I really liked this book! It's the kind that catches you right out of the gate, and I had to stop myself from staying up all night to read it. It's an easy read that grabs ahold of you and won't let go.

The protagonist felt very relatable, and I really enjoyed the theme / exploration of being the outsider, the odd one out even in your own family. I was a bit unsure about the style-choice, but quickly grew into it. The setup of the book was very interesting, and I liked piercing together the mystery of what happened through the journals and posts. The varying styles really kept the story going, and my short-attentioned brain liked that it kept the beats fresh.

However, the different point of view switches was a bit confusing in the beginning, especially with Rose's narration and the Tumblr (excuse me, Mumblr) posts coming off as similar. In a similar vein, the blog posts had a bit 'this is how I think teenagers write' vibe, which you sorta had to get used to. I also wish Rose's family could have been a bit more sympathetic characters - but that's a choice made, and I won't argue with it.

All in all, I enjoyed this book and I'll probably check out the rest of the series. It was a really interesting story, and the magical elements were built up very well. It was a delight to read!

Thanks to Macmillan-Tor/Forge & NetGalley for the early copy in exchange for an honest review. Unfortunately, I was unable to finish this and left off at 20% of the way through.

I will admit I didn't do my research and didn't realize this is the third in a series. It didn't really impact my reading that badly, there isn't a ton of callbacks to earlier books that I could see.

I really couldn't get into the writing style at all, it's very dialogue heavy mixed with online forums. I normally like unique stuff like that but it felt a bit, eh, immature, I guess? I know this is YA but other YA books have handled online forums/texting/similar styles better than this book has. This was definitely not for me though, although the main character getting a major crush on a new girl was really sweet, it wasn't enough to keep me going.

Okay, wow wow wow. I don't even know how to explain this book. This was a beautiful and heart wrenching story of being human—of getting lost, making mistakes, trying to make a connection with others, of falling in love, dealing with our problems, and more. I came for some magic, (and there is magic, yes), but I think what made this book so compelling is the way the author gave me a glimpse of the complexity of reality instead. I love that. 🤧

The writing style is just brilliant. I absolutely love how the author isn't afraid to dive deep into the psyche of the characters, and show the readers how unstable/unreliable the characters are, how lonely they are, what drives them to do things or to cope with the things around them.

In a way, I see Some Faraway Place as a character study that's just so heartfelt and complex and raw. If I shed a few tears reading the last few chapters, well, no one saw it okay 🤧😂 (Also, I adored the queer rep + fat rep! And the way I got to meet all the previous characters from the past books, too! I think really missed Caleb and Adam)

This series is so underrated and honestly deserves more love.

I went in with high hopes but ultimately struggled with Some Faraway Place. I read the first book in the Bright Sessions series and loved it, but was under the impression they could all be read as standalones. That isn't really the case because it's clear I'm missing a few things not having read book 2. But beyond that, this felt like a lot of me WANTING to like the story and appreciating certain elements of it, but never feel it gel together in a satisfying way.

Rose is the only member of her family without supernatural abilities. She dreams of becoming a chef and has a new girlfriend she's into. But then things start to get weird when she develops the ability to enter people's dreams.

One of my issues with this book is there are just too many things going on, none of them feeling as well-handled as they should be. There's a romance. There's a fraught brother/sister relationship. There is grief over a family medical issue. There's this new ability portrayed in a way that seems to be a commentary on depression and addiction. But ALSO there's a whole semi-mysterious side plot involving a side character from previous books. It's a lot and it jumps around. Like there are whole sections of the book that are doing nothing with the romance, and then we suddenly get back to it. The pacing is weird and I was left at the end feeling really dissatisfied, wondering what the point of what I just read was. There are good bits and pieces of ideas, but they never really progress much beyond that. Which is unfortunate. I received an advance copy of this book for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Despite having no knowledge of the rest of the series and only having seen a handful of things pertaining to the podcast, I felt like it was very easy to follow along with Rose, and there wasn't too much Picked This Up And Its Definitely Not The First Book Confusion. I thought the relationships in Rose's life were probably the most compelling part of this book. She struggles with being the only one in her family that isn't Atypical. She's just a regular girl, and it can definitely isolate her from her family. Anyone who felt like they were the odd man out with their family can definitely relate to her struggles with this, and I really enjoyed this aspect of the book. Overall it was an enjoyable book, and I would reccommend it to anyone who wants a soft, sapphic meet-cute, cool superhero-like powers, and fun internet asides (that, realistically, might be outdated in a few years) then I would definitely say read this book (and maybe the two before it as well, lol)

