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evelynyle_88's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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: Blood, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, and Cancer
Minor: War and Suicide
leguinstan's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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? It's complicated
3.5
The Darkness Outside Us is a lackluster romance novel... but it's an AMAZING thriller!!
The main character and his love interest are incredibly flat-- outside of a basic personality profile and general background info, I barely got to know anything about Ambrose and Kodiak which made the romance between the two of them stale as all hell. I literally have no idea what Kodiak likes to do for fun and I struggle to picture what he and Ambrose would do together if they weren't stuck in their current predicament.
Luckily, said predicament is a popcorn-munching, edge-of-your-seat affair and once I hit the first big plot twist I stayed glued to my seat until I reached the very last page. While the twist wasn't a complete surprise to me since I watched a sci-fi film years ago(Moon) with the same exact plot twist, The Darkness Outside Us took said twist in a different direction and drastically raised the stakes. The way the two characters react to the revelations and handle their situation is utterly compelling.
The thing is though--I think The Darkness Outside Us would have been an even stronger novel if it was written for adults instead of teens. To be clear, I'm not saying that it's an adult novel mismarketed for a teen audience. I'm saying that writing the story for teens prevents it from reaching its full potential. Because of the teen readership, the main characters' feelings about the more harrowing experiences in the story could not be explored in more depth. No disrespect intended at all to YA novels! I just feel in this particular instance the YA label on this story feels too limiting.
Long story short: while I have some serious complaints against the novel, I enjoyed the thriller aspects too damn much to give it less than a 3.5.
The main character and his love interest are incredibly flat-- outside of a basic personality profile and general background info, I barely got to know anything about Ambrose and Kodiak which made the romance between the two of them stale as all hell. I literally have no idea what Kodiak likes to do for fun and I struggle to picture what he and Ambrose would do together if they weren't stuck in their current predicament.
Luckily, said predicament is a popcorn-munching, edge-of-your-seat affair and once I hit the first big plot twist I stayed glued to my seat until I reached the very last page. While the twist wasn't a complete surprise to me since I watched a sci-fi film years ago
The thing is though--I think The Darkness Outside Us would have been an even stronger novel if it was written for adults instead of teens. To be clear, I'm not saying that it's an adult novel mismarketed for a teen audience. I'm saying that writing the story for teens prevents it from reaching its full potential. Because of the teen readership, the main characters' feelings about the more harrowing experiences in the story could not be explored in more depth. No disrespect intended at all to YA novels! I just feel in this particular instance the YA label on this story feels too limiting.
Long story short: while I have some serious complaints against the novel, I enjoyed the thriller aspects too damn much to give it less than a 3.5.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Mental illness, Sexual content, Blood, and Violence
Minor: Homophobia and War
sexual content: the main character of the story is a VERY HORNY teenager and does end up having sex with the teen love interest several times. It's not explicit but it's not subtle either. homophobia: soooo the main character accuses the love interest of being homophobic but uh... he's only homophobic by the main character's futuristic standards. So it barely feels like homophobia to me.etherealisnt's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
5.0
This was truly a science fiction. I thought it's going to be all romance, but no. I didn't expect to love the science 🛰🧑🏼🚀 and space stuff ✨🪐 so much, this has been a mind-bending experience. I just can't get over the plot, it's a mindfuck - I just LOVE it! I have this weird feeling like I have read this story before or I have memories of it, but I'm certain that I have never read this book before. This makes the book pretty memorable to me. Plus, it weirdly connects me to the story.
Ambrose & Kodiak had their adorable moments and their love is something different ❤️ I can't imagine what they felt like when they realized what was actually happening to them. All they truly had was each other. I'm kind of speechless and my brain is fried :P
Ambrose & Kodiak had their adorable moments and their love is something different ❤️ I can't imagine what they felt like when they realized what was actually happening to them. All they truly had was each other. I'm kind of speechless and my brain is fried :P
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Sexual content and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Suicide
kal517's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Sexual content
Minor: War and Suicide
michmoo's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I mean, what can I say about this goddamn book?
I was drawn in by the premise and captivated by the possibilities of where the underlying mystery would take us, and then promptly smacked in my soul with the beginnings of the plot twist which only further stressed me out when I realised that we still had a big chunk of the book to go.
