The Brightness Between Us (The Darkness Outside Us #2) by Eliot Schrefer

The Brightness Between Us by Eliot Schrefer

My Rating: ★★★

It’s been 17-years since Ambrose and Kodiak crash landed on Minerva. Life as the only humans on Minerva hasn’t been without its hiccups, but they’ve happily raised a family together. However, their family is about to go through a number of new hurdles, including ones they never could’ve predicted. In the distant past, the original Ambrose and Kodiak wake up and learn they’ve been manipulated and lied to. Will these two find their way to each other, and will they manage to get their own unedited messages to their clones?

While I loved the first book, I did think it could’ve worked as a standalone with an open ending. I still think that, but I did really enjoy reading this! I love that we got rotating narrators this time around as well, so we follow Owl and Yarrow in the present, and Ambrose and Kodiak in the past. I especially love that we finally got to see things from Kodiak’s perspective! I enjoyed getting to know the new characters as well as finally meeting the original Ambrose and Kodiak and learning about what happened to them.

That said, I’m glad we didn’t get many Yarrow chapters because I found them to be a chore to read at times. I’m just disappointed by the lack of depth despite seeing and experiencing part of his story through his own eyes. I wish that Yarrow’s story took an entirely different path, especially because there were other ways to create drama on Minerva whether or not it was impacted by long dead people back on Earth. It just felt like an abandoned mental health plot once we started to see the whole picture.

All in all, I enjoyed the book, but I can’t see the story going further than this. I really liked getting multiple POVs this time around, and I liked that we bounce between the past and present. I’m looking forward to checking out the author’s other works since, overall, I really enjoyed this series.

The Darkness Outside Us (The Darkness Outside Us #1) by Eliot Schrefer

The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer

My Rating: ★★★★

When Ambrose Cusk wakes up on the Coordinated Endeavor, he has no idea what’s going on. He’s disoriented and appears to have a head injury because he doesn’t remember the launch. Ambrose also doesn’t remember that there’s someone else on board: Kodiak Celius. Whatever they don’t remember doesn’t matter, right? Their mission is to make it to Saturn’s moon, Titan, and save Ambrose’s sister… but something is odd. Ambrose and Kodiak have nothing but time to figure out what’s going on, and including what mission control never informed them about.

I can confirm that I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I started this, but I also wouldn’t have it any other way. In fact, I think this is one of those books that you need to go in completely blind about the real plot. I picked up on a lot right away, but getting those confirmations was a wild ride. It also gets pretty bleak once we get past the halfway point, and that’s when things really get moving.

All in all, this was an excellent read. My only complaint is that we only follow Ambrose’s perspective, and I think it would’ve been even better if we also followed Kodiak. Whenever Kodiak is open, we still never know him anywhere near as well as we get to know Ambrose. It would’ve been nice to switch perspectives every time we got to the next part. I also think that this could’ve worked as a stand alone that leaves us with an open ending, but am I going to check out the next book ASAP? Yes!

The Dark Lord's Guide to Dating (Guides to Villainy and Love #1) by Tiffany Hunt

 

The Dark Lord's Guide to Dating by Tiffany Hunt

My Rating: ★★

I received a copy from Scarlett Press through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Dark Lord Kazimir Blackrose is in need of a wife, but not just anyone will do… they need to be from a heroic bloodline! After a long discussion about his options, he decides to abduct Lady Arabella Evenfall and make her the Dark Lady. The problem? She’s not the docile woman he was expecting to snatch and is a force of nature all on her own! Now they’ve struck a deal so they both get what they want out of this marriage. Now Kazimir is struggling with being attracted to Arabella while she tries to avoid catching feelings for her villainous husband!

Early on, this book was a delight to read. It was so funny and kept poking fun at itself that I was having a great time. Somewhere around the 30% point, the story started to drag. I wasn’t ready to give up, so I kept reading until I got to the halfway point. I've finally given up because now I’m just bored and it’s become a chore to read this.

I think this book had a lot of promise, but the execution fell flat. We needed better world building, supporting characters that are more than a name that pops in and out of the story, and less story fluffing. Plus, we still barely know Kazimir halfway through the book even though he’s one of the two leads. I really wanted to love this. It started out great, but it just didn’t work out for me.