I really liked it but didn't love it and don't quite want to put it in with all the really awesome books I've been giving 4 stars to lately.
The first ~60% of the book was pretty repetitive. I understand why, conceptually, but it made the book feel really slow because you're seeing both sides of this situation and are just sitting there like "ugh please just communicate" but they're teenagers and they're going through some stuff and you know that's hard for them. But at 60% (ish) it blows the whole thing wide open, giving us a glimpse of the wider world and introducing us to more characters and a larger conflict and more consequences (because the first part of the book doesn't really feel like it has larger consequences).
It makes me think that now that we have that introduction, A Neon Darkness is really going to explore more of the darker aspects, especially since Damien is older and it'll be less cute gay boy drama and more, well, consequences.
The first ~60% of the book was pretty repetitive. I understand why, conceptually, but it made the book feel really slow because you're seeing both sides of this situation and are just sitting there like "ugh please just communicate" but they're teenagers and they're going through some stuff and you know that's hard for them. But at 60% (ish) it blows the whole thing wide open, giving us a glimpse of the wider world and introducing us to more characters and a larger conflict and more consequences (because the first part of the book doesn't really feel like it has larger consequences).
It makes me think that now that we have that introduction, A Neon Darkness is really going to explore more of the darker aspects, especially since Damien is older and it'll be less cute gay boy drama and more, well, consequences.