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A review by princessrensa
The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
I think it's very interesting that so many reviewers feel this book is mis-categorized as YA. I guess I see where they're coming from, but I didn't personally feel, while reading, that it wasn't YA enough.
If I had to describe my interest level while reading this book, I would say that I was initially...interested, but not super enthralled. Then things picked up and got super intriguing, dark, and mysterious. Then by the end, my enthusiasm tapered off a little bit. I have mixed feelings about the ending but overall I think this book was a really fun experience that was very well executed. I almost kind of like that so many people are mistaking it for a YA romcom in space because I feel like the book itself wants you to believe that it's going to be that, until it isn't. That being said, I can understand how that could turn people off at first if they can't make it through the initial set-up. I will say that I found Ambrose kind of annoying at first, as some other reviewers did.
So, our premise: Ambrose and Kodiak are two astronauts from rival nations who are embarking on a joint mission to save Ambrose's sister, Minerva, who was supposed to be the first spacefarer to settle Titan. Ambrose was initially told that this would be a solo mission for him, so the presence of Kodiak is surprising. And over time, other things begin to seem suspicious. Ambrose and Kodiak begin to wonder whether they can trust OS, the operating system of their ship, and what's really going on back on Earth.
I don't <i>think</i> it's spoilers to say that OS was giving me HAL vibes from Space Odyssey: 2001 (a movie I watched most of on an airplane and have embarrassingly never finished). OS actually might have been my favorite character, and the mystery of what its true intentions were and whether or not it could be trusted definitely kept me invested in the story.
Worldbuilding! Just because our two leads are leaving Earth behind doesn't mean we can't talk about worldbuilding. Here we have an earth where the three major powers are the countries of Demokratia and Federation and the company Cusk, which is run by Ambrose's emotionally distant mother. Ordinarily, when sci-fi stories decide to massively reduce the number of countries in the world because ~it's the future, I find it tends to be lazy worldbuilding. I thought it worked alright here, though. It seemed like the point of the two countries was less to make the author's job easier and more to illustrate the unnecessary enmity that Ambrose and Kodiak have been brought up on either side of, so I was okay with it as a storytelling device. Also, Federation and Demokratia kind of remind me of Athens versus Sparta in how they're set up, which I thought was fun? Federation prides themselves on being intellectual, tolerant, and general fans of equality and wokeness, while Demokratia is initially characterized as this country where harshness and strength are valued above all else (Demokratia did also remind me of the Soviet Union, and I suspect that was intentional). But as we eventually learn, it's not quite simple as Ambrose and Kodiak have been brought up to believe, and the connection they build demonstrates that they are far more than their differences.
I do also have some thoughts on the plot and the ending but there's pretty much no way to discuss them without spoilers, so here goes. Tons of spoilers for the plot and ending follow in this spoiler tag, so please don't click through if you haven't read the book, unless you don't plan to.It eventually becomes clear that Ambrose and Kodiak are clones who are being revived in pairs every few thousand years to maintain their ship and then be killed off. This was a really cool twist, and it was interesting seeing how different sets of Ambroses and Kodiaks responded to the information left behind for them. But I'm not sure I liked the resolution we got with respect to the conflict between the clones and OS. Ambrose and Kodiak decide to kill all of their remaining clones except one, so that OS can no longer treat them as expendable and the last clones will be awoken only once they reach their final destination, 12,000 years later. At this point, OS gives up trying to kill them since they're no longer expendable, which made sense, but I didn't really...like this. I'm not sure why. I think I was interested in a resolution that involved them negotiating with OS that it had to be honest with the clones from now on? OS showed itself to be intelligent and adaptable, and I thought it would have been interesting for them to have to work together with it. That may just be me, though. I also felt like the ending was a bit...babies ever after? And after Kodiak's reaction to the video of Original Ambrose, I sort of questioned why they even felt the need to carry out their mission of reviving the human race after everything all of their clones have been through. But I'm not mad at the ending, just a bit neutral.
Okay! So overall, I really liked this book. Was it really unusual for a YA sci fi book? Definitely, and in a really fun, spooky way. Do I think it's mis-marketed? I'm not sure I would go so far as to say that it is. But I'm glad I read it, and I'll definitely be recommending it from now on.
If I had to describe my interest level while reading this book, I would say that I was initially...interested, but not super enthralled. Then things picked up and got super intriguing, dark, and mysterious. Then by the end, my enthusiasm tapered off a little bit. I have mixed feelings about the ending but overall I think this book was a really fun experience that was very well executed. I almost kind of like that so many people are mistaking it for a YA romcom in space because I feel like the book itself wants you to believe that it's going to be that, until it isn't. That being said, I can understand how that could turn people off at first if they can't make it through the initial set-up. I will say that I found Ambrose kind of annoying at first, as some other reviewers did.
So, our premise: Ambrose and Kodiak are two astronauts from rival nations who are embarking on a joint mission to save Ambrose's sister, Minerva, who was supposed to be the first spacefarer to settle Titan. Ambrose was initially told that this would be a solo mission for him, so the presence of Kodiak is surprising. And over time, other things begin to seem suspicious. Ambrose and Kodiak begin to wonder whether they can trust OS, the operating system of their ship, and what's really going on back on Earth.
I don't <i>think</i> it's spoilers to say that OS was giving me HAL vibes from Space Odyssey: 2001 (a movie I watched most of on an airplane and have embarrassingly never finished). OS actually might have been my favorite character, and the mystery of what its true intentions were and whether or not it could be trusted definitely kept me invested in the story.
Worldbuilding! Just because our two leads are leaving Earth behind doesn't mean we can't talk about worldbuilding. Here we have an earth where the three major powers are the countries of Demokratia and Federation and the company Cusk, which is run by Ambrose's emotionally distant mother. Ordinarily, when sci-fi stories decide to massively reduce the number of countries in the world because ~it's the future, I find it tends to be lazy worldbuilding. I thought it worked alright here, though. It seemed like the point of the two countries was less to make the author's job easier and more to illustrate the unnecessary enmity that Ambrose and Kodiak have been brought up on either side of, so I was okay with it as a storytelling device. Also, Federation and Demokratia kind of remind me of Athens versus Sparta in how they're set up, which I thought was fun? Federation prides themselves on being intellectual, tolerant, and general fans of equality and wokeness, while Demokratia is initially characterized as this country where harshness and strength are valued above all else (Demokratia did also remind me of the Soviet Union, and I suspect that was intentional). But as we eventually learn, it's not quite simple as Ambrose and Kodiak have been brought up to believe, and the connection they build demonstrates that they are far more than their differences.
I do also have some thoughts on the plot and the ending but there's pretty much no way to discuss them without spoilers, so here goes. Tons of spoilers for the plot and ending follow in this spoiler tag, so please don't click through if you haven't read the book, unless you don't plan to.
Okay! So overall, I really liked this book. Was it really unusual for a YA sci fi book? Definitely, and in a really fun, spooky way. Do I think it's mis-marketed? I'm not sure I would go so far as to say that it is. But I'm glad I read it, and I'll definitely be recommending it from now on.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
Minor: Homophobia