intriguing and definitely cool, though some parts in terms of characters i didn't really buy in this work. still, pretty good

Dark Parts of The Universe is a great YA mystery, with tangible characters that help build to the climax. The story is immersive and really brings back the feeling of been a teen in a small southern town. A town that’s fighting it’s way from changing with the times. The hangout spots, the speech, and the character relationships where all incredibly well thought out. And the story line was impeccably researched. You quickly see the idealistic facade of a beautiful southern small town crack and break in the characters mind. It has a beautiful and intricate mystery with many twists and turns that kept me thinking well after putting the book down. I kind of wished the ending had more details, the plot found its end which is great. But, I would have loved the same intricacies to have been carried over to the ending to close out a few of my favorite characters. It went from climax to tie off and I’ve never been a huge fan of that, but that’s just personal preference I suppose.

Samuel Miller's Dark Parts of the Universe is a hauntingly imaginative exploration of identity and existential dread set against a cosmic backdrop. The novel's intricate world-building and philosophical depth challenge readers while delivering a gripping, atmospheric story. Miller's skillful prose and thought-provoking themes make it a standout in science fiction literature.

This was a really intriguing premise that... just didn't quite live up to its promise. I found myself skimming through most of the rambling sub-sub-sub plots that didn't really contribute to the arc of the story. I almost gave up reading several times because of the lack of suspense that kept coming up--not what I'm used to in a mystery, and I think the genre-bending aspects of this book really didn't do it any favors.

Biggest strength: The character growth for the MMC (also, I do love that there's an emotionally and socially mature young man as the narrator and main character!)

I will say that my high school students will LOVE this because of the plot twists, themes, and the technology sub-plot. This one wasn't for me, but it definitely will be for some of the teenagers I know!

This is a story about Willie and his friends who become invested in a online game that leads to more than than they ever bargained for in this small town in Missouri. Small town life in Calico Springs and neighboring Lawton exemplify where segregation is still prevalent and trying to change that can get you killed but so could playing an online game. This was a quick read and the author's note is interesting. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I think I was at least halfway through this book before it was clear to me whether or not something supernatural was going on. I was guessing about reality and what was going on through the lion's share of it. I wasn't always sure that I liked it, but I was constantly guessing, and that was enough to keep me reading. It helps that the characters are strong. Most characters we meet are complex characters with motivations that we don't fully understand. The ultimate resolution of the plot was not what I expected but made sense in the context of the plot.

In the book The Dark Parts Of The Universe by Sam Miller we meet Willie in Bones Eckels, two white boys who live in calico Springs across the river from Layman Missouri which is all black. In the book bones is a top-tier baseball pitcher and even has a scholarship to play in college it’s his brother Willy who tells him about a new app called manifest destiny and how you can access the app anything and it helps you get what you want. It’s on one of Willys manifest missions that he goes to the local basin falls into a grave sees a circle of what looks like a cult memorabilia and sees a barn. Something big brother Bones doesn’t believe but when he convinces his friends to go back to look for the barn in the graves they find the body of his friends stepdad Wallace a resident of Layman. This is what starts willies investigation that will change everything he’s known to be safe in his life. At five years old he lost an eye and died for five minutes and since then he has always been protected but they’ll be no one to protect him from the truth that changes everything. They say with time everything changes and that includes hatred and all its forms this book was so good it even had real life newspaper articles and what can I say if you love a great mystery the new definitely love this book a coming-of-age story about a boy who won covers racism and murder. He even learns the real reason why they don’t want the two towns becoming one and it doesn’t get any uglier. When I read a great book there’s so much I want to put in my review but don’t want to ruin the story for anyone I truly love this book I thought the author did a great job respectfully relating racist situation in what more can I say it is a great book and one any mystery fan would love. Please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Dark Parts of the Universe is not my usual kind of read. But every once in awhile a thriller/mystery will catch my attention. This was one of those books.

If you enjoyed Dark Parts of the Universe here a few more YA recs with the same vibes.

1. Panic by Lauren Oliver
2. Need by Joelle Charbonneau
3. Warcross by Marie Lu

When Willie starts playing the game Manifest Atlas, which promises to lead the player to any intention they set, it actually leads him and his friends on an adventure involving bodies, murder, fire, floods and even the devil. This is a unique story exploring racism in small towns. Willie is an interesting and multidimensional protagonist, and the other characters are quite interesting as well, though some don't have as much depth. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting when I started, but it was an enjoyable and satisfying read.

Dark Parts of the Universe starts off promising but then gets a little slow. I kept losing interest in the story because I have felt like I have read this all before. I was hoping for a YA Rabbits and it’s not quite what I got. There were some great messages for the target audience about acceptance, history, racism, accountability, and many other things. Unfortunately, the language would keep me from using this with students.

This is good and I can definitely see the appeal, but it’s not something I personally enjoyed. That said, I can imagine this being quite popular with YA readers.

