You know that picture of a horse that starts really beautiful & detailed and ends like something drawn by a three-year-old? That's this book.

It starts really good, fun even, with a dual first person pov. It’s engaging, it’s interesting, it’s intriguing. You think you’re safe. You think you’re reading a solid four stars book. And then, in the last fifty pages or so, the spell breaks. (And you catch yourself thinking of all the little things you were overlooking up until now, because on the whole the book still was good.)

So first of all, even though there’s dual pov, it’s Caleb’s story. It never felt like Adam was an mc too, like this was his story too. Caleb can feel other people’s emotions, which is a great concept for a story, let’s be real. And for the most part the book was doing a pretty decent job of balancing the science-fiction aspect & the romance aspect. It worked, they were blending together pretty well. The romance was usually winning, but still.

But then we get to a conclusion in the romance sub-plot, all that tension leading up to it gets released, there’s a beautiful, sweet moment and… We’re left with ¼ of the book. Now, I’m not against books taking the time to develop an actual relationship, in fact, those are some of my favourites. It didn’t feel like that here, though. The relationship didn’t actually progress, or at least: we weren’t shown that progression.

Because in that last part of the book, the author tried to fit in so many new characters & conflicts alongside the gaping problem of the relationship. There was so much going on, we didn’t have time to actually pay attention to anything. The pacing just went and died on us. It kind of seems like the author was too comfortable with her characters and the story as a whole, due to having written The Bright Sessions podcast before. It’s like she already knew it all & had time to flesh it out in the podcast, so then didn’t think twice before dropping it in the book, as well. Only, we don’t get that same introduction here.

The solution I would see to this is either getting the Romantic Conclusion sooner, so we would have more time for all this other stuff, or just being brave and making two books out of this. As it is, it makes no sense.

There’s no emotional punch behind it! There’s no space for angst. Literally. The guys go on the summer break and the chapters suddenly get shorter (and by shorter, I mean like paragraph long). And then the whole conflict gets resolved in one conversation, basically. No! Emotional! Punch!

It doesn’t make it better if you just think of The Infinite Noise as a companion material to The Bright Sessions podcast. The book doesn’t actually shine more light on anything, doesn’t introduce anything new, doesn’t give us another perspective. Even with the Adam’s pov, we still don’t learn more than from the podcast itself. It’s rather simply like the podcast in book form, actually. (And the podcast is better, even if only because it gives us time-jumps, so we can fill in all the angst in our heads ourselves. Which the short chapters were probably trying to do and failed miserably.)

And then there’s the fact that Adam’ and Caleb’s voices are pretty much indistinguishable. If not for the plot, I couldn’t tell them apart. Which makes one wonder, what was the point of a dual pov in the first place? It doesn’t really give the readers any extra insight.

All in all, The Infinite Noise is a disappointment. It starts really well, gives you hope for something great, only to snatch it away near the end. It’s a weird potluck of good writing, great main characters, a really cool story & absolutely awful pacing. Just listen to The Bright Sessions podcast instead.

The Infinite Noise is a quiet book. It's pitched as if the X-Men went to therapy and I think that's pretty accurate. The pressures of growing up, dealing with bullies and first loves, all balanced with power we cannot control and the danger of being exposed. I've never heard of The Bright Sessions before this book, but after The Infinite Noise I'll have to delve into it! You absolutely do not need to listen to it to adore this book. The Infinite Noise is one of the most realistic portrayals of being a super-powered teen I've ever read. Told in dual perspectives, we witness Caleb's frustrations with his power - how it changes his family dynamic and how he has to be careful not to abuse his power. All balanced with Adam's depression and own complex relationship to his parents.

Featuring a m/m relationship between Adam and Caleb, we're able to see, from both perspectives, how it would function to be friends and romantic partners with a super-powered teen. While there's the danger of telling everyone about Caleb's powers, there's also the pressure of being a teen, high school, social situations, and college. Adam's chapters could be seen as more relatable, because how many of us are super-powered empaths, but Caleb experiences this complex fear of being vulnerable. Of telling Adam and others about his power.

