. Frightened Meg and Cat hide in the abandoned cottage and call the police for help. When the police come for help, they believe that help has finally arrived but then their night starts getting worse.

As I mentioned, the whole plot has a wonderful storyline. However, the way the plot was executed was the main issue here. Too much of repetitions, there were some parts that were not relevant to the story, some parts were a bit of slow burn in my opinion and not fast paced. In story like this, you would expect a heartbeat moment and being on the edge of the seat wondering what is going to happen next but with this story, I did not feel any of that. Only the ending was OK but not overly great. There were not many twists or jump-scare moments in the book. Overall this book only worth 2.5 stars.

I have read books from this author but I have to say, this book wasn't her best. If you want to read books from this author, I would say The Stranded is probably her best book, which kept me on the edge on the whole time.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Avon for the invitation. This review is based on my honest opinion only.

I liked the different timelines running along side each other telling you the backstory bit by bit.
Thrilling cat and mouse style book. With the added sinister feel of 'the blackout'
Enjoyable read, fast paced for most of the book.
Although didn't enjoy the epilogue and felt it needed more explanation of who was who.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Megan has lived the past year in hiding after a traumatic event. This book is told across three timelines , with many twists in the plot.as the past comes back for Megan during a savage thunderstorm. The main character is well developed as the plot progresses, building to an ultimate showdown.