Lauren Shippen knows how to make characters with supernatural abilities feel more real, tangible and humans and that it’s one of the greatest powers that one can have!

Before I start with my whole review, I guess I should add a few notes about this book:

As it happened with the previous two books (‘The Infinite Noise’ and ‘A Neon Darkness’), ‘Some Faraway Place’ doesn’t require any previous knowledge about this universe or these characters. Rose’s story stands on its own and it can be read as a separate story. So this book could be an interesting entry point for new readers to this vast universe.

At the same time… This book is a great addition for those of us who were already familiar with the previous books and the podcasts! It brings callbacks, cameos and new perspectives to the things we already knew about this world and the previously established characters that we already knew and appreciated it!

Okay… Time for the actual review now…

‘Some Faraway Place’ is a different kind of coming-of-age story, and yet it feels like something real, and tangible…

In this book, we follow Rose Atkinson, a nineteen year old girl who works in a restaurant and the only ‘normal’ person in a family full of Atypicals (people with supernatural abilities)… Or so she thought… When she discovers that she can enter other people’s dreams (and alter them at her own will)… Her life will change forever in many different ways…

Rose is a complex character… She’s not your average YA heroine with an almost perfect life or the required knowledge to survive all the obstacles that are thrown in her way. She’s just a girl who tries her best to find who she really is and what is her place in the ever-changing world that surrounds her.

Most times her decisions aren’t the right ones… She messes up, she chooses the wrong options, but like any of us… She tries to learn from her mistakes and keep moving forward… In that way, Rose Atkinson feels human and real… Someone with the capable of growing and trying to be the best version of herself at that moment!


This is a story about facing uncertainty in the most complicated time of our lives, when you may not have the necessary tools or the right directions…. It’s everything I’ve mentioned before and so much more…

As someone who has listened ‘The Bright Sessions’ podcast, I was very aware that there could be some sort of connection with that original story… And like ‘The Infinite Noise’, ‘Some Faraway Place’ shows us another side of the events we already knew and the character we already appreciated, a different point of view that expands this universe we already knew and make it bigger, more complicated and utterly human.

‘Some Faraway Place’ expands The Bright Sessions’ universe in many ways that I wasn’t expecting. This new light over the world and its characters added a new layer that makes them feel more alive and complex!

I could keep talking about this book for a long, long time… But I think I’m going to finish this review with a few points:

- Lauren Shippen does a pretty great job giving Rose a distinctive voice and making ‘Some Faraway Place’ its own unique thing (different from the two previous books). The main story is narrated by Rose herself, and it’s written like a diary.

- The fact that we can read different points of view (of those close to Rose) every once in a while creates a complete picture of Rose and the world that surrounds her.

- Some messages from this book will stay with me forever and I don’t have enough words to express how much important that feels to me!

- The connections between these characters are one of the strong points on this books. These character are well-written, dimensional and they almost feel alive.

Overall… ‘Some Faraway Place’ is the perfect addition to the Bright Sessions universe. This book expands that world and brings us a different side of some of the characters that we already knew, creating a new story that is complex, flawed and utterly human that shines with a bright light.

I totally recommend it!

Overall its a cute story, I enjoy the podcast so I liked this but I do think that someone who has not listened to the podcast would have a hard time following it.

Incredibly confusing novel, they market them as standalones but unless you've read the others you're bound to be lost the whole way through.

Read the other novels, don't go in blind like I did or the whole story will fall flat and you won't be able to enjoy it

Lauren Shippen's The Bright Sessions audio drama is such a delightful piece of reader's theatre. The dialogue is crisp and moves the story forward. In her third novel, Shippen is moving the story forward and expanding the universe of The Bright Sessions. Each novel is told from the point of view of a different teen who uncovers their supernatural abilities. In this piece, we meet Rose, who had thought she was the only "normal"/non-powered member of her family. Rose's story in summary is engaging and a strong concept, distinct from the previous installments. Yet, the execution is a bit of a disappointment because of slow pacing and a disjointed narrative. Fans of the audio drama will delight in the dialogue and the concept, but it may be hard for new audiences to get hooked in the same way. You really need that pre-existing knowledge of the series and the concept to follow along with the thread of what's happening.

