The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer - Sheaf & Ink

“The Darkness Outside Us is intense. Schrefer brilliantly devises a plot readers will devour whole. I loved every page.”
Cecelia Beckman, Sheaf & Ink

The Story

From the Publisher:

Two boys, alone in space.

After the first settler on Titan trips her distress signal, neither remaining country on Earth can afford to scramble a rescue of its own, and so two sworn enemies are installed in the same spaceship.

Ambrose wakes up on the Coordinated Endeavor, with no memory of a launch. There’s more that doesn’t add up: Evidence indicates strangers have been on board, the ship’s operating system is voiced by his mother, and his handsome, brooding shipmate has barricaded himself away. But nothing will stop Ambrose from making his mission succeed—not when he’s rescuing his own sister.

In order to survive the ship’s secrets, Ambrose and Kodiak will need to work together and learn to trust one another… especially once they discover what they are truly up against. Love might be the only way to survive.

My Review: The Darkness Outside Us

How to fully express my love of this book???

I’ll try my best.

Friends, I haven’t read a good sci-fi book in a while and Schrefer’s The Darkness Outside Us exceeds my expectations and more. It got me thinking about our existence here on Earth. How long humanity will last before we destroy all our resources and/or each other. And, most importantly, if we’ll ever be able to travel in space further than the moon.

What made this book for me was the setup. It is fantastic. Schrefer keeps readers at the edge of their seats, a creeping feeling of something off in the corner of your mind as the pages fly by.

And it’s the way Schrefer brings these two lone boys together that makes this story incredible. At first, like I said, there is this feeling, niggling in the back of your mind. That something seems a bit off. But we’re so immersed into these characters that the off-ness is set aside for a quick beat. Where Schrefer creates this intimate dynamic between these two very different boys: Ambrose Cusk of Fédération (United States), a social elite kid who was born with a golden spoon in his mouth. And then an orphan Kodiak Celius of Dimokratía (Russia) whose stout determination and hard work has gotten him a ticket to be part of this mission in the first place.

A Few Last Thought

Together these two must first trust each other and then unpack and detangle the truth of their mission. Once Schrefer builds the solid foundation between these two, he throws all the sci-fi twists, mystery, and suspense that readers will eat up like [insert favorite movie theater treat].

A nimble pace, a romance that unfurls like a new blossom facing the unpredictable weather, a Groundhog-day repetitive loop setup, a crazy egocentric OS (gives you the Hal feels from 2001: A Space Odyssey) and a story about connection, love, and finding a place to call home.

Don’t walk, run and grab a copy of this book ASAP.

Happy Reading ̴ Cece

RATING: – Exceptionally Inked