Lauren Shippen

This was lovely. It was mostly about emotions, so anyone looking for action should go find another book. But the two main characters are likable and engaging and I liked the open discussion of mental problems. Of course, the empath business gives it an extra twist.
I like that there was relatively little discussion about the relationship being gay. Aside from a teenage jerk at school, nobody made an issue out of it. And I liked the description of emotions through Caleb.
Bottom line, this was a sweet story that was not overly complicated, perfect to sink into when you're in that kind of mood.… (mehr)

The Infinite Noise by Lauren Shippen is a contemporary, YA novel about teenagers who can feel what other people feel - empaths.

This book was weird for me. I liked the first quarter but I thought it might pick up? The contemporary feel and lots of descriptions of how people feel was really cool. But then it just kept going and going and going... for the last little bit of the book it picks up, but by then I was zoned out and wasn't as interested.

Lauren Shippen's writing is fantastic though. I loved how she used her words and described things. That pulled me in right away. I just found this book to be a little too boring for my personal tastes. I need lots of action and movement and this book wasn't that. It's slower, which many readers will love!

The real nice part about this book? LGTBQ representation. Honestly, if it wasn't for how slow this book was I'd say it was a massive hit for me! The honest representation, the feelings of being back in high school (realistic, for the most part) and how the characters act and behave... It felt really good! I can see so many readers loving this book! I highly recommend it to those who like slower paced books with lots of description and are seeking some LGBTQ reps.

It's a pure drama with lots of emotions and it is a great book, just not for me!

Two out of five stars.

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.… (mehr)

3.5 Stars

CW: Self harm, depression

I really loved the relationship between Caleb and Adam. I thought the writer captured the blooms of first love so well that I felt warm with the sweetness of it all. The romance is pretty much the main focus of the story. Caleb learning to control his ability through therapy sessions softened that part of the story and it felt less important than the developing relationship. It was an interesting slant on the super power genre and it was a refreshing break to look at the mental health of the enhanced beings rather than reading about them completing Herculean tasks and saving the world. An interesting novel and I look forward to reading the next book.
… (mehr)

Not as compelling as the first book, probably down to Damien being an arrogant asshole and this book is really only about him. While the other characters have quite a bit diversity, that's not what I care about so did little for me when the characters themselves are rather two-dimensional or just unlikeable. It's written in a different style from the first book as well, like we're reading flashbacks going back and forth between character perspectives and it was a bit annoying. Overall, really disappointing after I enjoyed the first book so much.

I'd definitely recommend listening to the podcast before going into this book so you know more about who Damien is in the "present" and then go into this as it's his origin story. In the podcast (as far as I got) he's very much a villain character and this was interesting in that we see before, he was just a kid from a corn field in Nebraska. However, you also see that he displays zero maturity or growth in the years between this and the Bright Sessions which makes me think of him as a really boring villain and I'm usually one to root for the bad guy or underdog.… (mehr)