This started out as a decent read but quickly descended into trite romantic feelings that were meant to be new and different because they were occurring between two high school boys. After awhile, it became nothing except a diary of emotions felt that day, character by character, chapter by chapter. Overdone metaphors and similes, phrases such as "gently smirking" "adorable" made me want to quit reading and go wash the overdone sweetness off. I had a hard time remembering if the chapter was about Caleb or Adam as the feelings descriptions took over everything. The other plots in the book were not well represented and felt unfinished. Not my first choice of reading material.

[The review will go live on my blog, at the link given on 11 September, two weeks before the release date]


The Infinite Noise by Lauren Shippen is a novelisation of The Bright Sessions podcast. More accurately, it’s the novelisation of one particular storyline, primarily following two of the characters. I initially thought it was going to be a sequel, but it actually goes into more depth on events from the first two (I think) seasons of the podcast.

Caleb Michaels is a sixteen-year-old champion running back. Other than that his life is pretty normal. But when Caleb starts experiencing mood swings that are out of the ordinary for even a teenager, his life moves beyond “typical.”

Caleb is an Atypical, an individual with enhanced abilities. Which sounds pretty cool except Caleb's ability is extreme empathy—he feels the emotions of everyone around him. Being an empath in high school would be hard enough, but Caleb's life becomes even more complicated when he keeps getting pulled into the emotional orbit of one of his classmates, Adam. Adam's feelings are big and all-consuming, but they fit together with Caleb's feelings in a way that he can't quite understand.

Caleb's therapist, Dr. Bright, encourages Caleb to explore this connection by befriending Adam. As he and Adam grow closer, Caleb learns more about his ability, himself, his therapist—who seems to know a lot more than she lets on—and just how dangerous being an Atypical can be.

In essence, this is a YA romance book, featuring two male protagonists. The speculative element is clear: one of the protagonists, Caleb, has an empathy superpower, which allows him (forces him) to sense other people’s emotions. So on the one hand, we have Caleb’s very unique view of the people around him. On the other hand, there’s Adam, who is a normal teen that happens to suffer from depression. Despite one being a it of a nerd and the other being a it of a jock, the two of them form a connection. I also want to be clear that it isn’t just through Caleb’s powers that we experience Adam’s depression. Adam has his own point of view chapters and was diagnosed long before the start of the book. It’s now just something he has to live with and, I think, a particularly good depiction of living with depression.

Since I have listened to the original podcast, I knew what was going to happen in this book. The fact that it’s a romance book cancels out the spoilery nature of being familiar with the podcast (because of how romance books work). The one thing I think might throw people who haven’t listened to the podcast is the sudden appearance of some of the other podcast characters (other than Dr Bright). They sort of fit into the story, but because Caleb and Adam weren’t directly involved in the most dramatic parts of the podcast events, they seemed very oddly tangential, despite triggering some personal issues for our protagonists. On the other hand, if you enjoy The Infinite Noise, it might be a good jumping off point for getting into The Bright Sessions podcast.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I generally recommend it to all fans of YA, particularly spec fic YA. I hope we get more novels in this universe, although I’m not sure which bits of podcast would work best. You definitely do not need to have listened to the podcast to enjoy this book and, conversely, listening to the podcast first does not in any way ruin the book.

4.5 / 5 stars

First published: September 2019, Tor Teen
Series: Sort of? The first actual book, set in the Bright Sessions (podcast) world. I hope there'll be more books.
Format read: eARC
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Omg this book! When I found out the podcast The Bright Sessions was getting turned into a book series I was incredibly excited, and the first book in the series definitely didn’t disappoint.

Although this book is based on the TBS podcast, you definitely don’t have to have listened to it in order to enjoy the book (although I would highly recommend giving it a listen because the cast are an absolute dream!) I definitely think I would have still loved this book even if I hadn’t fallen in love with the podcast before reading it.

