83 Books Like Blackout

Kacey, the new girl in Broken Falls who has two best friends, Bailey and Jade. There’s a sinister vibe in this book, right off the top; something feels off with this friend group, and when Bailey goes missing, we—as readers—are left flipping the pages, trying to find out what could have happened.

This is one of those books where you really feel like you can’t trust anyone—even the main character. I loved how this story kept me guessing until the very end. Its gritty, filled with family and friendship drama, and the wintery setting make it all the more haunting of a read.

In this book Ariel—AKA Olivia—is the daughter of a couple who was killed when she was a child. Olivia got away and was raised in foster care, but she’s always been haunted by what happened to her parents. The fact that his story was true crime fodder for the public doesn’t help, with many online speculations as to what really happened.

When new details arise in the case that make it seem as though the events of her parents’ deaths might not be what the public previously thought, Olivia is compelled to return home to her small Oregon hometown to uncover the truth. Equipped with enough red herrings to make your head spin, The Girl I Used to Be is a book that will keep you guessing until the end.

In this book, Elliot is a boy whose best friend, Colton, was just murdered. Devastated by the discovery of Colton’s body, Elliot is even more concerned to find a note in his locker—from somebody claiming to be Colton’s killer.

This riveting mystery follows Elliot as he desperately finds the clues left by Colton’s alleged killer. But as he does so, he starts to think that maybe he didn’t know his best friend as well as he thought he did. Either way, Elliot is determined to find the truth.

This is a dual-timeline murder mystery from a unique perspective. Without giving away too many spoilers, this story follows Clara, whose sister has been accused of murdering Griffin Tomlin—the “golden boy” who Clara once had a crush on.

There is a lot to unpack here, and the dual-timeline makes it a fascinating read; piece-by-piece, we slowly learn Clara’s past with Griffin leading up to the events of him being allegedly murdered by her sister. Why would Clara’s sister do such a thing? And was Griffin Tomlin really the “golden boy” he seemed to be? This story gets dark, and as a fair warning, sometimes graphic—but if that sounds like a good read for you, I’d definitely pick it up!

In Everything You Are, Braden is a cellist who has lost the use of his hands—in his case, through a tragic twist of fate. Enter Ophelia, granddaughter of the man who sold Branden his cello and made Ophelia swear that he will always play it. Author Kerry Anne King weaves a magical spell around these two characters as, together, they find their way to forgiveness. This is a story full of twists and turns, culminating in a beautiful ending that depicts the healing power of music.

This is a horror novel about waking up in a hospital with no memory of who you are. What makes it unique is that Ingman started writing as a prisoner. “With nothing but pen, paper, and my own mind and memory of inspiration from my favorite books by Stephen King to my favorite episodes of Twilight Zone,” he says. His incarceration “spanned over 3 prisons and over the course of 5 years 1 month and 5 days,” he says on his Amazon page. I admire his determination and ambition. 

Escape often gets a bad rap—staying and fighting or enduring your circumstances are seen as more noble—but there are times when choosing to leave a demoralizing, unhealthy environment to make a fresh start is what you need to do to save your soul. In this book, a woman tries to disappear—and finds herself. If you appreciate books where unassuming sentences land like devastating little bombs, read this.

I love stories that force characters to grapple with big questions. In both Wayward Creatures and Restart, the main character has done something they realize is huge and has hurt a lot of people. Only in Restart, the narrator, Chase, has suffered a traumatic brain injury and doesn’t remember anything about who he was or what he did. The story asks readers to think about what justice and accountability require, both inside and outside the courtroom.

The future Dr. Lawrence sustains two traumatic brain injuries right before starting medical school. After inexplicably not taking any time off to recover, he trundles ahead despite short-term memory loss. What follows is an entertaining and chaotic four years of surmounting formidable obstacles while suffering an imposter syndrome that lingers throughout his training.

I think every medical student aside from the most incurable narcissist feels they are playing doctor much of the time. This memoir is highly relatable.

Beautiful, heart-wrenching, and masterfully written this memoir starts with twenty-eight-year-old MacLean waking up in a train station in India. He has no idea who he is or how he got there. MacLean doesn’t waste any time diving into the terror and the humor of his situation. He becomes increasingly ill and is eventually placed in a psychiatric hospital in Hyderabad. Turns out he’s had a rare reaction to the anti-malarial drug Lariam. Fun, right? With lines like, “Faking sanity isn’t as hard as it might seem. You just have to shut up.” You betcha it’s fun!