This is a teen/YA dark mystery thriller that has a slow start but picks up around 30%. It's when the teens act as a group and follow an app/game after making a wish to see something bloody and find a dead body. When you reach this point many more characters are interacting and the world grows making the entire town and fans of this game interact more.
The book is easy to read because it has plenty of breaks and introduces letters, texts, and extra info that add a lot more information.
When we reach about 60% the book takes a different turn, less supernatural or paranormal.
It becomes less supernatural. The evil is quite real, social, and something we still have trouble irradicating it nowadays.
I thought it was going to be more like Stranger Things vibes. What pulled me to this book was that an app was making the wishes come true and there was no way to explain it. That creepiness and paranormal turned into cruelty and racism.
Because my followers sometimes ask, this book says age 13 up but it has a lot of the use of the f* word and swearing. I would recommend it to upper YA readers. It also will please more male readers for the content and references.
I do like the author's voice and although this is my first contact with his work I am curious to see more.

The character development and dialogue kept me intrigued. I really loved the concept of the book. I do think the ending could have been better. I think with a couple of adjustments, I would love to see this book made into a movie.

The Game is called Manifest Atlas, and the concept is simple: enter an intention and the Game provides a target.

Willa’s life has been defined by two powerful forces: God and the river. When Sarai enters the intention: something bloody, into the Game, Willa and her friends discover a dead body. Sarai’s stepfather’s body. The Game is suddenly personal.

As Willa tries to figure out the Game, Sarai sets out to find out what happened to her stepdad.

The premise of this book sounded very interesting, but unfortunately that did not translate to an captivating story. I was lost while reading this book, I felt that there wasn’t a lot of plot development. The pacing was also very slow, and it took a long time for the story to unfold. The main characters were rather unlikeable, and I never felt connected to them. I also felt that the side characters were one dimensional and lackluster. I did enjoy the small-town setting and felt that it was well described. The small-town setting added to the tension of the plot. I wasn’t a huge fan of how this one ended either and it just felt unrealistic.

This book is on the upper end of the YA spectrum and deals with some mature topics not to be taken on by younger readers.

This is one of those books that I just didn’t love, but I didn’t hate. I would recommend it for certain readers but not all. I think overall that I wanted more out of this book than I got and was just disappointed.

I’m not quite sure what it is about this book that I simply could not fully invest myself in. The characters and the setting and the plot all just could not hold me in it fully. I wanted to like it and be fully invested but I simply could not.

Dark Parts of The Universe is a great YA mystery, with tangible characters that help build to the climax. The story is immersive and really brings back the feeling of been a teen in a small southern town. A town that’s fighting it’s way from changing with the times. The hangout spots, the speech, and the character relationships where all incredibly well thought out. And the story line was impeccably researched. You quickly see the idealistic facade of a beautiful southern small town crack and break in the characters mind. It has a beautiful and intricate mystery with many twists and turns that kept me thinking well after putting the book down. I kind of wished the ending had more details, the plot found its end which is great. But, I would have loved the same intricacies to have been carried over to the ending to close out a few of my favorite characters. It went from climax to tie off and I’ve never been a huge fan of that, but that’s just personal preference I suppose.

I really wanted to like this book. The premise sounded interesting and the set-up was complex. However, I couldn’t latch on to any of the characters. There wasn’t enough development of the plot related to the app. Or, it just took too long for the situation to unfold. The ancillary characters seemed surface level and not very important. The novel asks some important questions about the value of friendships and family. The youth characters experience real dilemmas about staying home or going off to college. The rural small-town feel was well described and made the tension more real. But as we learned more about the murder and the role of the app, it just didn’t work.

I feel torn. I went into this YA novel expecting it to be fully sci fi, and loved its intersection with real world historical (and current) racial segregation done in the name of "preserving community." Also really enjoyed the complicated family dynamics between Willie, his brother, mom and dad.

For me, the premise and execution of the phone app game was fascinating and spooky, and what distinguishes this novel from similar fair. And while there are some final hints at something unexplainable / mystical that Willie may have tapped into, I feel mildly disappointed that the author chose to fully back away from any kind of supernatural narrative, in favor of a real (albeit semi-preposterous) explanation for what happens.

When I began this book I was quickly drawn into the family dynamics, friendships, and small town intrigue. However, as the story progressed, I felt it got convoluted. So instead of intriguing me, I just started skipping through it to get to a place where the story moved forward. I finally found it at the end and then it just seemed weirdly set up to try to make sense of everything.
Then I read the authors note and things made more sense of what the author was trying to convey. I wish the story had been more focused on sundown towns instead of the app and red herrings.
I feel like the book had more potential and that it didn't do justice to something that needs to be talked about.

I have been looking forward to this book for a long time (as in, back when the title was still Manifest Atlas), and I was so excited to be able to have the opportunity to read and review it. The anticipation was well deserved. I loved the book. The premise of an app supposedly leading you to what you request is so intriguing and the way it plays out in the book is incredible. I was constantly second guessing what was actually going on, much like the characters in the book. The twists that happen were engaging, keeping me on the edge of my seat. I think the narrator’s voice is well developed, and having the story all told in first person POV is what keeps the mystery, well, mysterious. We only know what Willie knows, and discovering the truth alongside him is great. I also love the social justice themes that were weaved in. Miller has always been apt with commentary on these sorts of topics, and it translates beautifully in literature.