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. ( )

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. ( )

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.
( )

The Bright Sessions is a podcast that starts as different characters being in therapy with Dr. Bright, a psychiatrist that specializes in people with superhuman or inhuman abilities that are all psychic in nature. You're basically a fly on the wall for the sessions. However, as the podcasts progresses, you start to hear more scenes outside of the office in these characters' day to day interactions and how their abilities hinder or not their normal lives. As a longtime fan of things like X-Men, this was a really interesting and fun podcast to listen to.
This book takes place alongside the first season of the podcast but focuses on Caleb as his ability starts to manifest in high school (a little later than typical of X-Men, which usually has the tipping point at puberty). He gets in trouble at school because he's an empath and the constant barrage of other hormonal teens' emotions has had him on edge, where he finally breaks and punches another student. As part of his punishment, he also has to attend therapy sessions. It's not really explained how his parents picked Dr. Bright but it's a "happy accident" that she's the perfect psychiatrist to help him with his unique problem. Caleb, despite being written as a pretty typical jock, is actually a really lovable and kind character. It could stem from his empathy but I don't believe that would overwrite his personality entirely. Caleb and Adam together are super cute as well. Adam is a normal teenager but has a real problem battling depression and self-harm. He doesn't seem to go to therapy even with neuroscience parents and a past suicide attempt (though he mentions having been in group therapy as part of the recovery) which I thought was strange. We read that he's not hurting himself often now and he's putting on a front for his parents to satisfy them, but it seems really unhealthy that he's basically lying to everyone. As Caleb is an empath, he of course can sense it immediately, but doesn't seem to actually help Adam that much either using outside resources.
So while I enjoyed the book immensely, I think it still had some head scratch moments when it comes to how it handles and details mental health problems and solutions. You definitely have to keep in mind that this is fiction and written by a screenwriter, not a doctor.

I'm kind of bummed with myself for waiting so long to read this, I even had an ARC I won in late 2019 I just never got around to reading. But maybe I was doing myself a favour because I was able to continue right into the sequel which has already sucked me in.

Note: It's hard to tell if you need to be a fan of the podcast before or not but as I was* I think that did add a bit to it for me. This book is written from a different character's point of view with some of the same scenes showing towards the latter part of the book but from that different perspective, but depending on how much of the podcast you've listened to, you have some insight into the questions non-listeners are going to have as they read. I would suggest listening to at least the first season or so first, just because all of that was written before the book but takes place at the same time.
*I kind of stopped listening sometime in 2019 when I went off of drama podcasts but it's sat in my subscriptions updating and waiting for my return. ( )

Overal loved it am sending it to a good friend to read. My only complaints are that the climax was easily predicted and that the end was not fully resolved to my personal likings. I enjoyed the unique way the characters experiences were expressed and of course the romance/ drama was written well not forgotten and not overdone. ( )

teen fiction - high school juniors, one with super empath powers (to the point of sometimes not being able to function due to the overwhelming emotions of the other teens around him), and the other who struggles with mental health/depression (with very brief mention of self harm) = jock/nerd MM romance (with eventual kissing).

appealing characters with plenty of heart, you'll be rooting for these guys in no time. Towards the end of the story we are introduced to Damien (the villain who stars in book 2 of this series). The author does not mention any background in mental health issues, but she is an accomplished screenwriter so you know the pacing of the story will be perfect--even though it is very much a character-based novel, the story never drags. ( )

I didn't know that the Bright Sessions even had any book related to the podcast, so when I found this on Goodreads I was curious and got it immediately. I got myself in the podcast last year and I'm currently a few episodes in on the fourth season, which is what I recommend you to be at to not be completely confused with the plot of this book. Caleb and Adam are awkward yet charming, both characters trying to deal with the individual problem that consumes them, Caleb with is the ability and Adam with is depression(which I found was well depicted). Even though they both don't always know how to deal with their partner's issues, they try to support them the best they could. I was surprised to be able to relate to both characters while reading and by how much I enjoyed reading this book considering adaptations are not always the greatest. I did enjoy the shifting perspectives especially since Caleb and Adam's perspectives are not always strongly present in the podcast and seeing them was cool. Summing this rant up, this book is a must-read If you enjoyed the podcast.