Awww, I've just finished this book and I'm almost crying. I didn't read anything like this before and I'm a bit confused, because it's a bit weird but I loved it. Maybe I just love this kind of stories.
I've went through three different parts of this book. First, I've met Rose and her family with abilities: telekinesis, psychic and mind reader. The first pages are filled with a very normal life of a teenager girl, who's trying to live her life: a perfect family for a too normal girl. It was a nice part, because I understood Rose, I've been like her when I was a teenager too. When I read this part I thought t'ha the book will be a normal YA story. It was cute and cosy.
The second part has some creepy and interesting lines. We get to know more about the abilities and Rose, finally get hers. And here things became more complicated.
But the third part, it was a very cool read, really. The end was perfect in my opinion.
I loved how the author divided the book. There aren't any chapter, it's divided by different point of views. The story is told by Rose, Aaron (her brother), Emily (her girlfriend) and Damien (I loved this character). And each character writes the story in a different ways: a journal, a website and letters. It was nice to read it that way. I've really enjoyed it.
All the characters are broken at some point, and this show us the human nature. We're all broken in some ways, and it's OK. The most important thing it's not lying to ourselves. The most important thing is hope and love.
Definetly, a very good story. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher to provide me with this beautiful book.

I've listened to The Bright Sessions quite a long time ago and to be honest not completed it but I was nonetheless excited when I heard there would be a book series on the universe Lauren Shippen created.
After reading the first volume and not wanting to read the second one, I dived into Some Faraway Place. This book is particular, not only because of the story but in how it's formatted too; the story is told through journal entries, blog posts, reddit posts, and letters, each with a different point of view. I absolutely loved this way of telling the story, it made it more fun and dynamic in my opinion, and made understanding the story and the characters easier. I preferred the letters pov because they were very lyrical but the other povs were very interesting as well (especially with the connections between the characters that those povs show).
About the characters, I really liked some of them like Emily, and to my surprise Damien, but I didn't connect that much with the main character Rose. The relationships between the characters wether they be familial, romantic or platonic were very well done, especially the family part that I found very realistic and touching at times.
The plot of the book was pretty simple in the beginning though it became very different towards the last quarter (which I didn't enjoy as much as the rest of the book) but it didn't bother me as I see this story as very character-driven.
I'd also note that some parts of the book were a little confusing/hard to get into if you haven't listened to the podcast but nothing major.

I really liked this book, it has a good combination of science fiction, family drama and young adult novel. The author's writing has improved over previous books and shows us a point of view that is hardly explored in the podcast.
The protagonist, Rose, is unbearable, but that's the point and I think she builds this aspect of the story very well. That Rose is so imperfect and her interaction with Damien is what makes this book so special. I really liked the way the characters' feelings were captured and how they can come to a personal conclusion even if things remain unresolved.
I also liked the subject of powers a lot, the different points of view and how each atypical lives his life is wonderful. In addition, the different narrative resources that are used to tell the story (blogs, newspapers, reddit) are very interesting and make the reading more dynamic.
On the other hand, it gave me the feeling that at times the story became low and lower, especially in the first few pages. Some characters that seemed important are left in the middle of the road, and time jumps or skipping some situations affect the experience.
However, I find the point of view where being an Atypical is the rule refreshing. I loved Rose's family and I wish they had more moments in history.
This book can be read individually, but I wouldn't recommend it, because without the information from the previous books and the podcast it feels incomplete. However, as a companion story it works very well and if you are fans of the series, you are going to love it.

(4.5 stars)

I don’t really have much to say about this book except if you loved The Bright Sessions, you’re gonna LOVE Some Farway Place.

It was a little bit weird at first. I didn`t understood what was it about, but while reading, i realised this book was the third of a trilogy, and then i tryed to enjoy. Había un par de cosas que se me hicieron raras al principio, like, some characters being a little bit off sometimes y como la historia progresaba con elles.
Pero, aún así, Rose was a good character to read and she has a great development.
Some plots where no need.

I most definitely need to read this author more often because what a story. What a unique different and mind focusing storyline. Love how this was different and wasnt the dame as every YA novel. I cant wait to see more from this world

How do you react when you finally get what you’ve always assumed you’d never have? For Rose, she finally becomes like the rest of her family. She finally develops her atypical ability. The trickier thing is not losing herself entirely and in the process, losing her family.