The writing within the story is first person with alternating perspectives from our two main characters, Caleb and Adam. The descriptive writing, especially when it’s from Caleb’s perspective, allows the reader to fully understand what the characters are feeling so it really pulls you into the story.

If I could change anything about the book it would be the length of it. I feel like too much was happening within the story to compact it into 336 pages. But hopefully with it being a series, the story will continue in the next book.

I can’t wait for the next book in the series, I can already tell this is going to be one of my favourite book series!

I’ve been looking forward to reading The Infinite Noise since it was announced. I decided to hold off on listening to the podcast; I wanted to see if the book would hold up on its own and I’m pleased to say that it did!

Not only does this story have some amazing LGBTQA+ representation, it also touches on the topic of mental illness in a way that’s totally unique. It was refreshing to see a character enjoy and recognize the benefits of therapy. Plus, the parallel between Caleb’s power and Adam’s depression allows for some amazing character development.

At times, Caleb’s insight made me feel genuinely bad for characters I thought were totally irredeemable. It made me question myself, and the people I knew in high school.

I’m looking forward to the next book and plan to download the podcast in the future.

I really loved this book! It felt very much like Vicious by VE Schwab, but more contemporary than sci-fi. The romance was adorable and didn't feel too heavy handed. Overall, the plot was interesting although I guessed the plot twist at the end and it's definitely a book that will stick with me.

I went into this book already a huge Bright Sessions fan, having listened to the entirety of the podcast from start to finish twice already. I love Caleb and Adam.

This book did an excellent job of explaining the nature of Caleb's abilities. It was fascinating to read some of the more behind-the-scenes way his ability works, rather than just hear about it in audio nature. The writing was descriptive and easy to follow.

I do think people who haven't listened to the podcast may have a hard time with this book. When a couple key characters are introduced at the end of the book, they came out of nowhere. The ending, in general, felt a bit rushed.

Overall, I'm satisfied with the amount of new content that was added to the book that didn't take place explicitly in the podcast. I feared it would just be a written version of the events of the podcast, but this was so much more.

Okay, where do I begin! If you are familiar with "The Bright Sessions" Podcast by Lauren Shippen, This Infinite Noise is the 1st book of a 3 part series. Now, I wasn't familiar with that, so I took a couple of days to familiarize myself more with the characters and their background so that I could write my review better.

The book. LOL . Well then, so yea it's "cute". I get the general idea of what the story was about. We have Caleb Michaels 16 yr old junior in high school who is learning that he has the ability to feel everyone's emotions (empath) around him, and Adam Hayes, his smart-gay-emo-depressed-loser of a classmate who somehow is able to help Caleb control his emotions and keep them in check. Pause, deep breath 🙄

So then we meet Dr.Bright a therapist who specializes in "Special People" like Caleb, and is guiding him how to control his emotions. She has the clever idea of telling Caleb to befriend Adam (since he has no friends), and see how he can be of help to him and his emotions, but not to say anything? 😒 So fuck Adam right? And his feelings, your just gonna use him.

Then the story goes on and Caleb has this self-discovery that he's falling in love with Adam, but he's not gay but he just feels it and vise-versa (facepalm) OK STOP ✋🏼

What a cluster-fuck of a story 🙄 there is no real self identity that Caleb has in the story. One second your str8 then the next your gay? Ok 😑, then it takes almost 8 chapters before they are even brought together as a couple, and the mention of Caleb being "gay" isn't even talked about. It's very generic, ok I like you, yea me too 🤔🙄😒

By that time I was already bored with the story because it was to much back and forth and too much repetition. The book got overwhelming and at one point I didn't want to finish it. But I did, and I was glad I did. I was definitely over it. The last 10 chapters are a sentence, paragraph at most that could have been combined together to have the ultimate ending/cliffhanger that went into the 2nd book and didn't. The ending was a mess. It made no sense. 64 chapters could have been 40. After hearing the podcast I see what happened. It's literally the podcast in book form word by word. Though the podcast is Great, the excision for the book lacks. It's just too basic. I hope the next 2 books are stronger and go more in detail of the characters. This is my honest opinion .

