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adrianas65's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Grief, Suicide, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Gaslighting, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual content, Medical trauma, and Vomit
harrower's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Suicide, Medical trauma, Body horror, Death, Terminal illness, and Murder
galleytrot's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Cancer, Medical trauma, Suicide, Blood, Gaslighting, and Terminal illness
kirkspockreads's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Medical trauma, Death, and Confinement
Minor: War
taelights's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
I HATE THIS BOOK SO MUCH.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Vomit, Blood, Medical content, Cancer, Confinement, Death, Cursing, Gaslighting, and Grief
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Homophobia, Biphobia, Death of parent, Fatphobia, and War
countmodris's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Currently one of my favorite books and I definitely will be thinking about it for a while. I originally picked it up because it sounded similar to Wolf 359 (a fiction podcast) and it exceeded all my expectations. The scifi element is great and so is the romance. It's a good balance.
I'm going to talk spoilers for a bit but seriously do not read spoilers before hand, it's best to experience this blind.
The different aspects of the book are so fascinating, with the hints at the cultural differences between the two countries, the way all the different clones interact with each other, the slow burn of the initial romance and the way it got progressively easier every time. The mystery element definitely payed off and OS felt like a genuine threat throughout.
This book genuinely feels like believing in love again in a way, if I'm not overselling it a bit. The relationship they had was so tender and felt completely real and possible. The parts at the end with each set of clones was so interesting and the letters where they grow old together but me. I love the idea of falling in love with what you make of yourself.
I'm going to talk spoilers for a bit but seriously do not read spoilers before hand, it's best to experience this blind.
This book genuinely feels like believing in love again in a way, if I'm not overselling it a bit. The relationship they had was so tender and felt completely real and possible. The parts at the end with each set of clones was so interesting and the letters where they grow old together but me. I love the idea of falling in love with what you make of yourself.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Abandonment, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Blood and War
kenzie_redelman's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
One of the main points in this book is repetition. Reading the exact same couple of pages several times drove me a little crazy, but the repetition was necessary for the plot. The author did an amazing job of keeping the book interesting while having only two characters confined in a small space for a long period of time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Medical trauma, Self harm, and Suicide
ninegladiolus's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
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? Yes
4.5
“I think love and science fiction are perfect companions.”
This quote from the ARC foreword sums Eliot Schrefer’s The Darkness Outside Us up quite nicely. Sci-fi is without a doubt my favourite genre, so when I first heard of this queer YA sci-fi thriller, I was stoked. I mean, pretty much as soon you mention sentient space ships I’m in anyway, so it didn’t take much convincing. What I thought I would get was romance with a backdrop of sci-fi, and what I got was a story with heavy emphasis placed on the sci-fi and thriller elements with a significant side of romance—which was a pleasant surprise that worked to the benefit of the novel.
The story focuses on Ambrose, who wakes up without his memories in the care of Endeavor, a spaceship possessed of a sentient operating system. Ambrose’s mission—and the mission of the spacefarer whose ship is connected with his to form the Coordinated Endeavor—is to rescue his sister Minerva, who has sent a distress signal from Jupiter’s moon, Titan. He must cooperate with Kodiak, a spacefarer from a rival nation back on Earth, to accomplish a list of tasks given to them by the operating system, or OS for short. Saying much more than this would start to give away the plot, but suffice to say this novel can definitely be described as a page turner. As more and more things start not adding up, Ambrose and Kodiak are forced to work together.
I wasn’t expecting this novel to have as many darker twists and turns as it did. Stay for the mystery above all; the process of Ambrose and Kodiak unraveling the secrets of the Endeavor together kept me captivated, and amongst some terrifying and heart pounding moments, it was interwoven with love and surprisingly poignant feels. Again, as stressed above, this is not a particularly light and breezy read. Major content warnings for: violence, blood, death, and medical trauma.
Overall, The Darkness Outside Us hit on several of my favourite themes in sci-fi and provided a thrilling journey that took me to unexpected places from beginning to end. I’d absolutely recommend it to those looking for a more serious queer YA sci-fi read.
Thank you to Katherine Tegen Books and Edelweiss for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
This quote from the ARC foreword sums Eliot Schrefer’s The Darkness Outside Us up quite nicely. Sci-fi is without a doubt my favourite genre, so when I first heard of this queer YA sci-fi thriller, I was stoked. I mean, pretty much as soon you mention sentient space ships I’m in anyway, so it didn’t take much convincing. What I thought I would get was romance with a backdrop of sci-fi, and what I got was a story with heavy emphasis placed on the sci-fi and thriller elements with a significant side of romance—which was a pleasant surprise that worked to the benefit of the novel.
The story focuses on Ambrose, who wakes up without his memories in the care of Endeavor, a spaceship possessed of a sentient operating system. Ambrose’s mission—and the mission of the spacefarer whose ship is connected with his to form the Coordinated Endeavor—is to rescue his sister Minerva, who has sent a distress signal from Jupiter’s moon, Titan. He must cooperate with Kodiak, a spacefarer from a rival nation back on Earth, to accomplish a list of tasks given to them by the operating system, or OS for short. Saying much more than this would start to give away the plot, but suffice to say this novel can definitely be described as a page turner. As more and more things start not adding up, Ambrose and Kodiak are forced to work together.
I wasn’t expecting this novel to have as many darker twists and turns as it did. Stay for the mystery above all; the process of Ambrose and Kodiak unraveling the secrets of the Endeavor together kept me captivated, and amongst some terrifying and heart pounding moments, it was interwoven with love and surprisingly poignant feels. Again, as stressed above, this is not a particularly light and breezy read. Major content warnings for: violence, blood, death, and medical trauma.
Overall, The Darkness Outside Us hit on several of my favourite themes in sci-fi and provided a thrilling journey that took me to unexpected places from beginning to end. I’d absolutely recommend it to those looking for a more serious queer YA sci-fi read.
Thank you to Katherine Tegen Books and Edelweiss for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Medical trauma, and Violence
Minor: Homophobia and Terminal illness
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