Massive thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the ARC of The Brightness Between Us by Eliot Schrefer. Because I had this book to start off my summer vacation reading, I was able to take my time, re-read the The Darkness Outside Us, and savor the brilliance of both books and how they tie together. If we lived in safer times for English teachers selecting titles for public schools, these books would be required reading in my classes for their place in the new genre of climate change fiction, its literary allusions ( If you have students who don't get what Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" is doing, have them read this series), and its messages of hope and love. I can't wait to recommend the sequel to all the former students I've texted about the first one. I read somewhere that the author held off on a second book until he was sure he had a plan to equal the beauty of the first novel. The sequel manages to have the same strengths without simply retelling the first story.

The sequel begins 17 years after the first book with the first person limited narrative perspective of Owl, the daughter of the Kodiak and Ambrose clones who landed on Sagittarion Bb and renamed the planet Minerva, after Ambrose's sister. Owl is a genetic replica of Minerva and is 15 as the story opens. She's a handful, a sharp contrast to her soon-to-be 16 year-old-brother Yarrow, who is sweet and trustworthy and kind. We learn that the Kodiak and Ambrose's love has continued to hold their little family together, despite the sorrows of losing at least 3 children and other hardships of being the first settlers of a new planet. Owl watches her dads holding hands and wonders if they'd have given each other a second look on Earth. This is not a throwaway thought after all. As Owl and her family learn, their continued survival and that of the human race very much depends on how the originals of Kodiak and Ambrose interacted with each other and the decisions they made thousands of years ago.

All we really saw of the boys who were cloned in the first book were from the original memories each clone woke with and Ambrose #1 on a recorded message, looking and sounding kind of like a typical teen douchebag. Kodiak didn't even want to listen to his original's recording. The book doesn't release until October, so I'm trying to be very careful of spoilers, But once again, Schrefer provides a masterclass in characterization, plotting, narrative shifts, and suspenseful revelations. Minor details from the first novel become major plot points of the sequel. There's a meme going around about Book Tok-ers who say, "This book absolutely destroyed me! It ruined me! It's my favorite book!" It's a meme for a reason. This book like its predecessor, will destroy you, and you will love it.

I’m practically speechless after finishing this book, but I’ll try my best (without spoilers) to share what I loved about this book.

This is a follow up to The Darkness Outside Us, and the books must be read in order.

One of the things I love about this book is the multiple POV that the reader gets to experience. It really helps bring this story together. The book is mostly set two years after the end of the first book, but we do get to pop back to the original timeline at the beginning of the first book. (If you’ve read the first book - this will make sense).

This book effortlessly gives the reader answers to their what ifs, and really cements how much Kodiak and Ambrose were fated.

I could not put this book down, I highly recommend both this and The Darkness Outside Us.

This book was amazing and I devoured this book in just a few sittings! I loved the character development and how the story progressed.

Eliot Schrefer has done it again. If you're looking for a young adult sci-fi novel that will probably make you cry, start with the first in this series ("The Darkness Outside Us") and then move on to "The Brightness Between Us." The book follows Ambrose and Kodiak, now on the planet Minerva and their two teenage children. 15 year old Owl wants to explore the planet more, but her parents want her to be safe. Yarrow, newly turned 16 is acting strangely. What is going on? Flashbacks to before Ambrose and Kodiak's mission left Earth help us see what exactly happened behind the scenes in the first book. A recommended purchase for YA collections where dystopian and science fiction are popular, as well as queer fiction.

How easily I pushed that five star button …

‘Intimacy is the only shield against insanity.
Ambrose Cusk’

I often have difficulties getting into a highly anticipated read. My eyes want to roam over the pages in just a few seconds to get to the next page, scared they won’t deliver what I’m hoping for. At the same time, I don’t want to read further because I’m too afraid the story will be over too soon. Starting a highly anticipated book can be a challenge.

So, I was a mess while reading Owl’s POV in part 1. I only calmed down when I met Ambrose in part 2. Oh, sweet Ambrose. So lost and constantly in search of intimacy. And then suddenly, I was with Yarrow, and my heart broke. Kodiak mended it a little, but then I got back to Owl, and my fragile heart fell into a million pieces again.

Somewhere along the road, a thought entered my mind. I didn’t think anything when I read the blurb—or the author’s note. But, burrowing myself more and more in this book, my comparison to Cloud Cuckoo Land in my review of The Darkness Outside Us sparked up in my head. People separated by time and space. And then it clicked. IT CLICKED. Eliot, did my review ignite a spark in your brain to write this sequel??? Because … because … Owl and the guns firing at …and even Cuckoo in the sky. Are those Easter Eggs? Or maybe this is me trying to prove my own theory.

Back to the story because it is again a brilliant masterpiece. Don’t expect as many plot twists as the prequel has. Instead, this book leans far more on the first quote in this review (from The Darkness Outside Us):
‘Intimacy is the only shield against insanity.’

The Brightness Between Us made me laugh, made me cry, and made me laugh-cry. It’s about humanity in all its forms. About surviving as human beings in a world that’s decaying. About surviving in a new world with only a few people around. But most of all this story is about loneliness, (found) family, grief, and the human connections we seek, to live on. So, even though this is a Sci-Fi book, it’s deeply human.

Now I need that movie ASAP. Or a third book. Or preferably both.

A big thank you to netgalley.com and the publisher for a prepub of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Ambrose and Kodiak are on the new planet are raising the two surviving kids they were able to make before giving up, as losing so many was too hard. The livestock didn’t work out well either. Their son Yarrow and their daughter Owl are both well and both teenagers. But they do all face the possibility that an asteroid will hit the planet soon. They all start to prepare for it, Then when Yarrow has his birthday, officially getting out of adolescence, something in his brain clicks and he is no longer fully himself.

Meanwhile many years in the past back on Earth, the original Ambrose and Kodiak discover they have been deceived. And war breaks out.

I love these characters. My favorite thing is the message that Ambrose has imprinted on his chest in his act of rebellion. I love Ambrose and Kodiak and it was great to see the originals and how they interacted on Earth. I have loved them since reading book one so this was just a wonderful bonus reading this. The only reason I do not have this book at 5 stars is because some things are not in line with who the characters are. One example: I can’t believe that two trained space exploration astronauts would not explore the planet they land on before having kids. There were other things, but they don’t take away from the overall story.

It’s a great sequel that brings back the dark beauty that was in the first book and lets the reader know what they missed from the first book. Definitely worth the read!