Reviews

A Neon Darkness by Lauren Shippen

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andysposato's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Damien is one of if not the most interesting character in the Atypical universe.

His and Mark’s stories converging was my favorite aspect of the podcast series.

This novel was an insightful look at Damien’s past, and Charlie Ian (narrator) is the exactly perfect voice for this character. In A Neon Darkness, he goes from sad, vulnerable Robert to sad, terrifying Damien. If you’ve listened to the podcast, you know exactly what kind of character development is coming.

What I really want is a book or podcast following Damien/Robert post-AM, when his ability is distorted beyond influence. He’s maybe the biggest victim of his own ability, but still I want so badly for his life to turn around for him. Now with his power muted, he’s all alone. Just sad Damien. And that doesn’t feel satisfying at all.

Content Warnings

caseyjayner's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

megpancoast's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

paigerini's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I bought A Neon Darkness and Some Faraway Place from a second-hand book store, not knowing they were part of a series. So, I read this book as a standalone novel (so some takes may not apply to those who are reading all of the books in order).

I never sympathized with Robert/Damien at all. Even though he has terrible trauma and knows what it is like to struggle to live life normally, he never considers that his friends also experience the same things. I understand he is supposed to be flawed and this is like his villain origin story, but he's not likable whatsoever. For an audience to care about villains, they need to be charismatic, funny, or complex, but Damien is barely any of these things. He doesn't even attempt to change - genuinely trying to change and failing would've made his story much more of a tragic hero plot than him being stubborn and awful.

I wish we learned more about all of the characters' backstories.

It would have made Damien's plan to keep everyone happy with his power much more effective if he thought he was saving them from their past trauma.

Missed an opportunity to flesh out the friend group's dynamic, especially Marley and Blaze.

The side conflict also seemed extremely anti-climatic (probably because there is more information about them in the other books).

Who is Isaiah? Why is he in California? What is he experimenting on Unusuals for?

Again, this probably makes more sense in the context of the other books, but there is little connecting this book to the others from what I've researched.

When it comes to the writing, it was mostly okay. It was easy enough to follow. However, some of the descriptions of actions sound like how I wrote in middle school, which I would rather not have paid $8 for.

Overall, this was a...read. I wish I had known before I purchased this book that it was part of a series, but to be fair, each book does not follow the same characters, so they should be able to stand alone without too many complications. I wish that Robert had more depth and that the side plot didn't flatline near the end as it did.

Content Warnings

alicelalicon's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

greenleafbooks's review against another edition

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3.0

I thought this was good but I was hoping it would explore Damien as a character more and that we would get to see how his mind works. In reality it was more about him meeting some people and eventually getting let down like what happened in the podcast. It was a bit too predictable for my taste, I didn’t really like the side characters, and I was hoping it was going to be a bit more dark and emotional like the podcast was. One thing I really liked though was the last chapter which was great and the moments of Damiens development that we did get to see.