The Brightness Between Us (The Darkness Outside Us #2)

The Darkness Outside Us is one hell of a story. If you’re in the mood for a truly captivating existential thriller with heavy romance elements, then it’s a great pickup. You should absolutely not read any review that spoils twists (mine doesn’t), and know that the remainder of this review will spoil details from the first book.

When I heard Darkness was getting a sequel, I had mixed feelings. On one hand, Schrefer earned my trust, and I love reading more by authors who have won me over. On the other hand, Darkness was a great standalone – ending included – and I was worried that anything else would be a disappointment. In the end, I thought this book was a rather large step down from the first, but it wasn’t bad by any means. Just not perfect, you know?

Elevator Pitch:
This book bounces back and forth in time. Most of the story takes place 17 years after Darkness, following the teenage children of Ambrose and Kodiak, the only two who survived the early years. And just like in the original story, some strange and unexpected things are happening. It also tells the story of the original Ambrose and Kodiak in the events after they learned about the cloning scheme, right as the world is on the brink of nuclear war.

What Worked For Me
Of the two storylines, the historical one really worked for me. It was where Schrefer managed to nail his bold choices of the original, and it was delightful to see the fallout of the events of the first book from the perspective of earth. Ambrose was a rather delightful brat, and we finally got Kodiak POV chapters! It was great seeing them fall in love all over again.

I also enjoyed how they weren’t portrayed as perfect people. Oftentimes romances portray their leads as idealistic dreams, and I loved seeing their kids make comments about their parents which pulled the rose colored glasses off a bit. I still would have preferred staying in the perspective of Ambrose and Kodiak, but it was a nugget of joy for sure.

What Didn’t Work For Me
I think the bottom line is that Schrefer was trying to recreate the lightning in a bottle from Darkness. It’s tough to beat killing off your two main characters after 1/3 of the book has passed, then pivoting to something truly haunting and dreadful mixed with a heartfelt love story. He was aiming for a big twist here as well, but I ultimately think it landed more in the realm of a typical book twist. I didn’t see it coming, and also it didn’t blow my mind. Unfortunately, Schrefer was really pushing to have a similar ‘aha’ moment happen again, so the typicality of the grand reveal left me feeling rather uninspired.

In the end, I think this book was fine. There’s nothing wrong with it. However, it didn’t need to be written, and I don’t think it added anything particularly revelatory to the original. I honestly would have preferred had the books remained in the same POVs as the original. Seeing Ambrose and Kodiak from an outside perspective was interesting (and a big plus!) but you so rarely get to see parent POVs, let alone queer parent POVs, that I was disappointed that it didn’t make an appearance in this book.

Finally, I don’t think that Schrefer was able to capture the grittiness of living on a colony on a foreign planet. The first book was consumed with small details, and how each specific element fit into the claustrophobic nature of the experience of living on a spaceship run by a homicidal AI. But their new home seems … chill? They can’t really go exploring, and mostly eat algae mush, but the book never captured the challenges of living what were supposed to be demanding and isolating conditions.

But perhaps all my disappointment is just me holding this book against a standard that it was never going to reach, and that it wasn’t trying to. It just wasn’t the version of the sequel that I was interested in, and most goodreads users love it, so who am I to judge?

Conclusion: a disappointing sequel, but not a bad book.

• Characters: 3
• Worldbuilding: 3
• Craft 3
• Themes: 2
• Enjoyment: 3