Rating 3.5

I have been looking forward to this book since Lauren Shippen first announced she had a three-book deal to expand the Bright Sessions universe, and I cannot describe how happy reading this has made me.

Caleb Michaels is a 16-year-old football player who has just realized he is an empath, which isn’t always easy in high school. When he gets overwhelmed by other students’ emotions and ends up punching someone, his parents have him start seeing Dr Bright, a therapist who specializes in the “strange and unusual.” While Caleb is figuring out how to handle his empathy and not constantly be overwhelmed by others’ feelings, Adam Hayes, one of his classmates, is often a focus because being around him causes all other people’s emotions to kind of fade to the back.

The Infinite Noise begins just before the start of the Bright Sessions podcast and occurs through the timeline of the first couple seasons, and follows Caleb getting better control of his ability as well as the friendship he develops with Adam leading to their romance. There are several familiar faces who make appearances from the podcast and I loved how this was able to feel like a complete story even if you haven’t listened to the podcast, but by introducing other characters and hinting at the bigger storylines it raises interest in the whole of the world.

From the first moment I listened to the podcast, Caleb has always been my favorite character. He is a sweet, caring young man, but he also has a tendency of going to anger when he feels overwhelmed by his emotions, which is relatable for me. I also feel like he’s demiromantic because while he doesn’t claim the label or really any label on page, the way he talks about never really having had crushes and only being interested in Adam because he’s Adam strikes me as a very aro-spec experience.

Adam has severe depression and a history of self harm, and the descriptions around how his depression feels are so vivid that at times it felt like sinking into that ocean with him. He has spent much of high school experience isolated between being smart and being awkward, not always the best combination when in high school.

One of the things that stood out is the way characters are never really clearly described. Shippen has, if I’m remembering correctly, mentioned before that she doesn’t really describe the characters in the podcast so any and all fanart can be canon, and I feel like she maintained that in The Infinite Noise. There are some clear descriptors (Adam has brown skin, is skinny, and has curly hair; Caleb has green eyes and broad shoulders/football player body), but overall the characters are never clearly described, nor is the setting so it is up to reader to imagine what the scene looks like.

This is definitely a new favorite for me and I hope that people picking up this book who’ve never listened to the podcast will give it a chance because there is more to the story and even just for Caleb. And for those that already love The Bright Sessions, this is a great addition to the world and fills in many of the gaps between Caleb’s early sessions with Dr Bright. These boys make me so soft and I’m looking forward to seeing the other books in this series and how they’ll further flesh out these already-beloved characters.

This book was just okay for me. I will preface it by saying I haven't ever listened to the podcasts, so that definitely could have affected how connected I felt to the book. This is marketed as what if the X-Men had therapy? I thought that was a funny thing to think about and picked up this book. Caleb is our main main character and he experiences being one of the Atypical, which he learns are kids with powers. He has extreme empathy and I can relate to this as I am a highly sensitive person (HSP) that experiences this as well, just not to his level. He finds that a boy in his class, Adam, is someone's emotions he is drawn to and becomes wrapped up with him. He attends therapy with a woman named Dr. Bright and she is careful with what she tells him about the Atypicals and how she helps him. I thought it was all in all an interesting concept. We also have LGBTQIAP+ inclusion which is always a win for me.

I enjoyed this book but I didn't love it. I found that I didn't care as much about the characters as I wanted to and I didn't feel connected to the story at all. I liked seeing Caleb and Adam's relationship blossom but other than that, it kind of fell flat. I think I may listen to the podcast because it might give me a new appreciation for the characters and I would like the story a little better.

I would recommend this to fans of X-Men as well as those looking for an LGBTQIAP+ read!

