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fillen04's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
The first time in all my 20 years of consuming media and fiction, I actually cried. The plot was beautiful and so carefully crafted, every foreshadowing and callbacks felt real. The relationship between Ambrose and Kodiak is something i would could never describe without ruining the book integrity. I have never experienced something so raw and real as this book, it made me reflect on the struggles of the earth and just made me feel. For the first time I am feeling, and only feeling. Thank you world for giving me this opportunity to read this book, thank you.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Excrement, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Death
Minor: Blood and Body horror
ghostlyprince's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Cancer, Child death, Death, Gaslighting, Terminal illness, and Vomit
Moderate: Abandonment, Bullying, Medical content, War, Sexual content, Suicide, Murder, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Grief, Addiction, Excrement, and Blood
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
kaz_brekker1's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Minor: Excrement
five_rats_in_a_trenchcoat's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Blood, Confinement, Gaslighting, and Cancer
Minor: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, War, Excrement, and Medical content
This book was an emotional roller coaster, I'm going to have to sit with it for a bit and when I'm done orocessing I can't wait to reread it. The big plot twist was perfectly executed, you get the exact amount of information to be able to guess, but not enough to fully know what's coming, it was a perfect mix of "Oh shit, I think x is what's happening" and "what the fuck is going on". If you like sci-fi thrillers with horror elements I highly recommend this book, what an amzing read. I listened to the audiobook and if that's your cup of tea you should give it a listen, the narrator did an amazing job voicing the main characters and his imitation of different robot voices made me giggle a couple of times! Beware of the warnings though, this book can get very heavy at times and has some content that could be triggering. The ending was absoluoltely worth the tears I cried though, 5/5 starsannikaa's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Body horror, Death, Grief, Suicide, Vomit, Excrement, Cancer, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Terminal illness, Violence, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Xenophobia and War
Minor: Misogyny
welgan's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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? It's complicated
5.0
Spoiler-free review
This book is BRILLIANT. It was well-crafted, met all my expectations and went beyond it, even while not meeting my usual cosy preferences. I will need a bit of time to let it sink and mature in my heart, I can't skip to something else immediately.
If you consider reading it, please do not read reviews. Prevent yourself from getting spoiled, it's an experience best consumed while knowing nothing. I'll do my best to review its qualities without spoiling its content.
I was looking for a sci-fi book with characters isolated in a station in space, and it delivered over my expectations. The feeling of space and of isolation is stellar. The wordsmithing is clever and really made feel it, feel the danger, alienness and distant, icy beauty of space.
I was looking for feelings, and it delivered that with brilliance too. The way how the developpement of the two main characters' relationship was explored was amazing. It was tense, emotional, and it took time to explore so many different angles.
The characters are lovable, human, and you can feel their training in their interactions (especially training in psychology and communication when isolated in space, through Ambrose's narration).
As a personnal opinion, I enjoy when characters from different cultures interect and this was nice. It was also a bit strange for my asexual self to read the horny main character Ambrose is, but felt it was very well managed. It goes so well with the rest of development I wouldn't want it other wise. Also reading him made me fear the sexual content would be a bit too present, but it is definitely not. Intimacy scenes are subtle and often very emotional.
The first and second parts of the book were tense, packed with mystery and powerful feelings, with incredibly emotional and tense conclusions, reaching a peak at the end of part 2.
The third part was brutal. Definitely brutal.
In the last parts, the build-up tension changes as the mystery of the first parts makes place to resolving the situation. It gradually unravels the plot and the book ends with calm and peacefulness, leaving me tranquil, fullfilled with my reading. Which is rather amazing for a book about two spacefarers alone in space featuring so much emotional tension.
Last but not least, I'd like to say that the author managed a trope he used very cleverly.
Read under spoiler for more details (still as vague as possible, but we enter in spoiler zone) :
The problem with tropes needing to narrated the same parts again, such as timeloops or what happens in The darkness outside us, is that it can be boring to re-read the same thing several times, to undo all progress and redo it. Here, it is very well managed. The "redo" part goes quickly, with only some key passages being retold, and as readers, we fill in the blank by memory, until we reach a point were stories diverge. Each part is so different at core, each relationship exploring a different angle, it's amazing.
This book is BRILLIANT. It was well-crafted, met all my expectations and went beyond it, even while not meeting my usual cosy preferences. I will need a bit of time to let it sink and mature in my heart, I can't skip to something else immediately.
If you consider reading it, please do not read reviews. Prevent yourself from getting spoiled, it's an experience best consumed while knowing nothing. I'll do my best to review its qualities without spoiling its content.
I was looking for a sci-fi book with characters isolated in a station in space, and it delivered over my expectations. The feeling of space and of isolation is stellar. The wordsmithing is clever and really made feel it, feel the danger, alienness and distant, icy beauty of space.
I was looking for feelings, and it delivered that with brilliance too. The way how the developpement of the two main characters' relationship was explored was amazing. It was tense, emotional, and it took time to explore so many different angles.
The characters are lovable, human, and you can feel their training in their interactions (especially training in psychology and communication when isolated in space, through Ambrose's narration).
