The Darkness Outside Us

So, originally this book was a DNF for me. But I kept seeing it everywhere, recommended for like THE queer sci-fi. Because of this, it kept poking at my mind and, finally, I decided to try it again.

Ultimately, that was a choice I made. Look, I don't even really know what I want to rate the book, much less how I felt towards it as a whole. There was a pretty interesting plot - but to reach it, I had to slog through almost two hundred pages of typical teen book romance (tm). There were tiny moments of brilliance, but on the other hand, I don't know that I actually liked these guys by the end.

For me, there was at least an equal number of things that didn't work for me as that did.

I'm not going to actually go into any part of the story because I think this book is only effective if you don't know anything about it. Kind of like how I went into it.

(Also, I think I'm being very generous with my rating, but I don't regret reading it, and I would be willing to read more from the author, so I don't think it actually deserves a lower rating.)


Original DNF Review
DNF - PG 25

Why?

I'll admit that this is mostly my own fault. Look, I was so excited for the book, even more so with some of the glowing reviews that claimed it was much more an adult sci-fi than a YA sci-fi. So I didn't check a preview to see if I liked the beginning and, primarily, make sure the writing style didn't make my eyes bleed. (Yeah, this is that sort of ‘review'.)

I was maybe managing a couple pages at a time before the writing style annoyed me so much that it completely pulled me out of the story. The biggest offender was this paragraph - that I, honestly, never recovered from:

‘My eyes zoom out of focus and then narrow in on a hand. It's my hand, but I watch it like it's someone else's as it knocks into the polycarb tray beside me. I like my hand, my blipping brain decides. It's a beautiful hand. A cup of water is there, far and then suddenly too close. I miss my mouth, water pouring down my cheek. My arm muscles knot tight as the cup drops and rolls away. I manage a word in the midst of the pain. That word is “ow.”

If you either like this paragraph or find nothing wrong with it, congratulations, you might be able to make more than the twenty-five pages I did. If you are like me, however, and prefer the writing style to be understated and unremarkable, instead of a character and personality all it's own, you might be better off passing on this book - instead of spending the better part of three weeks thinking ‘I'm totally going to get moving on this. I promise.'