Book Review: Out of the Blackness (1) & Into the Light (2) by Carter Quinn

I read Out of the Blackness by Carter Quinn a while back and then Into the Light, its sequel, and I’ll say that while I felt invested, I wasn’t much of a fan, and I continued to wish that I wasn’t so invested, but couldn’t help it…

A childhood of abuse has left Avery so physically and emotionally scarred he believes he shouldn’t be alive. His only sanctuary has been his relationship with his older foster brother Sam. Avery finally lets Sam convince him to start therapy to help overcome his crippling anxiety, but even that can’t prepare him for the upheaval caused by meeting Noah Yates.

Noah is everything Avery fears. He’s large and physically powerful — and undeniably capable of destroying Avery’s hard-earned progress. Although Noah seems to have a tender streak when it comes to him, Avery is terrified of being victimized again. But no matter how many times he tries to push him away, Noah never goes far.

Noah wants to save Avery, but can he be the catalyst Avery needs to begin the journey out of the blackness?

I was really interested in the premise of the story, and while it was very touching, I, unfortunately, can’t find too many things I liked about it.

What I disliked about it most was the extent to which the author took Avery’s reactions and played up trauma. I definitely appreciate a book that addresses things like PTSD and what trauma can do to one’s psyche, but this was sometimes excessively over the top and borderline offensive to those who do live with PTSD. Out of the Darkness was Avery’s story pre-recovery, and Into the Light was his story after several months of intensive therapy. The somewhat brief time between the two books made it seem as if Avery was a completely different person, and as if he had gone through this radical recovery that has left him healed, instead of a more realistic approach of gradual recovery and healing with some days being harder than others, times when Avery has had to work through his triggers, etc.

There were also a lot of discrepancies throughout the books such as character descriptions, locations, etc. Another thing that irked me was Noah’s excessive use of pet names but to each their own.

I really wanted to like these books since I’m a sucker for angst with a happy ending, and while I was invested in Avery’s & Noah’s relationship, I felt more obligated to follow through with their story since I had already devoted so much time into it… I always feel guilty for not finishing a book.

Trigger Warnings: Physical & emotional abuse, bullying