Overall, I would say that while this is a sci-fi mystery thriller, it is also at its core, a love story. Watching the love blossom between the two protagonists was a gift in spite of the heart wrenching moments it led to, perhaps because of them.
I definitely recommend giving this book a chance if you are at all interested.
The author did an amazing job, I am emotionally compromised.
I was drawn in by the premise and captivated by the possibilities of where the underlying mystery would take us, and then promptly smacked in my soul with the beginnings of the plot twist which only further stressed me out when I realised that we still had a big chunk of the book to go.
Overall, I would say that while this is a sci-fi mystery thriller, it is also at its core, a love story. Watching the love blossom between the two protagonists was a gift in spite of the heart wrenching moments it led to, perhaps because of them.
I definitely recommend giving this book a chance if you are at all interested.
The author did an amazing job, I am emotionally compromised.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, Vomit, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicide, Violence, Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, War, Grief, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Blood
bookthief404's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
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? Yes
4.0
Came for the gay romance in space, stayed for the mystery, horror and heartbreak
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Blood, Gore, Death, Suicide, and Sexual content
caseythereader's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
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? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Grief, Medical content, Blood, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual content
corriejn's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement and Gaslighting
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Cancer
Minor: Vomit, Blood, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Sexual content
queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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? No
5.0
5 ⭐ CW: Death, descriptions of blood, sexual content
The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer was one of those books that someone recommended to me, but I didn't expect to love it much based on the cover, but damn was I wrong! This was sort of like They Both Die at the End meets Never Let Me Go, in space. Yes, folks, Space Gays ™️.
We follow Spacefarer Ambrose Cusk, from the Fédération (one of two countries left on Earth), as he wakes up with no memory of the launch to rescue his sister on Titan. He discovers quickly that he is not alone on the ship and that something isn't right. His shipmate is Kodiak Celius is from the rival country, Dimokratia. The first being a liberal and socially progressive society, and the later being the more conservative and close minded country. When they realize that the ship's OS is hiding something from them, they realize they need to work together to survive, and to figure out what is going on.
So. Much. Tension! I was so stressed reading this book. The suspense was top notch with a dash of space horror and existential dread. We get a great example of the importance of human connection, no matter how different we think we are. The science in this was excellent and fascinating. I don't want to say anything else about the plot, because boy that twist is something. It zagged when I zigged.
The character development was so fantastic too! Ambrose is our sensitive cinnamon bun, and Kodiak is our rugged manly type that suffers from toxic masculinity but comes around. They are precious and I love them. I want nothing more than wrap Ambrose and Kodiak in a blanket and keep them safe.
Such a great YA Scifi pick!
The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer was one of those books that someone recommended to me, but I didn't expect to love it much based on the cover, but damn was I wrong! This was sort of like They Both Die at the End meets Never Let Me Go, in space. Yes, folks, Space Gays ™️.
We follow Spacefarer Ambrose Cusk, from the Fédération (one of two countries left on Earth), as he wakes up with no memory of the launch to rescue his sister on Titan. He discovers quickly that he is not alone on the ship and that something isn't right. His shipmate is Kodiak Celius is from the rival country, Dimokratia. The first being a liberal and socially progressive society, and the later being the more conservative and close minded country. When they realize that the ship's OS is hiding something from them, they realize they need to work together to survive, and to figure out what is going on.
So. Much. Tension! I was so stressed reading this book. The suspense was top notch with a dash of space horror and existential dread. We get a great example of the importance of human connection, no matter how different we think we are. The science in this was excellent and fascinating. I don't want to say anything else about the plot, because boy that twist is something. It zagged when I zigged.
The character development was so fantastic too! Ambrose is our sensitive cinnamon bun, and Kodiak is our rugged manly type that suffers from toxic masculinity but comes around. They are precious and I love them. I want nothing more than wrap Ambrose and Kodiak in a blanket and keep them safe.
Such a great YA Scifi pick!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Minor: Sexual content
emesfiz_28's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Cursing, Grief, Suicide, Violence, Cancer, Death, Confinement, and Body horror
Minor: Sexual content