Thanks to Lauren Shippen for her work, Netgalley and Macmillan Tor/Forge for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

sooo i didn't realize this book was part of a trilogy and within a little world that lauren shippen created that includes a podcast!!! that's amazing and impressive and, most of all, vast. so i feel like i greatly missed out on all of that by jumping into this conclusion and being so lost.

i loved the premise but this was just not for me; i found myself skimming through most of it. i'm missing some things from the other books of course so that's why i'm lenient with my rating here... i did like some of the characters and definitely wanted more of them. the ending was emotional and the different dynamics between the characters were worthwhile in my opinion. maybe i will end up picking up the other 2 books in the series as well as try out that podcast! overall an enjoyable read!

I loved the premise of this book, I love all things superhero, sci-fi, fantasy but unfortunately this was not it. It was just not for me, the writing style was confusing and some of the points of view just took me out of the story and I found myself skimming through most of it. I know that this book is part of the series but they are all separate stories that connect through these atypical therapists. Maybe I'm missing some things from the other books that would have made me more excited to keep reading. Now, I did finish because I liked some of the characters and well, I'm being greedy and I wanted MORE! I felt like there were a lot of things happening and it got nowhere. There were some times I wanted to hug Rose and sometimes I wanted to slap her, like 5G’s Good God Girl Get a Grip! I'm sorry but I barely finished it because I was hopeful that at least the ending would be worth it. I'm going to end on a good note and say that the final breakthrough for Rose was a bit emotional and the moments she had with her dad were the most true to her and I found that very stirring and tender.

I went into this book thinking it was a standalone and was able to understand the world building and the storyline without having read any of the other books so, I personally think that you would be able to read this as a stand-alone. The reason why I’m giving it 4 stars is because I found it slow at some points but other than that I loved it. If you are looking for a sapphic, superpower filled fantasy book with a main character that’s very shy and awkward when it comes to love this book is for you. I loved the plot twists, suspense and how it kept me on my toes all the way to the end. Overall I really enjoyed this book.

2.75 Stars. I’m sorry to say that this book was not for me. However -and there is a big however- I thought this book could be read as a standalone and now I know I was mistaken. Not only is this the third book of a series, but there is also a podcast involved. This seems to be a whole little world that Shippen created with this maybe being the farewell book. Had I known this, I never would have started reading here as I’m very careful about reading order. While I could see someone new, like me, liking this, I don’t think anyone completely new would understand or could even receive all that this book has to give. Therefore, if you are reading this whole series, ignore my review and read reviews from others who also have. I think my review should only really be of interest for people thinking of jumping into the series with this book.

I loved the premise and truly thought this book would be right up my alley. I love superhero books and while this is not that, there are people walking around with every imaginable superhero power you could think of. With the premise being: what would it be like to be a young woman in a family where everyone has super powers but you? That is until you have an accident and realize maybe you are not so different after all.

I thought this would be a lot of fun, but instead I mostly felt like I was reading this book just to be done with it. It is not that big of a book, but it felt twice as long as it should have and it took me triple the time to finish it than normal. I thought this was going to be YA, but it was actually NA with the mains ranging from 19-29. I don’t always do well with NA, and I could not help but feel like the characters acted younger than they were. I think if Rose, who is one of the main, main characters, would have been 16, and her brother maybe 17 or 18, I think a lot of character actions would have made a lot more sense to me.

I struggled with the writing style, but that is more a personal preference. We are in the POV of 4 different characters, two main characters and two main secondary characters. Each character speaks to us through a different media. One journals, one writes letters, one types on a sub/reddit and the last types on a blog or AO3? I could not tell for sure and as this was an early ARC, and the spacing and different line edits for the different media were not finished, they weren’t always the easiest to read. This is something that will obviously be fixed in the final edit so that wasn’t my real problem. My problem was that I just don’t care for readings books in letter and journal form. There were also some obvious inconsistencies and head hoping, but again, that will be cleaned up so while they slowed my reading speed down, I know this will be a better experience for readers who get the new book that is released in a couple days.

A lot of people complained about Rose, how annoying and selfish she is, which I get, but I liked her character’s story much better than the others. While it was nice to be in the POV of her girlfriend –on a super rare occasion- and be in the POV of her brother, I don’t think either was needed. This book should have been a two POV book. Rose, a character who is on her journey of self-discovery, and Damien, a character from a previous book, who is back for closure.?.

