Reviews with content warning for Terminal illness - The Darkness Outside Us

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.

Content Warnings

storydragon's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

There are quite some plot twists.
Just when I thought I knew what was going on, it turned out to be something else...
The plot has a very interesting structure.
It's cool!

Content Warnings

lavagirl's review against another edition

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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

Content Warnings

scumlow's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad fast-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

3.0

this was such a cute little read. funny and sweet, and surprisingly violent and gory at times for YA, too, which i love. it honestly had me tearing up for a couple of moments as well, especially at one point where i really thought we were delving into some sort of AIDS crisis allegory. i think there’s certain elements of this story i struggled with, but i can’t get too much into it without spoiling things. the problems i had here are the same problems i have with this type of story every time though, so it’s not an issue unique to this book. if a creepy space mystery gay YA love/thriller story sounds fun to you, definitely give this a shot! also if you’ve ever read any type of gay kylo ren fanfic this is also one for you bc i was referring to that kodiak dude as russian kylo ren without fail every single time.

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