Neon Darkness, A: A Bright Sessions Novel (The Bright Sessions)

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That brings her eyes up as she laughs heartily, the sound like a beautiful bell that clashes with the tinny sound of Fergie coming through the bar speakers. Joan is Damien's therapist, by his insistence. She is the only character who can (partially) resist Damien's influence of her own free will, rather than due to an atypical ability or a scientific intervention. In season 2, the two characters appear to have a close (if somewhat antagonistic) relationship. Damien stalks Joan and compels her to tell him secrets about herself and her other patients, resisting her attempts to provide proper therapy. Damien repeatedly teases Joan about being her closest companion, all while ignoring the fact that the reverse also seems to be true. He grows jealous of Agent Green and becomes angry when Joan is forced to tell the AM about Damien. However, he agrees to help Joan rescue Mark on the condition she finds someone like Damien. The two even spend a significant amount of time strengthening Damien's control. What can I get ya?” I hear as I slink onto a bar stool at the long and empty wood bar. I swivel around to see a woman a few years older than me behind the bar, moving toward me. She’s stunning— tall, tan, and slender, her cheekbones lifted with a warm smile, her whole face glowing. But as she approaches me, her smile sinks a bit. Like the bouncer, she squints. Okay, then why not?” I press. “Alcohol is great.” I smile wide at her but her giggles stop and her shoulders square off defensively.

Encouraged, I say: “You wanna know how old I really am?” She leans her elbows onto the bar, mirroring my posture. “Sure.” She wiggles her eyebrows like she’s indulging me. “ Eighteen,” I whisper, and her eyes widen. There’s the sound of Indah slipping on her shoes and the door opening and closing and then I’m alone in the apartment. I don’t know where the laundry room is or how long it will take her, so I tiptoe over to the door and look through the peephole. The hallway is empty. I read The Infinite Noise before I discovered the Bright Sessions podcast, and right out the gate, Damien was my favorite. Charlie Ian's drawling sneer had me in four words. I had to fight not to buy this book right away. To anyone like me, coming in already hooked, be aware that this is a prequel. The Damien of the Bright Sessions is ten years away. Instead, we are introduced to Robert, an eighteen-year-old boy who has spent most of his life using a gift for persuasion to get what he wants. But getting what you want all the time, by force, has an undeniable cost...I’d be fine with whatever for tonight,” I say, cutting my losses, “but, you know, a suite would be preferable for a month obviously. Don’t want to be cooped up for that whole time.” Night photographers seek to capture the essence of our world at a time when the majority of people don’t see it. Don’t worry about it, sweetheart,” I croon, liking the way the endearments flow off my vodka-soaked tongue. “Just pour me another drink and forget I said anything.”

I see.” He stays neutral, typing on the computer in front of him. “We don’t have many suites available at the moment . . .”This country is sprawling and full of detours. The “Best Specific Local Food Item” here and the “World’s Largest Mundane Object” there. Usually the best places aren’t on any map. If you hurtle toward your destination on the most direct route you can find, you miss the nooks and crannies, the strange offshoots and odd corners of the country. The warm, welcoming towns. The wonders of nature. The breathtaking vistas. Thank you to MacMillan Audio for an ALC of this in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The characters that Shippen introduces us to are Indah, a bartender with an interesting sense; Neon, who is very electric; Marley, that can see into the past; and Blaze, the kidnapped friend that makes fire. The way they are introduced and the few things we learn, you cannot help but want to know more about them. But things will be different in L.A. He meets a group of strange friends who could help him. Friends who can do things like produce flames without flint, conduct electricity with their hands, and see visions of the past. They call themselves Unusuals and finally, finally, Robert belongs.

The clerk leaves me with a, “Let me know if you need anything else, sir,” and I start to explore the room. “Villa.” It really is more than a room. It’s several rooms, with a fireplace and a piano and everything. This will do very nicely indeed. I haven’t gotten that good at spinning stays more than a month, but maybe this is the perfect time to practice. While reading A Neon Darkness, I was met with so many uncomfortable moments. It’s hard not to empathize with his friends in the wake of his intriguing, but terrifying power. There’s a real sense of sadness and empathy for Robert as well. How he’s scared to let people in, because they can not only challenge us, but also reject us. It’s a universal fear we all have. We do not all have Robert’s power though and A Neon Darkness becomes a story about how he navigates these fears.The power of night bestows many types of photography with hints of mischief, magic, and possibility… Pattern and colour are a staple of Ekaterina Mishchenkova’s work. Her architectural photos, portraits and night photos are bursting with colour. Chloe is initially terrified of Damien. She panics and says his mind is "cold and hard and sharp" and that there is something "really wrong" with him. She tries to persuade Dr. Bright that he is too dangerous to treat. Damien seems to prove Chloe right when he shifts his stalking from Joan to Chloe, fixating on her ability to resist him fully. However, Damien's attentions soon shift to Mark, and Chloe becomes less fearful. I feel it is an allusion to Plato's "Allegory of the Cave." While the ideas of commercialism (the people bow and pray to a neon god they made, the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls, etc) run throughout the poem, it also has to do with a frustration the narrator feels with humans in general. They are content to "hear without listening," not willing or interested in focusing on anyone or anything too intently. They are not willing to go beyond the superficial, but merely to accept the world around them, as no one "dares disturb the sounds of silence."

The Infinite Noise is a marvelous book about love, mental health, and connection. Lauren Shippen writes with a clean and honest warmth that is deeply refreshing, and her sharp representation of depression and anxiety rings true. Once I started reading The Infinite Noise, I couldn't stop; now that I've read it, my life has become a matter of waiting to get my hands on whatever Shippen creates next.” —Sarah Gailey, Hugo Award winning author of Magic for LiarsA Neon Darkness could, in fact, have been a home run, but for one of its villains, Isiah, who is present here only as a plot device, shoehorned in here and there to move the plot in a desired direction. It’s clunky, sometimes almost preposterous, how this (admittedly frightening) mystery man appears, twirls his mustache, vanishes, and then, in the end, serves his real purpose - as the final line that must not be crossed. In such a carefully written, thoughtful work, Isiah is an real oddity, both in how shallow and predictable he’s presented to us, and in the square-peg ways he’s deployed. The Bright Sessions] combines shades of The X-Files and the HBO psychotherapy drama In Treatment, plus the youthful characters of a WB drama like Roswell or Smallville, into one compulsively listenable tale.... A testament to the simple power of good storytelling.” — Vox Once she found out I was new in town, the bartender, Indah, asked me where I was from and I decided to give her my life story. Well, my highly edited life story. My life story for the past two years. I’ve had several drinks at this point—though not all flaming, thank god—and am feeling very amicable. She seems to be feeling amicable too, pouring me drink after drink, despite the fact that I don’t think I want anything except her attention. While trying to kidnap Adam, Damien was beaten severely by Caleb. After spending several weeks in a coma, Damien woke to discover his ability no longer worked. Damien can still feel thinking minds in the vicinity, but he can no longer influence them. Chloe also still cannot read his mind.