Scan barcode
fsouthworth's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Homophobia, and Blood
Minor: Body horror
scumlow's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
this was such a cute little read. funny and sweet, and surprisingly violent and gory at times for YA, too, which i love. it honestly had me tearing up for a couple of moments as well, especially at one point where i really thought we were delving into some sort of AIDS crisis allegory. i think there’s certain elements of this story i struggled with, but i can’t get too much into it without spoiling things. the problems i had here are the same problems i have with this type of story every time though, so it’s not an issue unique to this book. if a creepy space mystery gay YA love/thriller story sounds fun to you, definitely give this a shot! also if you’ve ever read any type of gay kylo ren fanfic this is also one for you bc i was referring to that kodiak dude as russian kylo ren without fail every single time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Grief
Minor: Gore, Vomit, Terminal illness, and Homophobia
quitegood's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I'm honestly speechless. That is how awestruck this book has left me. I was ready to wax lyrical on how this book touched me, but I can't sum it up better than this; once I had read the last words, I began to weep at its beauty before kissing the cover and holding it to my chest. I ADORED THIS BOOK!
Plus its hard sci-fi and gay romance in one convenient package!
Plus its hard sci-fi and gay romance in one convenient package!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Homophobia, War, and Violence
tlaynejones's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
This is not a book to make you feel good. I found the experience of reading it often made me feel claustrophobic; the building sense of horror reminded me of Never Let Me Go by Ishiguro. The story is set on a space ship in deep space. It’s about two boys, late teens I think, who wake up with compromised memories and a situation that doesn’t quite fit what the on board AI is telling them. It’s also sort of a queer love story. The story is almost entirely about cis men, and there are lots of unresolved/ unexamined issues around corporatisation, colonialism, classism…
I enjoyed much of the interactions/ relationships between the two boys, and I found the problem solving around how they managed their situation quite interesting. Cautiously recommended.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Death, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Vomit
Minor: Homophobia
coffeebean216's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Suicide, Violence, Death, Vomit, Confinement, Gore, and Blood
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Fatphobia, Sexism, Misogyny, Sexual content, Classism, Cancer, Cursing, Homophobia, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol
wheatlyre's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Body horror, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Gore, Gaslighting, Medical content, Murder, Violence, Sexism, and Grief
Minor: Abandonment, Racism, War, Transphobia, and Homophobia
luckbe's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Suicide, Abandonment, Death, Violence, Confinement, and Grief
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Homophobia
hoax_meal's review
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
This book is devastating but hopeful. If you're looking for a light read, this isn't it. It deals with extreme existentialism. But that's sci fi for you. That aside it's a very well written romance. Probably my favourite book I've read so far this year.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Confinement, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
Minor: Gaslighting, Genocide, Kidnapping, Medical content, Classism, Excrement, and Homophobia
sonias's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
It's not fluff. If you want fluff - run the fuck away.
Cuddly space homosexuals don't compensate for all the trauma.
Cuddly space homosexuals don't compensate for all the trauma.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
Moderate: Murder, Terminal illness, Cancer, and Gore
Minor: Homophobia, War, and Xenophobia
leguinstan's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
The Darkness Outside Us is a lackluster romance novel... but it's an AMAZING thriller!!
The main character and his love interest are incredibly flat-- outside of a basic personality profile and general background info, I barely got to know anything about Ambrose and Kodiak which made the romance between the two of them stale as all hell. I literally have no idea what Kodiak likes to do for fun and I struggle to picture what he and Ambrose would do together if they weren't stuck in their current predicament.
Luckily, said predicament is a popcorn-munching, edge-of-your-seat affair and once I hit the first big plot twist I stayed glued to my seat until I reached the very last page. While the twist wasn't a complete surprise to me since I watched a sci-fi film years ago(Moon) with the same exact plot twist, The Darkness Outside Us took said twist in a different direction and drastically raised the stakes. The way the two characters react to the revelations and handle their situation is utterly compelling.
The thing is though--I think The Darkness Outside Us would have been an even stronger novel if it was written for adults instead of teens. To be clear, I'm not saying that it's an adult novel mismarketed for a teen audience. I'm saying that writing the story for teens prevents it from reaching its full potential. Because of the teen readership, the main characters' feelings about the more harrowing experiences in the story could not be explored in more depth. No disrespect intended at all to YA novels! I just feel in this particular instance the YA label on this story feels too limiting.
Long story short: while I have some serious complaints against the novel, I enjoyed the thriller aspects too damn much to give it less than a 3.5.
The main character and his love interest are incredibly flat-- outside of a basic personality profile and general background info, I barely got to know anything about Ambrose and Kodiak which made the romance between the two of them stale as all hell. I literally have no idea what Kodiak likes to do for fun and I struggle to picture what he and Ambrose would do together if they weren't stuck in their current predicament.
Luckily, said predicament is a popcorn-munching, edge-of-your-seat affair and once I hit the first big plot twist I stayed glued to my seat until I reached the very last page. While the twist wasn't a complete surprise to me since I watched a sci-fi film years ago
The thing is though--I think The Darkness Outside Us would have been an even stronger novel if it was written for adults instead of teens. To be clear, I'm not saying that it's an adult novel mismarketed for a teen audience. I'm saying that writing the story for teens prevents it from reaching its full potential. Because of the teen readership, the main characters' feelings about the more harrowing experiences in the story could not be explored in more depth. No disrespect intended at all to YA novels! I just feel in this particular instance the YA label on this story feels too limiting.
Long story short: while I have some serious complaints against the novel, I enjoyed the thriller aspects too damn much to give it less than a 3.5.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Mental illness, Sexual content, Blood, and Violence
Minor: Homophobia and War
sexual content: the main character of the story is a VERY HORNY teenager and does end up having sex with the teen love interest several times. It's not explicit but it's not subtle either. homophobia: soooo the main character accuses the love interest of being homophobic but uh... he's only homophobic by the main character's futuristic standards. So it barely feels like homophobia to me.