A Neon Darkness (The Bright Sessions Book 2)

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Night photographers seek to capture the essence of our world at a time when the majority of people don’t see it. 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! I close my eyes for a moment, focus on letting go of the envy, the bitterness. I don’t want her to not smile. I want her face to do whatever it wants to do. I do my best to drop the strings. Damien was always my favorite character in The Bright Sessions (I love a good, humanized villain), so when I saw he was going to be the subject of one of Ms. Shippen's books, I was super excited. And overall, especially with Damien's character, this book really delivers. He walks this wonderful balance of relatable and hateable, and I found myself wanting him to do the right thing over and over, while knowing what the ultimate outcome had to be. He's a very well realized version of what would happen to someone who never had to do a lot of the tough work of growing up, but at the same time had some serious trauma to contend with.

A Molotov … did you give me a bomb?” I ask patiently, nervous excitement building in me. Her grin grows wider. The Bright Sessions] combines shades of The X-Files and the HBO psychotherapy drama In Treatment, plus the youthful characters of a WB drama like Roswell or Smallville, into one compulsively listenable tale.... A testament to the simple power of good storytelling.” — Vox 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. Whatever’s good here.” I shrug, going for nonchalant. “Which I’m assuming is … something with vodka?” I add, gazing pointedly at the Russian decor before throwing her my best rakish smile, ignoring the uncomfortable pinching in my cheeks.This country is sprawling and full of detours. The “Best Specific Local Food Item” here and the “World’s Largest Mundane Object” there. Usually the best places aren’t on any map. If you hurtle toward your destination on the most direct route you can find, you miss the nooks and crannies, the strange offshoots and odd corners of the country. The warm, welcoming towns. The wonders of nature. The breathtaking vistas.

The way Damien manipulates others' wants feels as if it’s actually affecting you as a reader as well. There is a found family trope that is so heart-warming but it ends up ripping your heart out and leaving you wondering about many things and mostly how this reflects actual relationships in the real world. Someone can be controlling and manipulative and a toxic friend even if he or she doesn’t have literal powers that control you. It’s been a while since I read a book with a moral and that actually makes you think about it. I really enjoyed reading about the group of 'unusuals' Damien met. Each of them had an interesting story and had very different views on their own powers. I loved the way they interacted with each other. Listeners of The Bright Sessions know how A Neon Darkness will end—at least for Damien, for he is certainly not a hero—but it’s the journey to that point and the company he keeps that makes this such a wildly fulfilling ride. We see how Damien becomes the morally questionable, power hungry, and manipulative person he is, but most importantly, we see the people who tried to help him and care for him through his struggles, and what those friendships had to say about consent, control, and what it means to truly care for someone. Joan Bright's brother whom Damien removed from the AM premises as part of Joan and Sam's plan, only to kidnap him and keep him captured and uninformed of his sister's and Sam's involvement. Damien's reason for the kidnapping was his desire to find someone with the same ability as himself. Although Mark's feeling towards him are undetermined, it has been confirmed that Damien has more than platonic feelings for him. [5] Samantha Barnes [ ] A neon darkness, in contrast to the infinite noise, tells a story that takes place before the events in the bright sessions podcast.This book — about my favorite character (I think, it’s been a very hard struggle between Damien and Caleb) nonetheless — was such a delight and a horror to read all at the same time. A serene landscape transforms into a magical underworld by moonlight. City streets can take on an uncanny or cinematic quality.

I shrug, maybe a little too big, because I catch Indah trying to stifle a laugh before she restarts her interrogation. Naming him Damien, they welcome him in their lives and world, while trying to discover what happened to their friend Blaze, pyrokinetic, who is missing. But while he's happy not to be alone, able to be understood and to have a family, Damien is struggling to keep his power under control. And he's not ready to do this sacrifice.Even though it's a second book, storywise A Neon Darkness is prequel from The Infinite Noise. The Infinite Noise is the first book of Bright Sessions series. While the first book is light and cheery and full of love, this book is more emotional, dark and depressing. This book tells about Robert Gorham, or Damien, a boy with a superpower to make people get what he wants. Even so, his life is not easy and all his life he can't seem to get what he actually really want: to be loved as what he is. Those things change when he meet people with superpower similar to him. But will it ever last? His presence brings light and hope to her life. Now her dark days are gone, and she no longer feels lonely. Summing Up Our List Of Light Songs Let’s take a look at the work of these fantastic night photographers that have inspired us recently. Created by the brilliant Lauren Shippen, The Bright Sessions is probably my number one favorite podcast right now.” —Patricia Thang, Book Riot A Neon Darkness is about the formation of an identity; Damien – The Making Of is the supervillain origin story I have been terribly curious about (even though he’s mediocre by supervillain standards, let’s be real). In The Bright Sessions I couldn’t really figure out his motives when we first met him as a kinda weird annoying guy; then he makes grand mistake after grand mistake that ultimately ends with him becoming that unforgivable person he is at the end of season 4. I was always blown away by his morals and justifications for his actions (when we got to hear those), though in season 4 (specifically episode 48) where he has it all out with Mark, we get the final peek behind the veil as he says

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. There's also found family trope in this book and the theme of this book relies heavily on that. The loneliness, the longing to be accepted by somebody, the joy of having people who can understand you, who can love you and whom you can call as home... Those really strikes me right in the gut. Lauren Shippen is really good at making us feeling what the characters feel. So much emotions, especially when the book ends.. I feel raw and really sad reading this. I always love a book that invokes so much emotions in me. I had read the first book and kinda see how Damien would ends, so I already know the happiness in this book will not last. But the ending still hit me with devastating feelings.... However, don’t be fooled, there is no found family trope in this book. This is a found family that gets forced to take in another member and maybe (?) splinters apart. Each also had friends outside of that group which they just didn’t see anymore for months simply because Damien didn’t want them to. 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 thoughtsA Neon Darkness is the second book in The Bright Sessions series by Lauren Shippen. It's a queer YA fantasy about teens with abilities they can't control and a whole lot of baggage that they really need to work through. It explores topics deep enough to really mess up and yet - Lauren Shippen doesn't. She's one hell of a writer, I have to admit. However, even though the writing was excellent and the themes discussed were taken apart in a fascinating manner, I can't say I was in love with the rest of the book. Imposing his want on other people. He is considered a high-risk patient by Dr. Bright, earning him a Class E-3.