As a personnal opinion, I enjoy when characters from different cultures interect and this was nice. It was also a bit strange for my asexual self to read the horny main character Ambrose is, but felt it was very well managed. It goes so well with the rest of development I wouldn't want it other wise. Also reading him made me fear the sexual content would be a bit too present, but it is definitely not. Intimacy scenes are subtle and often very emotional.
The first and second parts of the book were tense, packed with mystery and powerful feelings, with incredibly emotional and tense conclusions, reaching a peak at the end of part 2.
The third part was brutal. Definitely brutal.
In the last parts, the build-up tension changes as the mystery of the first parts makes place to resolving the situation. It gradually unravels the plot and the book ends with calm and peacefulness, leaving me tranquil, fullfilled with my reading. Which is rather amazing for a book about two spacefarers alone in space featuring so much emotional tension.
Last but not least, I'd like to say that the author managed a trope he used very cleverly.
Read under spoiler for more details (still as vague as possible, but we enter in spoiler zone) :
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Vomit and Sexual content
Minor: Excrement
annieisawesome's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
This book was so good! Coming into it I assumed it was just a queer space romance, but it’s so much more! It’s very well thought out and the mystery behind it is phenomenal. It’s got a lot of 2001: A Space Odyssey vibes, only for a new era.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Gore, Murder, and Excrement
paulawind's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
It’s perfectly average sci-fi, getting brownie points for trying to be diverse. Nice spot in the ya genre but I guess I’m-too seasoned in sci-fi genre to find any of the plot points here novel.
I liked how they pondered upon different reactions the clones would have upon discovering that they are clones but existential dilemmas are the backbone of sci-fi so I could predict most of the action and plot twists. Was it still an enjoyable read? Yeah but I’m not going to rave about it. Maybe I’m too old for this? Or too “polsci grad” for the mentioning of Plato’s allegory of the cave to seem nuanced? I liked how it asked the questions what should our fate be as individual humans in history. Felt like this book learned a bit too much into being American selfish no matter what because let’s be honest - the fact that the humanity wasn’t doomed after they killed all but the last pair of clones is sheer luck. Just because they wanted to live few extra years they almost made humanity die out. Typical neoliberal propaganda
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness, Mental illness, Vomit, Violence, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Self harm, and Excrement
booksthatburn's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
slow-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
4.0
THE DARKNESS OUTSIDE US features two older teens on a space mission to rescue Ambrose's sister. When little things stop adding up, the more Ambrose and Kodiak try to find out what's happening, the more the A.I. gets in their way.
The plot takes a while to get going, the beginning is a lot of worldbuilding which is usually smoothly conveyed, but occasionally veers into thinly veiled infodumps. Once things get going (somewhere between a third and halfway in) they pick up quickly and the story becomes very engaging. It has much of what I love most about time loop stories without technically being one. I was initially hesitant about the relationship between Ambrose and Kodiak, their chemistry grew slowly and I'm a bit too demi to buy into a romance driven by being the only two people they can interact with, but once I accepted that they clearly like each other I was able to settle in and enjoy the story.
They're from two different countries (apparently the only two countries on Earth at the time of their ship's launch), which are implied to be Russia and an Anglophone country (I'm pretty sure this is supported by the actual text, the audiobook narrator used a Russian accent for Kodiak and a British one for Ambrose which may have affected how I interpreted the story. They make reference to a cold war, so I'm pretty sure that's what was happening. This felt a bit off to me from a worldbuilding angle because there are other large countries who could just as easily have been used as the starting point for the two remaining world powers, but I think the choice ends up working. With that small caveat, I love the second half of the book, I had an excellent time and didn't want it to end.
I would highly recommend this, except for my uneasiness about the country choices and the fact that in the first quarter I almost didn't finish it because of the slow pacing and how I wasn't getting into the romance at first. If you want a groundhog day story about gay love in space, with a possibly hostile A.I., try this.
The plot takes a while to get going, the beginning is a lot of worldbuilding which is usually smoothly conveyed, but occasionally veers into thinly veiled infodumps. Once things get going (somewhere between a third and halfway in) they pick up quickly and the story becomes very engaging. It has much of what I love most about time loop stories without technically being one. I was initially hesitant about the relationship between Ambrose and Kodiak, their chemistry grew slowly and I'm a bit too demi to buy into a romance driven by being the only two people they can interact with, but once I accepted that they clearly like each other I was able to settle in and enjoy the story.
They're from two different countries (apparently the only two countries on Earth at the time of their ship's launch), which are implied to be Russia and an Anglophone country (I'm pretty sure this is supported by the actual text, the audiobook narrator used a Russian accent for Kodiak and a British one for Ambrose which may have affected how I interpreted the story. They make reference to a cold war, so I'm pretty sure that's what was happening. This felt a bit off to me from a worldbuilding angle because there are other large countries who could just as easily have been used as the starting point for the two remaining world powers, but I think the choice ends up working. With that small caveat, I love the second half of the book, I had an excellent time and didn't want it to end.
I would highly recommend this, except for my uneasiness about the country choices and the fact that in the first quarter I almost didn't finish it because of the slow pacing and how I wasn't getting into the romance at first. If you want a groundhog day story about gay love in space, with a possibly hostile A.I., try this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Death
Moderate: Cursing, Excrement, Medical content, Sexual content, Cancer, Terminal illness, Vomit, and Violence
Minor: Injury/Injury detail