Damien, is where I had some pretty big issues. I was interested in Rose and what was going on with her, but then at close to the midway point this new main character appears. While we do get some previous small appearances, Damien is not really back until the second half and then the story changes to all about him and his old group. Now here was the big problem, I just did not care. This is why I say reading the previous books are a must because I didn’t have any feelings for Damien or his group. They just took up space in the book that I wanted to spend with Rose and her girlfriend instead.

Rose and her girlfriend is where the book shined for me. I thought their dates and time together was really sweet. I found them to be an easy couple to root for since they were so cute together. Unfortunately, the girlfriend would just disappear for pages and pages, randomly in another state or something like that, and it ruined all the adorable momentum they had built up together. It’s obvious to me that Shippen can really write some sweet romance, she just spent too much time on older characters and didn’t give the new characters enough romance time.

While I enjoyed the little romance that was present, I had another big issue with all the characters arguing with each other. The problem was the arguing was constant and super repetitive. I hope some of it gets cut out for the finale book as I felt like I read the same few arguments ten times over. Rose and her brother’s arguments especially really started to get to me. Rose is annoying and selfish, but she makes mistakes because she has a brand new power. Her brother, who everyone talks about how he was horrible to be around when he was figuring out his own power, is constantly telling Rose she is so horrible for trying to figure out hers. He got his get out of jail free card for a long time, from the whole family, yet everyone has a problem with Rose. While that double standard was annoying, all the arguing in general really did me in and I ended up feeling like almost half the dialogue was people arguing.

I think in the end I’m not even sure what this book was truly about, besides arguing and dreaming. While there was a lot of mini conflict -all the arguing- there was no major conflict to drive the storyline. This is a book about super powers yet there are no real heroes and no real villains. That message is okay for a lot of books but I don’t think it worked for this kind of premise. I needed some action or even fun to keep me turning the pages but nothing ever really happened. This is almost entirely a character driven read with no major plot points. I think this book more turned into a swan song for the old character of Damien, and I think Rose, and especially her girlfriend, kind of got left behind.

TLDR: If you are a fan of this series, I would ignore this review. I have not read the series and I know that fact absolutely lowered my enjoyment of this book. Had I known how connected this book was to this world Shippen created, I would never have read this book out of turn. If you are new to this series I would highly suggest not starting here. A great premise, but this particular book, read out of order, was not for me.

An ARC was generously given to me by Tor/Forge for a review.

In a family of Atyipcals, people with powers, Rose has always been the odd one out. The Atkinsons don’t quite understand Rose’s culinary interests or her isolation. When Rose begins dangerously falling asleep, she learns that her power has manifested at a late age. Rose is a dream diver and can alter dreams. But no power comes without a cost and the dreamworld is not as safe as it appears.

This was my first story in the world of the Atypicals! I really look forward to reading more books in the series (particularly Damien’s book) and listening to The Bright Sessions podcast. I love the idea of people with powers going to therapy. Rose was a very lovable and real protagonist. Some Faraway Place has excellent LGBTQ+ rep, discussion of complicated family dynamics, the importance of therapy, and a family member being diagnosed with Alzheimers. I thought all of these topics were handled extremely well. I especially loved Rose’s meet-cute and relationship with her girlfriend Emily!

The storytelling format is told through Rose’s journal, mysterious letters, and her brother Aaron’s queries to a forum; this was a nice way to get perspectives other than Rose. You don’t need to have read the other books in the series to enjoy this book. I will definitely be going back and catching up on them, because I am very intrigued to learn more about this world! I would recommend Some Faraway Place for anyone looking for a coming-of-age story, a love story, and ultimately a story about people grappling with unimaginable powers. Some Faraway Place releases September 28, 2021. Thank you so much to Lauren Shippen, Tor Teen, and Netgalley for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

For the publisher: My review will be posted on the publication date and I will publish it on Instagram, Goodreads, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble etc

I received an eARC copy of Some Faraway Place in exchange for an honest review.

Lauren Shippen is a storytelling genius. The Bright Sessions has been a favorite podcast of mine for years and I’m so glad she brought this vibrant world to the pages of a book.

I knew this book was going to be great, but dang, I think this is my new favorite of the three (sorry, Damien). I definitely didn’t expect it to make me cry (no spoilers). Some Faraway Place is the perfect conclusion to this podcast. The book was written mostly as journal entries from Rose (the book is mainly in her POV) with a combination of letters from a mysterious someone (it's revealed later in the book) and reddit-like entries from Aaron, Rose’s brother, that help add depth to the overall plot. We met Rose originally towards the end of the podcast and getting to have more insight into her character was a blast. The way Shippen weaves details from the podcast into the book without verbatim giving us episodes is *chef's kiss*.. We learn way more about Rose's totally Atypical family, her interactions with Emily (her girlfriend), her relationship with Damien (I fully support that, by the way), and how she really navigates her dreamdiving (changed from dream walking for the book). Rose is so sure of her place within her Atypical family but all that gets knocked on its head when she finds out that she also has an ability: dreamdiving. Throughout the book we see several characters grappling with who they are and where they fit into their world. It’s a book of discovery and learning that having an ability isn't always what it's cracked up to be.

