Audio ARC Review: Breakout by Various Authors

 

For Thurgood Marshall Academy's best and brightest--five friends who've been thick as thieves since kindergarten--this spring break is all about forgetting: they want nothing more than to wash away last year's tragedy, and the human-shaped hole it left in their friend group.

It's a hole the new kid, Anthony Brooks, seems to fit right into. So when he invites the Five to join him on a private island for a week at his dad's luxury resort, they agree with zero hesitation. No one's counting on a freak tropical storm swooping in and killing the vibe. And speaking of killing, they're also ill-prepared for the mounting collection of dead bodies... including (another) one of their own.

As their dream trip unravels, everything they tried to leave behind--secrets, lies, betrayals, dead best friends--seems to be washing up on the shore of their lives for everyone to see. Will any of them make it out alive?

Title: Breakout

Authors: Dhonelle Clayton, Tiffany B. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, Nicola Yoon

Publisher: Harper Audio Children/Quill Tree Press

Publication Date: June 2, 2026

Review:

Thank you to Harper Audio Children's, Quill Tree Press, and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this title to listen to and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own. 

I will admit, I had to rush through this one due to when I was approved and the publication date. But it wasn't a hardship to do so. I enjoyed this YA title but it wasn't my favorite. I read the short story collection from these authors when it was available so I was interested to see how they would incorporate all their voices into one story.

The audio is well done. All the narrators did their characters so well and really kept me wanting to listen. I was worried there would be too many voices for me to really enjoy the story but there were not. I appreciated having the different narrators as it made it easy to differentiate the POVs.

I love a book with multiple POVs. And for a book written by 6 different authors, this one was done really well. I never felt overwhelmed with the switches to the different characters and I appreciated how the voices were all very different and unique. It helped me connect more to the characters. I also enjoyed the diversity of the characters.

The plot was fun and interesting. I love a good mystery that incorporates other elements, in this case romance. The atmosphere was also good. I really felt like I was there with the characters. Lots of drama, a cool island and boat, a storm rolling in, and secrets galore. I was a bit disappointed in the ending. So much build up and little reward. It just didn't come together for me as I felt like it should.

Overall, this was fun. I think the age group it's intended for will enjoy it enough but it just didn't pack the punch I was expecting.

Authors:

Dhonielle Clayton is a New York Times bestselling author of The Marvellers series, The Belles series, Shattered Midnight, co-author of Blackout, Whiteout, The Rumor Game, and of the Tiny Pretty Things duology, a Netflix original series. She hails from the Washington, D.C. suburbs on the Maryland side. She taught secondary school for several years, and is a former elementary and middle school librarian. She is COO of the non-profit We Need Diverse Books. She is the President and founder of Cake Creative and Electric Postcard Entertainment, IP story companies creating diverse books for all ages. She’s an avid traveller, and always on the hunt for magic and mischief. Find her on Instagram: @brownbookworm.

Tiffany D. Jackson is the highly acclaimed, New York Times bestselling author of YA and MG novels such as Blood in the Water, Monday's Not Coming, Allegedly, The Scammer, and more. She is also the coauthor of Blackout and Whiteout, and author of the picture books Santa in the City and Trick-or-Treating in the City.  

Nic Stone was born and raised in a suburb of Atlanta, GA, and the only thing she loves more than an adventure is a good story about one. After graduating from Spelman College, she worked extensively in teen mentoring and lived in Israel for a few years before returning to the US to write full-time. Growing up with a wide range of cultures, religions, and backgrounds, Stone strives to bring these diverse voices and stories to her work.

Stone lives in Atlanta with her husband and two sons. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram at @getnicced or on her website nicstone.info.

Angie Thomas was born, raised, and still resides in Jackson, Mississippi as indicated by her accent. She is a former teen rapper whose greatest accomplishment was an article about her in Right-On Magazine with a picture included. She holds a BFA in Creative Writing from Belhaven University and an unofficial degree in Hip Hop. She can also still rap if needed. She is an inaugural winner of the Walter Dean Meyers Grant 2015, awarded by We Need Diverse Books. Her debut novel, The Hate U Give, was acquired by Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins in a 13-house auction and will be published in spring 2017. Film rights have been optioned by Fox 2000 with George Tillman attached to direct and Hunger Games actress Amandla Stenberg set to star.

Ashley Woodfolk has loved reading and writing for as long as she can remember. She graduated from Rutgers University and worked in children's book publishing for over a decade. Now a full-time mom and writer, Ashley lives in a sunny Brooklyn apartment with her cute husband, her cuter dog, and the cutest kid in the world. Her books include The Beauty That Remains, When You Were Everything, and the Flyy Girls Series.

Nicola Yoon is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Everything, Everything and The Sun Is Also a Star. She is a National Book Award finalist, a Michael L. Printz Honor Book recipient and a Coretta Scott King New Talent Award winner. Both her novels have been made into major motion pictures. Nicola grew up in Jamaica and Brooklyn, and lives in Los Angeles with her husband, novelist David Yoon, and their family.