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A review by smokedshelves
The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer
challenging
emotional
mysterious
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? It's complicated
5.0
(I've received an arc in exchange for an honest review)
Okay, um, wow that was absolutely amazing. The story had me beyond anticipating this release with the tagline of a queer, enemies to lovers in space story. And I absolutely believe you should go into this story as blind as possible if you want to get the best reading experience out of it. But, if you want some more info than that, here's the basic gist: You're following Ambrose Cusk, the child of a powerful CEO and astronaut hopeful. He's woken up with lost memories and only the guidance of an SOS sent by his sister on an abandoned planet. It's up to him and his crewmate Kodiak Celius to locate Ambrose's sister and hopefully save her.
What I did like:
1. I think this book made me truly realize how much I appreciate the trope of defunct/untrustworthy AI. I've read this trope a few times before and always found it to create such an interesting dynamic. And what really took my love for OS to the next level is just how the dynamic shifted with each copy of Ambrose and Kodiak. Each time they took the news differently and challenged, or even outsmarted OS. Also, the humor at the beginning with OS and Ambrose was truly *chef's kiss*.
2. While I typically don't like the resurrection trope, this one had me reeling. I was so invested in them that I was not expecting the ending of part one and the beginning of part two to occur like that. And even more, it was pulled off just as well if not better the second time around. I was so invested in these boys that I was distressed constantly for them, learning as they did.
What I didn't like:
1. For me, this could count under both sections, but I'm not the biggest fan of books without chapters. I do realize that it was broken up more by their copy's lifetimes rather than actual chapters. And eventually, I began to use the tasks remaining dividers more as breaks/chapter dividers. Just overall, it made pacing for me a bit hard, unless it was during section breaks, which themselves weren't really evenly distributed.
2. As you can see I absolutely adored this book but when doing these "what I liked/didn't like" lists I like to keep them even, so this next one was super minor for me. Especially in the beginning, I'd found Kodiak's dialogue a bit off with their early interactions. There were times I felt he spoke in a very formal manner, which I assume was because he was speaking in his second language. But then oftentimes in the following scene, when not much of their dynamic had changed, his speech was a lot laxer. Often using slang, often in his language, but not always. It was a bit jarring, but as their relationship progressed in the latter half of the book, this was much less prevalent.
Okay, um, wow that was absolutely amazing. The story had me beyond anticipating this release with the tagline of a queer, enemies to lovers in space story. And I absolutely believe you should go into this story as blind as possible if you want to get the best reading experience out of it. But, if you want some more info than that, here's the basic gist: You're following Ambrose Cusk, the child of a powerful CEO and astronaut hopeful. He's woken up with lost memories and only the guidance of an SOS sent by his sister on an abandoned planet. It's up to him and his crewmate Kodiak Celius to locate Ambrose's sister and hopefully save her.
What I did like:
1. I think this book made me truly realize how much I appreciate the trope of defunct/untrustworthy AI. I've read this trope a few times before and always found it to create such an interesting dynamic. And what really took my love for OS to the next level is just how the dynamic shifted with each copy of Ambrose and Kodiak. Each time they took the news differently and challenged, or even outsmarted OS. Also, the humor at the beginning with OS and Ambrose was truly *chef's kiss*.
2. While I typically don't like the resurrection trope, this one had me reeling. I was so invested in them that I was not expecting the ending of part one and the beginning of part two to occur like that. And even more, it was pulled off just as well if not better the second time around. I was so invested in these boys that I was distressed constantly for them, learning as they did.
What I didn't like:
1. For me, this could count under both sections, but I'm not the biggest fan of books without chapters. I do realize that it was broken up more by their copy's lifetimes rather than actual chapters. And eventually, I began to use the tasks remaining dividers more as breaks/chapter dividers. Just overall, it made pacing for me a bit hard, unless it was during section breaks, which themselves weren't really evenly distributed.
2. As you can see I absolutely adored this book but when doing these "what I liked/didn't like" lists I like to keep them even, so this next one was super minor for me. Especially in the beginning, I'd found Kodiak's dialogue a bit off with their early interactions. There were times I felt he spoke in a very formal manner, which I assume was because he was speaking in his second language. But then oftentimes in the following scene, when not much of their dynamic had changed, his speech was a lot laxer. Often using slang, often in his language, but not always. It was a bit jarring, but as their relationship progressed in the latter half of the book, this was much less prevalent.