The first Bright Sessions novels focused on characters we had known since almost the beginning of the show. While The Infinite Noise focused on missing moments between Caleb and Adam, A Neon Darkness gave us Damien’s history and allowed us to see what led to the way he is now. In Some Faraway Place, Lauren Shippen takes a more recent character from The Bright Sessions and dives deep into her story, something that could not be done within the narrative of the show. And how lucky we are to have Rose’s story here in this book as a result.

Rose spends most of her life feeling like the outcast of a family of Atypicals since she herself does not seem to have an ability. When she discovers that she can dream walk, entering into the dreams of those around her, it becomes a slippery slope. She sleeps more to escape the world around her. Rose’s father is having memory loss issues and the way Rose can cope with this is staying in the “dream world,” choosing to connect with her family by watching their dreams that they will most likely not remember her being in.

What a deep look into the way our minds work, the way we try and cope with difficult life choices and bad hands dealt to us. Rose looks for the escape in a way that doesn’t directly hurt anyone, but still causes tension with her family, the new relationship she is forming with Emily, and the strange friendship that has developed with another Atypical.

Shippen plays with the structure of this book, alternating from prose, to blog posts, to letters, and to forum posting. It keeps the different perspectives clean while still pushing the narrative forward.

This is such a complex book that really is a beautiful part of the conclusion to this world. I am so sad to see the Bright Sessions universe come to a close but if this book (and the others) are any indication, this is only the beginning for Shippen and I can’t wait to see what she creates next.

5 stars.

Big thank you to Tor Teen and Netgalley for providing a free digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I would like to point out that this book is the third in a shared world trilogy and I have not read the first two, however I do not feel this affected my understanding of the world or characters in a significant way.

It's very difficult to pin down my feelings about this book, as it seemed to be all over the place. The main character Rose was sometimes relatable, sometimes infuriating. The writing was sometimes beautiful, sometimes juvenile. The plot was sometimes interesting, sometimes dull and repetitive, and as a result I'm left feeling like I enjoyed the book overall but didn't love a lot of the specifics.

The world Shippen has created is interesting; people called Atypicals manifest super abilities like mind reading and telekinesis in adolescence, They need to learn to deal with and control these powers while keeping them general secret from the public, and they receive help from what seems to be a national or international organization called the Atypical Monitors, or AM. It's a cool idea, and I loved the range of different powers and the idea of a possibly shady organization posed as a facility to help Atypicals.

In Some Faraway Place we follow 19 year old Rose, a late bloomer in a family full of Atypicals, who has just discovered her rare ability to dreamdive, which allows her to enter and affect people's dreams. Rose has felt like an outsider as most people get their abilities in their early teens, her brother having gotten his years ago, so she's the only "normie" among her family, and she struggles with feeling like she's different, both before her power appears but also after because her particular power is so unusual.

Here's the thing though: Rose is selfish. She's incredibly, unflinchingly selfish, not to mention totally lacking in common sense, and she only begins taking actual steps to change at the very tail end of the book. Now, I enjoy a flawed protagonist, but Rose kept making the same dumb, selfish mistakes, acknowledging she was making the same dumb selfish mistakes, and then CONTINUING to make the same dumb, selfish mistakes! It was frustrating to read, and while I sympathized with her about feeling like an outsider from her family, when she finally finds out she's like them she immediately jumps into their heads and enters their dreams without their consent, while completely ignoring them irl. In fact, she does this with everyone despite the fact that every single person has gotten upset with her for it. I can't count how many times she says she's going to pay more attention to her sick father and then immediately goes back to avoiding him. She is lied to and used by a "friend" over and over and yet she continues believing everything he tells her, without question, WHILE she's remembering all the times he lied previously. I wanted very much to like Rose because she should've been a great character but more often than not I found myself wanting to smack her.

