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A review by nickoliver
The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I truly don't know what to think of this. Some of the plot twists were really good, but there were many things it just didn't do well. For example, the romance was barely developed, especially in the latter half of the book. I never quite understood why the characters fell in love with each other; it seemed to me that they mostly just did that because they were the only two people on that ship, not because there was genuinely something between them. The chemistry was a bit lacking.
Plus, there were a lot of plot holes that drove me insane, and some things were left in the open until almost the end. And I also didn't like the way it described the two countries involved in this, Fédération and Dimokratía, because it was basically "utopia where everyone accepts everyone" vs. "homophobic country where children get trained for war from the time they're four". It left a sour taste in my mind, especially because it was never really addressed?
Moreover, the main character Ambrose, who came from Fédération, made fun of Dimokratía for still using labels ("gay", "bisexual", but even labels such as "top" and "bottom"), and the way it was portrayed like that was part of why Dimokratía was still so backwards was hurtful. I like labels. I like that there are words to describe exactly how I'm feeling. It's completely fine if you don't like labels, I'd never push them onto someone else, but just because someone likes using them doesn't mean there's something wrong with them? And again, this was barely discussed by the characters, which is what made it so frustrating.
The story was also way darker than I expected; it was very emotionally taxing and left me practically physically exhausted at the end. (Hello, existential crisis.) The end itself was also way less hopeful than I think the author intended it to be? Overall, this was definitely more a miss for me, which makes me sad, because I had such high expectations!
Plus, there were a lot of plot holes that drove me insane, and some things were left in the open until almost the end. And I also didn't like the way it described the two countries involved in this, Fédération and Dimokratía, because it was basically "utopia where everyone accepts everyone" vs. "homophobic country where children get trained for war from the time they're four". It left a sour taste in my mind, especially because it was never really addressed?
Moreover, the main character Ambrose, who came from Fédération, made fun of Dimokratía for still using labels ("gay", "bisexual", but even labels such as "top" and "bottom"), and the way it was portrayed like that was part of why Dimokratía was still so backwards was hurtful. I like labels. I like that there are words to describe exactly how I'm feeling. It's completely fine if you don't like labels, I'd never push them onto someone else, but just because someone likes using them doesn't mean there's something wrong with them? And again, this was barely discussed by the characters, which is what made it so frustrating.
The story was also way darker than I expected; it was very emotionally taxing and left me practically physically exhausted at the end. (Hello, existential crisis.) The end itself was also way less hopeful than I think the author intended it to be? Overall, this was definitely more a miss for me, which makes me sad, because I had such high expectations!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content, Grief, and War
Minor: Cancer, Suicide, and Vomit