The idea of this book sounded fun, but it got too muddled for me to enjoy. Part X-Men, more moody teen romance, I had a hard time telling Adam and Caleb apart. They're both teens dealing with changes, but everything was too easy for them: accepting families, good healthcare, nice school. The whole "they" are after us wasn't enough for me to really care about their worries.

4 Stars

This book was a cute, light and fluffy read, which is exactly what I wanted from it from reading the description. This book follows Adam and Caleb as they try to navigate their high school. Caleb is an Atypical, specifically an empath meaning he can feel other people's emotions. Adam is the nerd of the school, who is depressed and bullied for being gay. Together they learn to navigate the intricacies of high school while batteling their own battles outside of school as well.

I really enjoyed the pacing of this book for the most part. I thought the relationships between characters was explored in good time, meaning it didn't move to quickly or too slowly. I also liked the organic development of romantic relationships in this story. I also enjoyed the sci Fi elements in this book and the fact they didn't seem to out of place. I loved the descriptions of emotions in this book, as it helped make it easier to understand what Caleb was feeling but also made a lot of sense to me in general. I didn't love the ending of this book. I felt it moved way to quickly and there was a major conflict that felt fairly unresolved.

The main thing I loved about this book was the characters. They were very realistic and the problems they weren't dealing with were al dealt with realistically. The way the author dealt with mental illness in this book was done beautifully in my opinion, specifically the depression aspect Both of our main characters were just cute little cinnamon rolls and I really appreciated it

Overall, this was a really cute book with some really cute characters.

This story follows the lives of Caleb Michaels, a high school football player, and Adam, a smart student who struggles with depression. Caleb has unique abilities that makes going to high school a nightmare. He can feel what others are feeling around him. It isn't until he connects with Adam that he finds a calm in the emotional storm. Overall this is a great read giving a window in to the complicated emotions of teenagers.

Teenage football player Caleb has trouble controlling his feelings but, to be fair, he’s not only contending with his own stuff but, as an empath, he’s also dealing with everyone else’s swirling emotions too. Somehow, though, the rush of emotion calms a little when he’s around fellow student Adam.

For Caleb, being an empath isn’t just being super perceptive, it’s a power that classifies him as an Atypical, a person with a weird brain thing that makes him an object of interest to certain organizations. But first and foremost, he’s a teenager, which is rough enough without having to deal with all this new information.

Adam’s got his own stuff going on; he’s got depression, which is, again, something he’s got to add to the “normal” problems that come with just being a teenager. The way Shippen describes being sunk into depression really resonated with me; she uses some great analogies and acknowledges that it comes out of nowhere and doesn’t have a simple cure.

The book charts the start of Caleb and Adam’s friendship-and-more, and it’s really interesting to watch it unfold as they both try to hold back these really, really big things about themselves. I found that very true, because who wants to unload all their baggage when you’re just getting to know someone?

Based on the podcast The Bright Sessions, we follow the story with a dual narrative that flips between Caleb’s and Adam’s points of view. I liked seeing both of the character’s grow into their relationship, even as they were growing more introspective. I mean, adolescence is a time when you’re figuring a lot of stuff out, and Shippen doesn’t just gloss over the tough things.

There’s a very ... comforting? level of acceptance in this book. At first I was critical—why aren’t either of the characters experiencing more resistance or conflict—but honestly, it’s just nice to read something that shows people being decent to each other. Caleb and Adam have enough going on without adding a bunch of judgment-induced angst.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It was a fast read, engaging, and it makes me want to learn more about this world.

*4.5 Stars

"Adam's emotions clear out everything; they quiet the infinite noise of the world and let me find the yellow parts of me that hurt".


As a big fan of the podcast "The Bright Sessions" I was very excited to read "The Infinite Noise", and without a doubt it fulfilled all my expectations and even exceeded them.