P.S At some point, Adam makes a playlist which I recommend taking a break from you're reading to listen to it, it just embellishes the experience. Another head's up, you will be imagining their voices speaking while reading. ( )

The Infinite Noise was pretty much what I expected, as a fan of the podcast. I loved the look into Caleb and Adam’s respective relationships with their families; you got the sense that they had nice families from the podcast but you actually get to see them interact and their moms in particular were lovely. Also, getting to see the development of their relationship purely from their perspectives was great.

My only criticism is that The Infinite Noise is more of a companion to the podcast than a standalone novel/adaptation--there are parts that overlap with scenes from the podcast (whenever Caleb is with Dr. Bright following their first session) that assume you’ve already listened to the conversation that took place and so skips over it with lines like “I explain what happened.” On the one hand, it’s fine, because it means I’m not reading the exact same material over again, but on the other someone reading the book without any prior knowledge of The Bright Sessions might feel like it’s lazy writing.

Perfectly okay that it’s a companion piece, but it’s undoubtedly going to draw in new people who’ve never heard of The Bright Sessions and I feel like they might be let down. ( )

ugh, a super sweet story with just enough weird stuff that I couldn't put it down, literally. featuring the most spot on description of depression I have ever read. ( )

First of all, I might be a bit biased, I really liked this book, the characters the plot, the whole “having super abilities that others don’t have” really does it for me. I listen to the audiobook (thank you, Briggon Snow and James Fouhey for your wonderful voices!), not knowing anything about the whole story behind The Infinite Noise. I saw somewhere that the there was this book coming out about this High School student who could feel other people’s feelings and I was sold. After listen to the audiobook (couldn’t wait for the real book, so you know yo girl was desperate), I noticed that a lot of people were writing about how incomplete the story was, there were a lot of characters quickly introduced but never appeared again, etc. Me, too, noticed some mayor time skips, but ignored it, because some writers do that to move the plot faster forward. Then I saw a tag in Tumblr about The Bright Sessions and the podcast and everything went downhill (or uphill).
I binged listened to all of The Bright Sessions. It’s an amazing story about Atypicals, one that could be explored so much further, and I love all the things Lauren Shippen has done, and (hopefully) will do, with it. If you want to really, really, enjoy this book, with all the characters that are mentioned in here, you’d have to listen to the podcast to gain to whole experience.

What I want to say is, it’s not fair saying it’s not a good book because it has time skips, it has missing scenes, it doesn’t have the content one expected to have from The Bright Sessions about Caleb and Adam. I love the whole process of Caleb’s emotions; how the author describes them in so much detail, you feel them with him, an experience that one wouldn’t get in the podcast just by listening to his voice, no offence, still love you, Briggon!

All in all, I loved The Infinite Noise and The Bright Sessions, I love the complex characters with backstories, with families, friends and enemies that all at one point intertwine, I love that evil doesn’t look evil and good doesn’t always look good and that everything is gray and that it is making you question yourself what you would’ve done. I love that you feel what the characters are feeling, I love that Adam had a crush on Caleb long before, but Caleb knew who Adam was, and - ugh. Yeah, 5 stars, thanks for reading. Be nice. ( )

Loved it. Loved it. Full disclosure: I listen to The Bright Sessions podcast, so I spent the last third of the book freaked out over the ending--I'm much further ahead in Caleb and Adam's story than this book covers, so I was afraid I was going to get a nailbiting cliffhanger. Should have trusted the author; it was a satisfying ending. (Even if it's not the ending, as I well know.) ( )

First of all, I loved the amazing diversity and representation in this book! I feel like we need more books like these in YA, books that have a lot and amazing representation. I also love how the main character Caleb connected with everyone but he especially connected with the other main character, Adam. This is a book set in our world and shows what types of feelings people have to suffer through. For example, Caleb is an empathetic; a person who feels for everyone yet he also has his own feelings which he doesn’t feel at peace with. Similarly, Adam is also someone that has a problem of being lonely and just keeping it together and not having any yet, he is extremely smart as everyone in this book says. I loved this book! P.S. I love the cover as well my friend wanted to read this book immediately after she saw the cover. ( )

The Infinite Noise by Lauren Shippen is a novelisation of The Bright Sessions podcast. More accurately, it’s the novelisation of one particular storyline, primarily following two of the characters. I initially thought it was going to be a sequel, but it actually goes into more depth on events from the first two (I think) seasons of the podcast.

