Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer

41 reviews

doodleoodz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

Could not put this book down, finished it in a day. Well worth the read; it kept me interested, heartbroken, and utterly in love with the choice of words.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Blood

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Gore, Cursing, Self harm, and Suicide

mxdegroot's review against another edition

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.

---

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

planetesastraea's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

The Darkness Outside Us is an easy read. I struggled reading through my previous book which was much more slow paced so this one was a real breather. It doesn't give you time to get bored. 
Ambrose's point of view gives us a funny, light-hearted and candid introduction to this world. He's silly and dorky and impetuous at times, which makes the story even sharper as Ambrose's different experiences of the world shape him. 

I've always loved stories that repeat themselves- let it be through repetitive flashbacks, dreams, or even tales of reincarnation. 
Schrefer uses this tool with great skill, some obvious foreshadowing details making the subtle, discreet ones even more delightful as the story unravels. 

I didn't know what to expect of this book except "two boys in space fall in love". I certainly didn't expect the dark and twisted turns, the profound questioning of existence, and what makes a life worth living.
It had a lot more in store than I thought and I can't say I was disappointed.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Grief, and Death

Moderate: Cancer, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: War, Terminal illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Homophobia, and Xenophobia

geilie's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gore, and Vomit

Moderate: Cancer

Minor: War

albernikolauras's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-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

3.75

This book was such a fun YA sci fi thriller with a cute-ish queer romance. I was expecting a cute YA romance with some thrilling moments, but it was more the other way around. This book continued to raise the stakes and make you worry about the characters at any given moment.

I wouldn't say it was completely mind-blowing or unpredictable, but everything was just a little bit darker than I expected. I flew through this because I needed to know how it ended.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical content and Suicidal thoughts

sarahna's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Colonisation, Excrement, War, Violence, Suicide, Medical content, and Cancer

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

pro_basil's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

oh. my. god. I can not explain how far the book goes beyond the synopsis. It becomes this different kind of story and it evoked so many emotions in me that may haunt me for a while. I loved this story, the last time I really enjoyed a book was years ago. This was so good it actually jump started my love for reading again. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Suicide

Moderate: War, Homophobia, Murder, Sexual content, and Cancer

Minor: Gaslighting and Vomit

aardwyrm's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

For a book where most of what actually happens is relentlessly grim, a strangely gentle read. The whole thing is very tropey and none of the twists will likely actually surprise you, but the journey matters more than the destination. I have to say the emotional build-up early on feels a bit rushed, but then, our main characters are seventeen year old boys, so. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Suicide, Abandonment, Death, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Violence, Cancer, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Child death, Gaslighting, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Death of parent, Xenophobia, Homophobia, War, Sexual content, and Genocide

dododenise's review against another edition

challenging 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was so much more than I ever expected. I’ve read before that the blurb is misleading, and yet this book blew my mind.
This is what I’ve been missing in the science fiction books I’d been reading lately. I’m so thankful for this book of reminding me why I love science fiction so much.
I knew there needed to come a plot twist, and when it came I was still completely baffled.
The romance was beautiful. And so interesting. Yet this definitely wasn’t a romance, but so much more. 
There are so many other things I could say, but I don’t want this to contain spoilers so I’ll shut my mouth. All I can say: Go read this book!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Grief

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, and Cancer

Minor: Suicide, War, and Sexual content