Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer

55 reviews

scumlow's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Grief

Minor: Gore, Vomit, Terminal illness, and Homophobia

tlaynejones's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

4.0

This is not a book to make you feel good. I found the experience of reading it often made me feel claustrophobic; the building sense of horror reminded me of Never Let Me Go by Ishiguro. The story is set on a space ship in deep space. It’s about two boys, late teens I think, who wake up with compromised memories and a situation that doesn’t quite fit what the on board AI is telling them. It’s also sort of a queer love story. The story is almost entirely about cis men, and there are lots of unresolved/ unexamined issues around corporatisation, colonialism, classism…

I enjoyed much of the interactions/ relationships between the two boys, and I found the problem solving around how they managed their situation quite interesting. Cautiously recommended. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Death, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Vomit

Minor: Homophobia

wheatlyre's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Body horror, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Gore, Gaslighting, Medical content, Murder, Violence, Sexism, and Grief

Minor: Abandonment, Racism, War, Transphobia, and Homophobia

naomidanae's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful reflective sad 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Violence, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Cancer

keya_caivalur's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Abandonment, Cancer, Murder, Blood, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, and Vomit

Moderate: Terminal illness

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Classism, and War

cobmagnificent's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Prepare for your heart to die (a dozen times over) when you pick up this book. Play the Interstellar soundtrack in the background.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Confinement, and Death

Minor: Cancer, War, and Grief

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

luckbe's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Suicide, Abandonment, Death, Violence, Confinement, and Grief

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Homophobia

summermorning's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Death, Murder, War, Violence, Grief, Confinement, Vomit, Suicide, Gaslighting, and Emotional abuse

hoax_meal's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious 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? No

5.0

This book is devastating but hopeful. If you're looking for a light read, this isn't it. It deals with extreme existentialism. But that's sci fi for you. That aside it's a very well written romance. Probably my favourite book I've read so far this year. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Confinement, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

Minor: Gaslighting, Genocide, Kidnapping, Medical content, Classism, Excrement, and Homophobia