As someone who has listened, and relistened, to the podcast I absolutely loved this book and would recommend it to fans and non-fans alike. It's a coming-of-age story, a love story, and will leave you on the edge of your seat. You get answers to questions you have along the way like just what happened to Damien and what is the nature of his’ and Rose’s relationship, do things work out for Rose and Emily, and what is the Atkinson family dynamic really like (especially now that a huge wrench was thrown into the mix)?

I was beyond thrilled to find out that we got a lot more Damien in this book. As much as I loved reading about Rose’s story, her family, and her dreamdiving, Damien has been my favorite character from the beginning (despite thinking he was a little creepy at first). Overall, I am so glad this was the story to wrap up the Bright Sessions and give us some closure. Shippen has such a way with words and storytelling and it’s what drew me in all those years ago. I will be a lifelong fan of this series and I’m so glad I was able to read an early copy of this book.

Rep: sapphic (lesbian and pansexual), mlm (unspecified), Jewish, Latinx, mid-size
CW: terminal illness, medical info

This is my first Bright Sessions novel, and it's left me feeling like I just woke up groggy from a long nap. Mostly because I'm not totally sure whether I enjoyed what I read — or what even happened besides a ton of dreaming and repetitive arguing.

I fell in love quick with Shippen's conversational writing style and the superhuman premise: a young woman named Rose is the last in her family to manifest special abilities, making her an Atypical. She's a dreamdiver, which is at first like having narcolepsy, then lucid dreaming, then a powerful addiction where she sleeps away most of the day (or days), violates people's privacy and screws up relationships, and ultimately relishes in the no-consequences, unfettered freedom of the dreamworld over cold hard reality.

Throughout the book, Rose struggles with obsession: both the temptation of invading other people's dreams without consent and a conspiracy surrounding a government organization well-known to Atypicals. The fantasy of it all keeps her from dealing with the struggles of building real, honest relationships with her girlfriend Emily and brother Aaron, who she relates to more in dreams than her waking life. Her power to dreamdive goes from being a burden to an escape to a cheat code for connection as Rose explores her new ability and what its purpose beyond a random genetic mutation.

SOME FARAWAY PLACE is, essentially, a novel of disconnection — how living in a fantasy world isn't a substitute for reality and genuine human connection, whether that fantasy world is dreams or an internet forum or fanfiction. And unfortunately, I ended up feeling disconnected by reading it. I'm not sure Rose as a character is entirely likable the more you get to know her, and maybe that's because I never quite <i>felt</i> the impact of her flight into the unreal or her daily challenges. Her family heaps a lot of blame onto her — and rightly so, she's sleeping her days away — but I reached a point where I felt like it was excessive for the situation. Like they were arguing for arguing's sake, and about the same things, with no real progress happening in between. Like a dream, the story both seemed to last forever and was over in a blink, leaving me with only a vague memory of what transpired.

Maybe I would have been more invested if, for example, Shippen made tangible the things that Rose was missing by sleeping so much — what she lost out on by not being there. While her family laments her absence and shames her over family togetherness and memories they could be making, there are gaps in their lives for the times when Rose is asleep, and I wanted to know what filled them. What was her mom up to? Her dad? Her brother? Because isn't that the tragedy of an addiction — not what it costs you alone, but everyone else?

Thanks to Macmillan-Tor/Forge for the review copy.

I loved this! I listened to the bright sessions and love getting to relearn the story from a new perspective. I love the perspective this book is in, told through journal entries and social media posts. It feels like a good connection to the og podcast told through recordings. And Damien,,,, geez this book really got me to start sympathizing with him. I’m pretty sure this is the last book and I’m sad this story is over but this is a great way to say goodbye.

Rep: sapphic, WLW, POC, side mlm
CW: terminal illness

What if superhuman instead of being a superhero, they're going to therapy? That's the premise of this book.

To be honest, I didn't read the synopsis carefully and thought this was some kind of sci-fi superhero book. I was bored at first and kept waiting for any action to happen until 50% in, I realized this was more like a contemporary book with a magical touch. Then I started to enjoy the book because I change my mindset.