In essence, this is a YA romance book, featuring two male protagonists. The speculative element is clear: one of the protagonists, Caleb, has an empathy superpower, which allows him (forces him) to sense other people’s emotions. So on the one hand, we have Caleb’s very unique view of the people around him. On the other hand, there’s Adam, who is a normal teen that happens to suffer from depression. Despite one being a it of a nerd and the other being a it of a jock, the two of them form a connection. I also want to be clear that it isn’t just through Caleb’s powers that we experience Adam’s depression. Adam has his own point of view chapters and was diagnosed long before the start of the book. It’s now just something he has to live with and, I think, a particularly good depiction of living with depression.

Since I have listened to the original podcast, I knew what was going to happen in this book. The fact that it’s a romance book cancels out the spoilery nature of being familiar with the podcast (because of how romance books work). The one thing I think might throw people who haven’t listened to the podcast is the sudden appearance of some of the other podcast characters (other than Dr Bright). They sort of fit into the story, but because Caleb and Adam weren’t directly involved in the most dramatic parts of the podcast events, they seemed very oddly tangential, despite triggering some personal issues for our protagonists. On the other hand, if you enjoy The Infinite Noise, it might be a good jumping off point for getting into The Bright Sessions podcast.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I generally recommend it to all fans of YA, particularly spec fic YA. I hope we get more novels in this universe, although I’m not sure which bits of podcast would work best. You definitely do not need to have listened to the podcast to enjoy this book and, conversely, listening to the podcast first does not in any way ruin the book.

4.5 / 5 stars ( )

Okay, where do I begin! If you are familiar with "The Bright Sessions" Podcast by Lauren Shippen, This Infinite Noise is the 1st book of a 3 part series. Now, I wasn't familiar with that, so I took a couple of days to familiarize myself more with the characters and their background so that I could write my review better.

The book. LOL . Well then, so yea it's "cute". I get the general idea of what the story was about. We have Caleb Michaels 16 yr old junior in high school who is learning that he has the ability to feel everyone's emotions (empath) around him, and Adam Hayes, his smart-gay-emo-depressed-loser of a classmate who somehow is able to help Caleb control his emotions and keep them in check. Pause, deep breath ( )

The Infinite Noise is such a delight, you’ll feel ‘green’ all the way through it!

I started off as a fan of The Bright Sessions podcast and was ecstatic to discover it was getting a book trilogy. Initially, I worried there would be too much involved for non-podcast fans to enjoy the book but that issue was nonexistent while reading it. There are callbacks and moments that make long-time fans like myself smile but the story of Caleb and Adam is completely welcoming to newcomers.

Lauren Shippen creates wonderful characters that really jump out and grab you. Caleb’s descriptions of feeling emotions are entrancing and paint a detailed picture in my head of a world filled with warring colors of piercing spikes, looming waves, and dripping sludge. The thorough portrayal of Adam’s depression hit close to home, and made me realize I’d never read a character with such a compelling depiction of a mental health diagnosis. The story is a great twist on a typical teen love story, with Caleb’s power and Adam’s insights feeding the reader vivid imagery that pulls you in all the more. Even knowing how their story plays out from the podcast, I was still tense with every scene where they clash, pleading with the book in my hands to let the boys have their happy moments together.

I did think the ending was a bit sudden and out-of-nowhere. Maybe it is because I know that their story goes on much further from there, and that even the ending presented here has more details that are fleshed out in the podcast, but the novel ending feels abrupt and disjointed compared to the rest of the well-paced story. Still, I think it’s a good conclusion to this high-school romance. I do highly recommend readers take up the podcast to see how the story continues, and to hear all of the amazing voice actors, expanded cast of characters, and addicting story that will make it impossible to take your headphones off.

The Infinite Noise was a joy to devour; the kind of book that left me staying up late, curled up in bed unable to put it down, thinking ‘just one more chapter’ with each page I turned. The story will be addicting to new readers, eager to see more of Caleb and his boyfriend and the world of Atypicals, and to old fans, keen to soak up more details about their favorite characters. Lauren Shippen creates an amazing story that will definitely have me first in line at the bookstore for her future releases. ( )