7/10

The Darkness Outside Us is a sci-fi romance set in the 25th century. It tells the story of two astronauts who are sent on a spaceship as explorers and are forced to find common ground in order to confront a conspiracy as they travel. I thought this book had an interesting premise, though there was a plot twist introduced partway through that seemed a bit tangential to the original plot. However, this plot twist was undeniably unsettling. While the most common genres of this book would be sci-fi and romance, I personally believe it fits into the horror category simply because of how unnerving the concept of the book is. It isn't your typical jump-scare horror or bloody murder, but it is a horror in the same way as The Handmaid's Tale, horrifying in what it implies. If you are looking for traditional horror, this probably isn't what you are looking for, but if you want a book that is more unsettling than nightmarish, this is your book. One of the main issues that I had with this book preventing it from getting a higher rating was that it had issues with the pacing. This was partially due to the plot twist that I mentioned earlier, though I won't specify so as to avoid spoilers. It just felt like the different sections of the book didn't flow well with each other. This does make sense in the context of the book, but personally, I found it too jarring. Other than that, I thought that this book was good, though it certainly wasn't what I was expecting. All in all, The Darkness Outside Us is an unsettling book that I would recommend to anyone who wants to read a book that is uncomfortable but not scary in the sense of stereotypical horror movies.

March 30, 2022 Review by Penny