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raccoonfoo's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, and Chronic illness
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
alicelalicon's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, and Self harm
kestrelfire's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Biphobia, Bullying, Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness
ravenk28's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Mental illness, and Bullying
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Torture
czoltak's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
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
5.0
“So, for example, if your emotions are yellow and Adam's are blue, you get green."
"Right, yeah." I nod, relieved that she understands. "Yeah, and with him, it's like everything becomes green.“
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was one of the sweetest stories I’ve read in a long time. Caleb and Adam’s relationship was so incredibly heartwarming. I was honestly rooting for them to be together after just the second chapter. They were both such dynamic characters on their own, so together it was hard to remember that these weren’t actual people and just characters I was reading about. Even some of the side characters, such as Chloe, were insanely complex and left me wanting to know them better. On top of that, the world this story take place in itself is incredibly fascinating as well. The idea of people who aren’t necessarily ‘superheroes’ but who have elevated abilities was so intriguing to me. Caleb’s ability of elevated empathy was especially captivating. His color theory of other people’s emotions was so beautiful and uniquely unlike anything else I’ve ever read. Caleb and Adam are officially one of my absolute favorite fictional couples. 🥰
💛💚💙🏈📚🫶💭🌈💙💚💛
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Homophobia, Mental illness, and Cursing
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Self harm
welgan's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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
4.0
I really enjoyed this book, despite a few weaknesses, because it does its main job very well.
I sometimes had the feeling some dialogs were a bit artificial and I could see it was what info the author wanted to convey to us, instead of feeling like natural conversation. The excess of oral language was keeping me out of the book at the beginning, too, but either it got better or I got used to it because it didn't bother anymore me after a bit. All this is a bit confusing to me because the author writes mainly for a podcast and it should be its strong suit, but instead, the very best part of the book is it's main focus : emotion. The description of emotions and inner life of the two main characters (and alternate first person narrator) is STELLAR, and it is what we want from a book about an empath teenager. It works so well - Caleb power is tangible and the emotions description is so accurate and visual, it's perfect.
Another weakness I found in the book is, paradoxically, the fact that is came from a podcast. I don't know the podcast, and I'm not especially interested in it, but the ending left me with an unfinished feeling. There were questions not answered and conflicts brought in the story that were not resolved. Namely :
During the book, Adam regrets not talking to Caleb about his depression and explaining him, and even if they had the perfect timing to solve this conflict of their couple in the last chapter, it was not brought up. Also, I was strongly believing the second half of the book would be about Caleb and Adam having problems with the organisation that threatens Atypical persons, which is teased a lot in the book, but nothing happens. The doctor and the parents are all very worried, and it's a mystery for both the main characters to solve, but as a reader, we never get any answer about who they are and what they want. All this build up tension about a danger for Atypicals and nothing happens ? Same thing with Adam's parents, the secret of their job is very teased, but in the end ... Nothing really clear ?
Keeping not all conflicts resolved, even in a one-shot book, can be OK ! Not everything has to be resolved for the book to end. But for this one especially, I felt like tension was build-up and teasing was made, giving a lot of importance to plot points who actually went nowhere. This is, I guess, because it is part of the podcast, where Caleb and Adam are characters - this conflicts are probably foreshadowing of events a reader could find in the podcast. It was not to be written in the book probably because it is actually solved in another media. From one hand, I like transmedia and think the idea is great, but on the other hand, I don't want to listen to the podcast, I was only interested in reading this cool romance about an empath (which is a romance trope I like a lot). So I feel like I'm kept from core parts of the story that were , to me, a bit too heavily teased to not be resolved in it.
I have ranted a lot about these two points, but my rating stays high because I enjoyed this book immensely! A bit less convinced by the end, but I read it to unwise hours because I couldn't put it down. It was emotionally powerful, and that's so strong it makes the small inconveniences I experienced not important.
Side note : the family relationships were really great !
I sometimes had the feeling some dialogs were a bit artificial and I could see it was what info the author wanted to convey to us, instead of feeling like natural conversation. The excess of oral language was keeping me out of the book at the beginning, too, but either it got better or I got used to it because it didn't bother anymore me after a bit. All this is a bit confusing to me because the author writes mainly for a podcast and it should be its strong suit, but instead, the very best part of the book is it's main focus : emotion. The description of emotions and inner life of the two main characters (and alternate first person narrator) is STELLAR, and it is what we want from a book about an empath teenager. It works so well - Caleb power is tangible and the emotions description is so accurate and visual, it's perfect.
Another weakness I found in the book is, paradoxically, the fact that is came from a podcast. I don't know the podcast, and I'm not especially interested in it, but the ending left me with an unfinished feeling. There were questions not answered and conflicts brought in the story that were not resolved. Namely :
Keeping not all conflicts resolved, even in a one-shot book, can be OK ! Not everything has to be resolved for the book to end. But for this one especially, I felt like tension was build-up and teasing was made, giving a lot of importance to plot points who actually went nowhere. This is, I guess, because it is part of the podcast, where Caleb and Adam are characters - this conflicts are probably foreshadowing of events a reader could find in the podcast. It was not to be written in the book probably because it is actually solved in another media. From one hand, I like transmedia and think the idea is great, but on the other hand, I don't want to listen to the podcast, I was only interested in reading this cool romance about an empath (which is a romance trope I like a lot). So I feel like I'm kept from core parts of the story that were , to me, a bit too heavily teased to not be resolved in it.
I have ranted a lot about these two points, but my rating stays high because I enjoyed this book immensely! A bit less convinced by the end, but I read it to unwise hours because I couldn't put it down. It was emotionally powerful, and that's so strong it makes the small inconveniences I experienced not important.
Side note : the family relationships were really great !
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Homophobia
clhtdr's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Mental illness, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts
dodecashedron's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Bullying
Moderate: Self harm
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
sophiesmallhands's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Bullying
Minor: Self harm, Homophobia, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, and War
ababbabby's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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
as a huge fan of The Bright Sessions podcast, i went into this already knowing a lot about the world and characters and even the plot. as a companion novel to the podcast, this book is excellent. i especially enjoyed the earlier parts of the book which gave more insight into adam’s life before caleb and the parts that painted a better picture of adam’s depression, especially since the book doesn’t follow the plot of the podcast far enough for caleb to really learn the details about that part of adam’s life.
there were parts where the pacing felt a little off, and the plot points in the later part dealing with other characters from the show and events that take place there felt a little rushed, crammed into just not quite enough space.
overall though it’s a really enjoyable read, it’s a sweet depiction of young queer romance, and it has good discussions and portrayals of mental illness, would recommend but especially to people who are already familiar with the bright sessions.
there were parts where the pacing felt a little off, and the plot points in the later part dealing with other characters from the show and events that take place there felt a little rushed, crammed into just not quite enough space.
overall though it’s a really enjoyable read, it’s a sweet depiction of young queer romance, and it has good discussions and portrayals of mental illness, would recommend but especially to people who are already familiar with the bright sessions.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Self harm and Mental illness
Minor: War