There are some other things that bothered me, like the fact that a friendship between a 19 year old girl and a 29 year old man is portrayed as acceptable just because they "get" each other and the fact that a lot of time is spent setting up a new relationship which then disappears almost completely except for a random update here and there from the other person's point of view, but the other big issue is that there is a mystery surrounding the AM and things they may or may not be doing on the shady side and then [SPOILERS, kinda] towards to end someone says "I'm going to fix everything, promise" and Rose kind of just goes "OK, good" and that's the end of it. I wanted a lot more out of that whole plot line and was very frustrated that the whole thing fizzled out into nothing.[End spoilers]

Some Faraway Place is written as diary entries interspersed with letters and Reddit and Tumblr (or "Readit" and "Mumblr" ) posts from side characters. The diary format took a while to get used to— I haven't read a book written that way since I was a kid— and I wouldn't say it's my favorite writing style but I didn't mind it and it made for a very easy read. The letters were interesting because there was a mystery with them; you don't know who they're to or from until halfway through the book. The social media posts tended to just restate what had happened in the last entry and ended up being fairly tedious.

This has been mostly negative so I want to point out the positive, since I did like this book more than dislike it. The book has great casual queer rep, and I'm never mad when it book has a lot of queer characters and doesn't feel the need to throw in a random scene featuring homophobia. This book has none of that and between that and the ultimate message of being present for the people you love now because you can't control tomorrow, I wouldn't hesitate to call this book wholesome, which I appreciated.

The characters were a mixed bag but in general I found them compelling. While I didn't always love Rose, she was at least interesting and I liked Aaron, Rose's complicated but ultimately caring older brother. I liked what little we saw of Dr. Bright, I liked Mark, Sam, Caleb, and Adam and wished there had been more of them, but I understand at least some of them are from a previous book. I wanted to like Emily, Rose's new girlfriend, but every time I thought we were getting a glimpse of her personality she would disappear for 40 pages.

It's possible I would feel differently if I had read the first two books in this series first and I enjoyed this one enough to give them a chance. I did enjoy the ride, so to speak, of Some Faraway Place, and had the ending been more satisfying this would have easily been four stars. I'll be reading The Infinite Noise soon because I'm very interested to get Caleb and Adam's story, so stay tuned!

Due to my many nieces, I enjoy reading teen YA books so I can screen them for my family. This was wonderful; the voice and tone were so easy to follow and absorb. Despite this book being categorized as teen YA, I felt like I was in another time and place for a short while and that it was a well-paced, everyday novel. This felt like a standalone or close enough to it despite my lack of knowledge of the series' lore. Lauren Shippen's Some Faraway Place is relatable in that although this is science fiction, it makes you feel so connected to the story. For a YA piece, it feels incredible to be able to do that. This was a lot of fun.

I really enjoyed Some Faraway Place! I loved the cover art and the story and I will feel compelled to read Bright Sessions books in the future. Some Faraway Place really explores belonging and the struggle to fit-in. I really enjoyed this book and while I hadn't read the fist two Bright Sessions novels, the world building really enabled me to catch-up. Rose is really relatable despite having magical abilities and you really cheer for her success.

the perfect fast paced read ! I thoroughly enjoyed the character of rose as a protagonist I felt like she was a complicated yet lovable character and her plot was enticing to read. I was thoroughly engaged with the plot of the normal that due to its fast paced nature felt like a whirlwind! I also enjoyed the mixed media aspect of the novel that included forum post that broke up the narrative. Overall a delightful read and I would recommend!

* This ARC was provided to me by the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion!*

I found myself very caught up in the story of Rosie and her experience as an Atypical, a human born with some sort of supernatural ability. The world building could have been a tad bit better but from what I understand this book, and the series it belongs to, are based on a podcast which probably fills in quite a few of the gaps. I enjoyed the format of the story as diary entries and letters. I found the social media tie-ins to be a simple segue into the next part of the story. It did not quite hit home for me personally, but I could see many fantasy fans loving this novel!

This book made me cry Multiple Times, but that's nothing new because I cry when anything Ever happens to Damien because I love and care for him dearly. Rose was one of my favorite characters in the podcast and I was really excited to read a book about her and her journey. It was even better when I found out that Damien was involved since I've been holding out for a redemption arc for him for Many A Years and, readers, I may finally rest. I think this book treated Damien so gently and I really appreciate that as someone who has seen the good in him ever since I first listened to the podcast. Not many people like him, and I can understand why, but I'm hoping this book lends them a little more compassion for him.

Either way, this was a pretty enjoyable read and. I really recommend it, especially to the people who are fans of the podcast. I think they're really going to like this one.

