Reviews tagging 'Schizophrenia/Psychosis '

The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer

19 reviews

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.

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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

ilkaohnem's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Confinement

Moderate: Cancer, Grief, Murder, War, and Suicide

Minor: Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Vomit, and Violence

kirkspockreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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

🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Medical trauma, Death, and Confinement

Minor: War

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

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Cancer

Minor: War

laesterlurch's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Suicide, Grief, and Death

Moderate: Body horror, Murder, Terminal illness, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Gaslighting, Genocide, War, and Medical content

greatestheights's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful mysterious sad medium-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? No

4.0

4.5 stars for breathtakingly good plotting and suspense. Goddamn, this was not what I expected.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Abandonment

Moderate: Medical content and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: War and Genocide

paracosim's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

I hadn’t expected to cry so hard at the end of this book but I was sobbing for a good 10 minutes after. I think I’ll be coming back to this one again and again as the years go by.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Violence, and Confinement

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, and Mental illness

Minor: Vomit and War

boyunrelated's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

there is absolutely nothing in this world that could have possibly prepared me for this book. i did not mind the blurb because it did it’s job, drew me in, but at the same time after finishing this i hate it with a passion. it doesn’t even scratch the surface with the kind of book that this is. i won’t go in depth with details, because this book is worth experiencing blind, but it’s more akin to a queer, psychological, mind bending space horror rather than a fluffy YA space romp.

the only gripes i really have is that, for no real reason, the characters in this are 17. this is mentioned once in the losses possible fashion, despite the dialogue, actions, inner monologue, and voice of the characters reflect an age much closer to mid to late 20s than any teenager i’ve ever experienced.

regardless, read this, please read this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Homophobia, Transphobia, and War

mothie_girlie'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Sexual content, and Cancer

Moderate: Colonisation and Gaslighting

Minor: Body horror, Homophobia, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis