Reviews tagging 'Schizophrenia/Psychosis '

The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer

19 reviews

randl's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis

perhappiness's review

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Blood, Violence, Vomit, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Classism, Cancer, Sexual content, Confinement, War, Suicidal thoughts, and Xenophobia

keya_caivalur's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Abandonment, Cancer, Murder, Blood, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, and Vomit

Moderate: Terminal illness

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Classism, and War

linnea1801's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

this book gave me trust issues

when the first Ambrose and Kodiak died I was screaming and crying

I am very glad that this is fiction.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, War, Blood, and Torture

Moderate: Vomit and Cancer

tacoshark's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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? No

4.0

I was surprised by how well this ended up working - at first it seemed like it was going a somewhat predictable route, and while some of my predictions were correct, the way they played out was really well done and interesting. It kept me engaged and invested in these two characters throughout. The ending was a little bit weird and if it were up to me, I think it went a bit too far, but overall I enjoyed this a lot. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment and Murder

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Terminal illness and Suicide

emesfiz_28's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Cursing, Grief, Suicide, Violence, Cancer, Death, Confinement, and Body horror

Minor: Sexual content

lets_b_libros's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

sobbed so so hard multiple times. The lives they lived, and lost…. UGH SO sad and moving

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Suicide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Panic attacks/disorders, Cancer, Confinement, Medical content, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Vomit, Terminal illness, War, and Xenophobia

annikaa'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

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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

augustar14's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Another gay space story where something isn't quite right. That being said, I didn't see the twist/what wasn't right coming. Don't recommend reading before bed- there's no good place to put it down. This book makes you think about what it means to be human, to connect with another. It explores what someone will do to survive, and to save the one they love.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Gaslighting, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Grief, Murder, Violence, Death, and Blood

Moderate: Cancer, Confinement, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: War, Homophobia, Sexual content, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Colonisation, Medical content, and Transphobia

modernathos's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Honestly? What a great read to start the year with. This book was gifted to me by my best friend and unlike anything I've ever read before in all the good ways.

The first hundred or so pages were quite slow to me, but once the story gets going it is absolute insanity to the very end and you cannot put it down anymore. Schrefer tricks his readers as much as

OS tricks our characters

, therefore this book will haunt me forever.

I do have to say that the romance felt a bit forced or too fast at times. Maybe it is because I found both Ambrose and Kodiak hard to connect to. Don't get me wrong, I loved it once the plot really got going, but if we'd had the chance to learn a bit more about our spacefarers' past, especially Kodiak, even though

both of them turn out to be clones

, the

repeated deaths of the main characters and the

end of the book would have hit just a bit harder and better than it already did.

I've seen The Darkness Outside Us be described as a story that "smashes your heart and puts it back together" and ultimately, I agree with that statement and have nothing else to add to it.

Rep: queer MC, poc MC, non-binary mentioned character
December 24th, 2022 - January 2nd, 2023 

"When adoration is selfish, it's not going anywhere." - Ambrose Cusk, part 1.

"Welcome to Minerva."

"I couldn't have written about the love of a lifetime without first experiencing one with [my husband]." - Eliot Schrefer, acknowledgements.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Medical content, Blood, Murder, Cancer, and Violence

Moderate: Suicide, Confinement, Self harm, Sexual content, Body horror, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Terminal illness, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: War and Death of parent