★★★☆☆ The Darkness Outside Us, by Eliot Schrefer
Great SF plot meets heavy-handed YA romance
The Darkness Outside Us
Eliot Schrefer
Great SF plot meets heavy-handed YA romance
I will state up front that I am not a fan of romance novels. I am especially not a fan of what is vaguely called "spicy" romance. I skim the spicy parts -- for me they are lost time during which the plot fails to advance. I mention this so that, if you are a fan of romance, you can adjust my lukewarm rating appropriately. If that's you, you might love Eliot Schrefer's The Darkness Outside Us.
Why, in that case, did I read a novel that was obviously promoted as young adult romance? Well, many reviewers emphasized that there was more to the book than that, to the point of castigating the publishers for advertising it so.
Here's what I think: everyone is right. This is a young adult romance. It is not deceptive to advertise it as such. In fact, the main feeling of reading The Darkness Outside Us is that of an all-romance all-the-time novel. It's very in-your-face about it. It is also a very well-plotted science fiction novel. The story is clever and has creative twists I didn't see coming. Schrefer deserves the Goodreads Choice Award it won him.
Personally, I got tired of hearing about Ambrose's feelings for Kodiak and Kodiak's feelings for Ambrose. (There is less of the latter, since the story is told from Ambrose's point of view.) It was not overly spicy, but it did have its mildly spicy bits. You are left in no doubt that Ambrose and Kodiak have sex and even of some of the mechanical details, but most of the details are mercifully left to the imagination. I will not read the sequel, The Brightness Between Us.
So, my three-star rating should be understood as reflecting the personal experience of an aromantic old person, who enjoys young adult literature, but romance not so much. If you're looking for a creatively plotted and intense young adult science fiction novel, you won't find much better.