The story is based on the existence of people with extraordinary powers called "Atypicals", and Caleb Michaels, our protagonist, is one of them. He is an empath and can feel the emotions of the people around him, which makes it a little difficult to control his own emotions and distinguish them from others.

Throughout the book we see how after fighting with a classmate from his school, he attends therapy with Dr. Bright and begins to understand what this skill consists of, at the same time as he begins to control this power in adolescence. At the same time, the plot develops its relationship with Adam Hayes, a boy of his class who has depression and whose emotions seem to calm Caleb in some way.

The Infinite Noise is a book that I enjoyed and loved in every way. I already knew the story because I listened to the podcast, but I think the author did a magnificent job of developing the story of Caleb and Adam in this novel, since the podcast focuses mostly on Dr. Bright's perspective. For the same reason, it was amazing to read the points of view of these two teenagers and their thoughts. Both have one of the most beautiful relationships I've read and I especially adore it because it feels very real and in no case rushed.

I must emphasize that this book touches on very relevant issues such as depression and self-harm, but I think the author develops these issues very well and carefully.

I really recommend this book, I love the universe of The Bright Sessions and I hope that "The Infinite Noise" has a sequel, because it only introduced the different powers and characters that we know in the podcast.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ebook to review!
All opinions expressed are my own.

Review was also posted on Goodreads.

(Review will go live on TheFantasyInn.com closer to the release date, per publisher instructions on Netgalley)

For those of you not familiar with The Bright Sessions, it’s one of the most highly regarded audio dramas in recent years and centers around the therapy sessions for people struggling to adapt to their superpowers. Lauren Shippen never fails to put the human in superhuman, writing beautifully complex and realistic characters just trying to connect with the people around them.

As a huge fan of the podcast, I was beyond thrilled to hear that the series was being adapted into a trilogy of books. Imagine if Robin Hobb, Maggie Stiefvater, or Becky Chambers announced their works were being adapted for film, and you have an idea of how exciting this is for fans of The Bright Sessions (and also an idea of Shippen’s writing style).

Anyway, enough rambling.

Caleb Michaels is a star on his high school football team and generally liked by his peers. His life would be pretty great if he didn’t have to feel the emotions of everyone around him. As an empath in a school of teenagers, Caleb’s life is far from typical and further from easy.

Dr. Bright—Caleb’s therapist and namesake for the original podcast—helps Caleb to explore his abilities and encourages him to befriend Adam, another student whose emotions seem to keep pulling Caleb in.

"I know him. All empath stuff aside, I know who Adam is. And that makes me feel more like a superhero than anything."

This is not a story you read for the plot. While the timeline overlaps with the first two seasons of The Bright Sessions and certain key events take place in each, the heart of this story is Caleb and Adam’s relationship. On paper, the two boys should have nothing in common. Adam’s a brilliant loner who loves Shakespeare and struggles with severe depression. Caleb’s a popular athlete with a loving family and an inconvenient superpower. None of these differences are easy to overcome. And, as the boys come to learn, some differences are best embraced.

I’m probably not the only reader who suffers from an unfair bias against the Young Adult label. Whenever I do manage to pick one up I’m often pleasantly surprised. This time I was blown away.

There are no “if only they talked to each other” moments that drag on for half a novel. Characters communicate, muck things up, then try again. There’s no love triangle, just human beings wanting to connect and being pretty damn mature about it for teenagers. If anything, the YA medium allowed Shippen to express her remarkable understanding of humanity more clearly than I’d have thought possible.

"He didn’t make things better, necessarily—he didn’t chase away the clouds when they loomed heavy and dark over me—but he did make it easier to ignore the impending storm. Caleb makes me feel clever. He makes me feel interesting."

I wish I’d had this book to read when I was in high school. It’s an encouraging reminder that people are rarely as straightforward as they seem from the outside, and an open invitation to look beyond the black and white stereotypes to which we can be tempted to reduce the world around us.

I received a free ARC of this book from Tor Teen in exchange for a fair and honest review. The Infinite Noise by Lauren Shippen releases September 24, 2019.

