Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer

62 reviews

sheyri's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense fast-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Violence, Cancer, Blood, and War

Minor: Medical content, Grief, and Sexual content

ismildlypoetic's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful mysterious sad slow-paced

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

4.0

4 stars = I loved it!

This is one of the most unique books I've ever read. If you like science fiction, I recommend it, way more for the plot structure. If you're looking for a romance, although it's a main element in this story, I would choose a different book. 

Oh my God where do I start? So I usually don't read sci-fi, because I don't like the idea of something not based in reality, but I always tend to enjoy it a lot more than I think I will. I got this book out of a little free library during a trip to San Fransisco because I needed something to read on the plane home, so I went in with very little to zero expectations. 

Starting with Ambrose and Kodiak 1.0 (2.0? the one we meet at the beginning), I thought the characters were so funny, and I was excited about a classic enemies-to-lovers slow-burn plot, but it just happened in outer space. This, to my surprise, did not happen. They died about 40% of the way through the book, and I had absolutely zero hypotheses for what was going to happen next.

The mystery of the clones, whether OS was evil, if Minerva was alive,  and where we were headed was such a great story and the author did an incredible job of pacing it out in a way that felt natural for the audience. However, after the first set of clones, I feel we lost the Ambrose and Kodiak we loved (i mean, we did), but I never was able to reattach myself to whatever version we saw next. I found myself caring for the original back on Earth more than whoever I saw in front of me. Part of this has to do with the romance. The first set of clones was great, loved it. However, with the second incarnation, the author never built up the love again; just said "here, date" and threw them together. And I never found the spark after that. It seemed like they were only together because they were both gay, and there was no one else around, not for any actual chemistry, which was a shame. 

 

All that being said, I thought this book was great, and I'm very excited to read the sequel when it comes out in October.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Death, Confinement, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gaslighting, Suicide, Terminal illness, Vomit, Medical content, and Grief

Minor: Abandonment, Cancer, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual content

The main characters

die several times, in graphic ways.

One such instance involves

a murder-suicide.

If these themes would be harmful for you, please choose a different book.

booksnbcys's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Confinement, Pandemic/Epidemic, Blood, Death, and Mental illness

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Murder, and War

Minor: Classism, Abandonment, and Sexual content

lavagirl's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

I like how unhinged this book gets halfway thru it's way bigger than it seems

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Body horror, Blood, Cancer, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual content and Vomit

adrianas65's review against another edition

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Grief, Murder, Suicide, Blood, Gaslighting, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Confinement

Moderate: Vomit, Medical trauma, and Sexual content

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

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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

perhappiness's review against another edition

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

mdiffer's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.75

A classic sci-fi tale and tropes--retold with some modern twists and representation.
What really kept me reading (engrossed) was the drama between the three main characters. That sweet, sweet drama. The writing was competent and the pacing felt appropriate. Characters were believable and felt real.
The plot of the book is standard sci-fi fare. It was easy predict the "big reveal" before the end of part 1, but that didn't stop me. It was a well-told story and a fun read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Mental illness and Violence

Minor: Sexual content

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

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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

avacadosocks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Grief, and Death

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Murder, Sexual content, Cancer, Confinement, Medical content, Body horror, and Terminal illness

Minor: War, Gore, Suicide, and Vomit