Here we go. I loved The Infinite Noise, but A Neon Darkness was one of the most dismal, depressing books I’ve ever read. Some Faraway Place was solidly in the middle, not my favorite but I didn’t hate it.

I don’t know if Rose was intentionally autism coded but I definitely got the vibes that she was, which was cool. I liked how passionate she was and how she had real, genuine struggles that had nothing to do with the plot but made her feel more full as a character.

The biggest complaint I had with this book was the weird faux social media stuff. Half the story was told via “Readit” (Reddit) and “Mumblr” (Tumblr) posts, complete with their unique formats and the “Stucky” (Steve Rogers X Bucky Barnes) fanfic that Emily was writing. It didn’t flow at all, and it felt forced and fake. Trying to read a book in Reddit format was unsettling and unpleasant.

Also, the timelines between the books didn’t line up at all. When I was reading books one and two in this series I was of the understanding that they took place simultaneously, or at least within the same few years. This book takes place shortly after book one, but over ten years after book two, and the characters from both books had a significant amount of backstory that never happened in either of their books. I know these books are based off of a podcast series I haven’t listened to, and maybe that was explained in the podcast, but just reading the books alone doesn’t make sense.

If this book had just been about Rose and her struggles learning to control her ability, her relationship with Emily and her family, and if it was written in normal novel form instead of faux social media, I would’ve loved it. But between all of the characters from the first two books suddenly appearing with backstories that didn’t line up with their books it and the social media formatting, I didn’t enjoy reading this book and I don’t plan to read any more from this author.

I had the honor of getting a physical ARC of the first book in the series from Lauren herself back in 2019, and I’m a huge fan of the original The Bright Sessions podcast and its spinoffs, so I was super super excited to read Some Faraway Place early!! This one is extra special to me - there aren’t many queer Jewish characters in YA (let alone plus-sized queer Jewish characters), and they definitely don’t have many opportunities to be on the book cover, so when I heard Rose was getting her own book and then later saw the cover, I was just so happy. Needless to say, I was just as happy (if not more so) when I read it : )

Rose doesn’t get a lot of “screen” time in the original podcast, so getting a more in-depth look into her story and her ability was awesome!! It was especially cool getting to see her gradual discovery of her ability and how her relationship with her family changes as a result. Out of the three TBS novels, this one is definitely the most jam packed - not only does it include Rose, her dreamworlds, and her developing relationship with Emily, but it also includes characters from the previous two novels, some more significantly than others. But, because everything in this universe is connected in more ways than we will ever realize, it all works together well. There is a lot of grey morality in Some Faraway Place, and it definitely got darker at times than I was expecting, but all of those moments were perfectly balanced with the lighter aspects of the book - Rose’s relationship with Emily, her love for her cooking, her humor, her pleasant dreamscapes, etc.

Another aspect I loved was the variety of narration - most of the book is standard prose, but there are also social media posts and letters sprinkled throughout as well. They reveal important pieces of the characters and allow the reader to see some of the novel’s events from other perspectives… and they have so many easter eggs and fandom references, which was super fun for me since I know the podcast so well : ) But do not fear - people will still be able to enjoy and understand everything even without having listened to the podcast.

Lauren Shippen is one of the most incredible writers, and Some Faraway Place is a perfect sendoff and love letter to the TBS universe. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to read it early, and I’m so excited for everyone to get to read it in September : )

I want to talk other people into reading this. I didn't realize when I first picked it up that it is part of a larger series. And you know what, that doesn't matter. It fully stands on it's own as a little beacon of beauty and comfort. Rose is the only member of her immediate family without some type of super power. She's given up on being a late bloomer and has come to grips with being the odd one out via being the only normal one. She's going into a career she loves, she finds a cute girl. Then she winds up with a super power anyway and has a *lot* to process. It's a story about learning to love the person you are today, even if they are different than the person yesterday or the person you long to be tomorrow. God, I just loved it so much. There are a few different perspectives in the story, and they all play very well together. It would be so easy to have Rose go fully angst and not talk to people, let that be the driver, but Shippen is a better author than that. She let's Rose open up, let's her be vulnerable, which let's readers do the same in their own lives. This is a comforting book, wrapped up as a coming of age story. Worth the read, shoot, worth a reread.