*I received and ARC from NetGalley for an honest review*
To start, I will say I have listened to the podcast, The Bright Sessions, that first introduce Caleb and Adam. I will also say that you do not (should not, really, if you haven't already listened) have to listen to read this book. The book follows a lot of the same plot, filling in by telling the first-person point of view, instead of merely recordings of Caleb's therapy sessions. You learn a lot more from the book (at least about Caleb and Adam and their relationship, not about the world Lauren Shippen has built) than from the podcast.

I really liked Caleb and Adam, although I already had a soft spot for them. I think Lauren Shippen does a good job laying out the characters, their motivations, their emotions. At times, it veers into cliche description, especially of emotion, but it is a book for teenagers, so I let it go.

My biggest complaint is that it spent a lot of time building everything up, just to let it drop. I know this is the first book in the series, but I am not sure if the other books follow Caleb and Adam or not. I guess we'll wait and see. There was so much introduced that it feels like the story must be continued. For example, Damien, Chloe, Frank, the AM, Adam's parents.... it all felt a little disconnected without the bigger story from the Bright Sessions. Perhaps this isn't true and I am projecting since I KNOW the story, but oh well.

I would recommend this book if you like science fiction, teen romance, and gay stuff.

This was such a beautiful book about two soft boys with a lot messy feelings falling in love, but with a superpower twist. LOVE IT. Always here for queer people with superpowers. I wholly adore Adam and Caleb with all my heart.

The Infinite Noise is a book about Caleb and Adam. Caleb has been a huge blob of teen angst ever since he started feeling the emotions of those around him. After getting into a fight at school, he starts seeing a therapist, Dr. Bright. She tells him he's an Atypical. Someone with special abilities. She suggests trying to befriend the one person that seems to calm the chaos inside: Adam. Adam is very good at hiding how sad and lonely he really is, working hard to get good grades to keep his parents happy. But Caleb sees right through him and the two start a tentative friendship that soon grows into something a lot more.

These two boys are both so soft and they deserve warm blankets and hugs and cake. I just wanted to protect both of them, okay? I loved the supernatural twist to the story and how it explored empathy to a somewhat extreme degree. Caring about others, allowing their emotions in, is so overwhelming and I love how that was done in this book. But it also showed how two people can lift each other up, share the burden. And Adam and Caleb did that for each other and it was so sweet and beautiful.

I do think maybe it could have explored Adam's mental health more? Because there was so much left unsaid or just skipped over, it felt like. But what's there is still such good rep, so I can't really complain?? I just want more okay?

All in all, this is a beautiful book that totally stole my heart. It's soft, but with sharp edges that stab you in the feels occasionally. Rude.

Caleb is an abnormal; an empath that feels the emotions of everyone around him as though they were his own. Overwhelmed and struggling to get by in high school--a sea of overly-emotional teenagers--he finds some relief when he meets Adam. Adam's emotions are huge and nebulous, but, somehow, they seem to fit together seamlessly with Caleb's. Dr. Bright, Caleb's therapist (and therapist to other abnormals), encourages him to explore a friendship with Adam. But as they grow closer, they discover a connection that goes beyond friendship.

I had never heard of the author's podcast--The Bright Sessions--before reading The Infinite Noise, but I'm a sucker for stories about queer high schoolers (especially those with fantasy or sci-fi elements), so I was ecstatic to get a review copy of this book. Unfortunately, I found that the writing was a bit off in places. At times, the dialogue was a bit cliche, and at times, the story was a bit slow, and if I hadn't been predisposed to this particular genre, I'm not sure I would have finished it. I did end up enjoying the story, it just wasn't exceptional and unputdownable like Rainbow Rowell's Carry On or We Contain Multitudes by Sarah Henstra (which was released earlier this year). I can see this story really appealing to a certain subset of teens, and it will be a definite purchase for my collection when it releases later this year.