A Neon Darkness (The Bright Sessions Book 2)

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On a less metaphorical level, the actual queer rep is as diverse and liberating as per usual with anything in The Bright Sessions universe. It was also delightful to discover that Damien is the “I am not immune to pretty people” flavour of bisexual, I felt … seen. Damien developed his power sometime before he was thirteen years old. When he was thirteen, he had less control over his power, and ended up driving his parents away in an argument because he wanted to be left alone. They never returned. [3] Abilities [ ]

Having gotten into the world of Bright Sessions after reading The Infinite Noise, this was a book I instantly anticipated once I found out about its release. Thanks to NetGalley and Lauren Shippen, I got to read it five months before its official release and I’ve got a lot to say about it. You can read it as a standalone but you probably won’t see the full scale of the development (or sort of reversed development) of Damien if you are not familiar with him already and you won’t feel the impact of finding out his origin story.The found family element of this book is still my favorite between Indah and Neon and Alex and Marley. Keywords: science fiction, slice of life, superpower, found family, morally grey, young adult, LGBT+, muslim representative, POC representative; trigger warning: mental health and slight mention of suicidal thoughts This is my first reread of this since I have listened to the podcast and I did like it better this time around. I feel like it takes incredible skill as an author to write a book with an unlikable MC and have the reader feel empathy for them. It is no doubt that Damien is the bad guy of this entire series/podcast but you can't help but feel for him and attempt to figure out how difficult it would be to deal with the power like his. I received this book from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review. A HUGE thanks to Macmillan- Tom Doherty Associates, Tor Teen for the chance to read this book. Robert Gorham is 18-going-on-19 when he arrives in L.A. for reasons unclear to the reader until much later. His power makes him able to effortlessly manipulate people into doing what he wants, and he’s used that power liberally to get where he is. When he falls in with a group of other atypicals, he starts to have to take a long hard look at the morality of his choices.

Why go to so many places?” She leans forward on the bar, her duties as bartender largely over now that the only other person left in the place is the old woman in the corner booth. “Is it for work? What do you do?”He exhales. More smoke. More squinting. I stand perfectly still and focus on what I want, and then: A beat. That familiar beat that sometimes happens in the blink of an eye—usually without my realizing what I’m doing—and that sometimes takes an eon. But no matter how long it takes, I almost always get where I’m trying to go. Y'all I still have no idea how to feel about this book! A Neon Darkness focuses on Damien's story. But before he was Damien, he was Robert Gorham running from his past and a power he doesn't quite understand. But in LA, Robert meets a group of Unusuals like him and he wants to be accepted into their group, so he is. But as the friends get to know each other, how much of it is real friendship and how much of it is Robert's will to belong. No physical description of him is given in The Bright Sessions, however Lauren Shippen mentions in a blog post that he is the fifth tallest of the show's main cast. [4]

And then, after a beat—simultaneously in slow motion and instantaneously—she stops smiling. It’s like the corners of her mouth are being pulled down by invisible strings. The frown has reached her eyes now and she’s stopped talking. She’s just staring at me with large, frightened eyes.I think I liked this one more than the infinite noise, simply because it is more surprising. It also has a very different, darker, tone. I shrug, maybe a little too big, because I catch Indah trying to stifle a laugh before she restarts her interrogation. Sorry, I—” She shakes her head like she’s clearing cobwebs from her hair. “I must have lost my train of thought.” If you are not familiar with Shippen’s work, pull up a chair. She created and wrote the popular audio drama The Bright Sessions, which had four seasons from 2015 to 2018. The podcast was carried on in The AM Archives, which she executive produced, and soon The College Tapes following Caleb and Adam. She co-produced the award-winning Passenger List and wrote the audio adaptation of the popular comic MARVELS. In 2019, she released her first YA novel, The Infinite Noise, and has a third book on the horizon, which will focus on a dream walker named Rose. Shippen is certainly busy!

Well…,” she begins, smiling. She smiles so easily. I’m so envious of that. The vodka turns in my stomach and suddenly the last thing I want is to watch her smile around another adorable quip. I wish she would stop smiling, rubbing her happiness in my face. As you can see from our songs above, the concept of light opens many avenues for songwriters and musicians. Whether they are old or new musicians, their songs are a testimony of the influence light has on them.Let me start by saying, although this is labeled as a standalone, if you haven’t either listened to the Dark Sessions podcast or read the first book, I recommend doing that first. A Neon Darkness was my introduction to the world, and I feel that was one of the biggest things stopping me for really enjoying it. This book is also labeled as an “origin story,” and without the word “hero” or “villain” in front of it, I thought it would just be the main character’s story of growth in general. Let me tell you, that is the farthest thing from the truth. Do NOT go in to this expecting character development from anyone. At all. I think the characters in this book is quite diverse, there is Indonesian character, a bipoc i think, and people from various orientation from gay, lesbian, to bisexual. They are all cool and quite memorable, especially Neon. They're also have strong characterization and each of them get their spot in the story equally. They are also full of flaws and very humane. There's a moslem representative in here that's also lesbian, has tattoos, and an Indonesian. I think for some people, the part about her religion is unnerving, though I myself don't mind it. Yes moslem women who're also lesbian exist, even in my country and I know some of them. Yes, people can practice religion differently, regarding what they believe. E-ARC provided by the publisher (Tor Teen) through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All quotations are not final. Thank you so much!