I like that this book is dealing with a family issue. But I had a bit of trouble connecting with the main character, Rose. Too much angst for her character, but understandable. I wish that she wasn't that ignorant and selfish, and wanting to be closer to her family but instead pushing them away at the same time. I honestly like the side characters better. Aaron, her older brother is a little bit interesting. But I like Damien the most.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Teen for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The story was compelling and unique. The world-building is underdeveloped, with a lot of missing details about the secret organization. The interactions between the characters are realistic and relatable. I love the detailed descriptions of each dream the main character dives in.

The story follows Rose Atkinson, a nineteen-year-old aspiring chef who discovers her supernatural ability later than the average atypical. She belongs to a family with unique powers beyond human understanding. Rose is not used to her newly discovered extraordinary gift and has difficulty interacting with her family. Rose met Emily from a rollerblading accident and soon changed Rose's life.

Narrated in multiple perspectives, I find it somehow confusing to identify which character accounts for a particular event or experience. I want to love the whole story but felt like there are a lot of issues unsolved. I love how Rose admitted her weaknesses and how she used her power to heal her relationship with her family. I also love her honesty to save her relationship with Emily.

This story will surely appeal to a younger audience. I'm grateful to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A teen in a family with superpowers develops the ability to visit other people's dreams and glimpses a sinister government threat to others like her.

SOME FARAWAY PLACE features an imaginative sci-fi premise and a queer heroine and romance, the latter of which is desperately needed in many library collections. The story is told through journal entries and Reddit posts, and some of the more cryptic entries--though designed to add suspense--seemed at odds with the informal, snarky tone of the journal entries, and I believe it is that inconsistency that made me struggle to become immersed in the story. That said, the romance element and the themes of a post-high school girl trying to figure out how she fits in her family and community were strong, and this novel may be a good purchase for YA collections that need more queer SFF.

Some Faraway Place is my favorite installment of The Bright Sessions novels – telling a beautiful and emotional story that runs parallel to events in the podcast. I enjoyed the previous novels and this one combined my favorite aspects of both – the direct connection to events in the podcast as seen in The Infinite Noise and the focus of messy and flawed characters trying (and sometimes/usually) failing to do their best because they're human that was seen in A Neon Darkness. The Infinite Noise overall felt more light and fun, A Neon Darkness felt dark and serious and Some Faraway Place has moments of both. It strikes the perfect balance between the feelings I had reading those previous installments making this book the one that made me fully experience the same emotions I felt while listening to The Bright Sessions for the first time.

I loved the format of this story – told across Rose's journal entries, Aaron's forum threads, Emily's blog posts, and Damien's letters – which gave wonderful insight into the other characters even though this is Rose's story. These different perspectives allowed the story to feel similar to Rose's dreamdives giving access to their thoughts and emotions that they may not be sharing with each other.

Similar to the other installments, I don't know if this book will have the same impact for readers who have not listed to the podcast and don't already have an attachment to these characters. In addition, while the three Bright Sessions books standalone from each other, I think having read the others (particularly A Neon Darkness) made me enjoy the story more. This story intertwines with the other books and the podcast beautifully and feels like the perfect closure to the wonderful universe Lauren Shippen has created.

This was a really nice book :)
It did go in some places and I felt bored death but it was enjoyable
The writing felt detached and really different so I couldn't like it as much as I wanted to.
And I liked Rose. She's awesome. Well, sometimes she was annoying.
You should definitely read this book

Huge fan of The Bright Sessions podcast so I was excited to read this one. We follow Rose’s story who can enter other people’s dreams. It was fun to get to know more about her family as they were all atypicals. The dynamic is definitely different. I enjoyed getting to relive this part of the story again, but I ended up giving this 2 stars.

Ultimately my reason is that I’d often get confused in between chapters. There are content that aren’t in Rose’s POV but it didn’t really say which character. I had to initially guess but as we go on with the story it was possible to piece it together. But it did ruin the flow of the story for me as things weren’t completely clear. I’d also get frustrated at Rose a lot. She’s going through so much but if she just communicated with her family better so much of it would be resolved.

Some Faraway Place Review
3/5 rating
Disclaimer: I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor!

I really enjoyed the first half of this book but unfortunately towards the middle I felt it was missing something. The story is told through journal entries, blog posts, letters, and forums which I found really interesting and it made for a very character driven book which I always love. But I do think this writing format contributed to the plot feeling a bit inconsistent at times. That being said I think this book did a great job when it came to diversity. It has a queer jewish main character, poc, and lgbt representation. I also found it incredibly refreshing to read about a lgbt main character and not have the plot center around her sexuality and coming out.