Through the Darkness: A Story of Love from the Other Side

by Charlie Bynar

2025 National Indie Excellence Award Winner, Death & Dying category.
2025 IAN Book of the Year Award Winner, Mind/Body/Spirit category.
2025 IAN Book of the Year Award Finalist, Grief/Hardship category.

An inspirational story for anyone who’s grieving, Through the Darkness explores the unbreakable bonds between loved ones, even after death.

On April 18, 2017, Charlie unexpectedly loses her only child, sixteen-year-old Isaac. Devastated, she throws herself into investigating the circumstances of his death, which she suspects was related to medical negligence. As Charlie falls into darkness, she begins to sense that Isaac is communicating with her from the other side, a spiritual realm where he returns after crossing over. There, Isaac calls upon four generations of his ancestors to help him save his mother’s life.

Not long after, Charlie learns that her husband, Chris, has terminal cancer. Pushed to the brink, Charlie embarks on a quest for answers and consults with world-renowned psychic medium Allison DuBois. Based on actual events, Through the Darkness is filled with thought-provoking discussions and acts as a road map for navigating through grief to a place of renewed hope and purpose in life.

365 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 18, 2025

About the author

Charlie Bynar is an author and international artist whose David Bowie portrait was featured in the Victoria and Albert Museum's five-year traveling exhibition, David Bowie Is. Additionally, after her son died, Charlie founded Isaac's Ant Foundation and installed ant exhibits across the country in his memory including at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. She published her first children's book, Charlie and the Rainbow Trout, in 2021. Through the Darkness is her first work of narrative nonfiction.

Reviews

[Valleri · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not easy for me to review Through the Darkness. On one hand, reading of Isaac's death, and how Charlie tortured and blamed herself (and then his hospital) for his death was excruciating. The possibility of receiving messages and signs from those who have passed is a beautifully comforting thought. And Charlie needed comforting signs and messages. This woman was dealt blow after blow.

I apologize if what I write next offends the author, but there were so many unnecessary details that bogged the story down in Through the Darkness. For instance, reading about Chris cracking open a beer every night when he got home from work. Or Charlie and Chris cleaning up the dishes, saying they needed to go to bed, putting on their pajamas, and then going to bed. Those two things were repeated too often. Having Charlie eating chocolate-covered coffee beans throughout the book was distracting to me, as was the Scrabble game where Charlie shared the words she and Chris had come up with, as well as how many points they were getting.

Does this mean I didn't like the book? Not at all! I enjoyed getting to know Charlie, Chris, and Isaac. The thought that signs can be sent to survivors is incredibly comforting. A good editor could cut out the extraneous details, and much of the repetition, making Through the Darkness a beautiful book that "acts as a road map for navigating through grief to a place of renewed hope and purpose in life," as the publisher said.

[Najwa Hirn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was touched and moved by Charlie's story. As a bereaved mother myself, this book gave me hope that my daughter is still out there healthy and happy. Charlie brilliantly described scenes of her son in the afterlife that were so beautifully put together. It made me think of my daughter involved in similar happy family gathering. Just like Isaac, my daughter suffered seizures and other medical ailments throughout her life. Charlie's description of Isaac's restored health and happiness only brought more joy to this mother's broken heart. Thank you Charlie!

[Ron · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant, well written novel that was impossible to put down. The novel encompassed the journey of grief and pain, soul searching, spirituality and life after death. This book is highly recommended to all readers who are seeking hope and purpose in life or struggling with grief.

[Suzan Kavusi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is one of the most compassionate and validating works I’ve encountered on grief—especially the unbearable grief of losing a child. The author speaks with such tenderness and honesty that I often felt as though someone was finally giving words to the ache I carry every day.

What sets this book apart is its gentle exploration of the afterlife. Rather than offering clichés or hollow reassurances, it presents thoughtful reflections, personal experiences, and comforting insights that open a door to hope without dismissing the reality of sorrow. It doesn’t shy away from the darkness of loss, but it also illuminates the ways love endures, changes, and continues.

Suzan, Aidin’s mom

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know the story of the blind men and the elephant? I read the reviews and each reviewer had their own opinion. Some readers were bothered by the mundane details in this book, but one person who was currently grieving was so glad to find it. What part of the elephant did I touch?

I appreciated the author's sense that her son, who had passed away, was still with her before he crossed over to the other side. I had a similar experience with my brother being with me for a few days after he died. Unlike in this book, he did not talk to me; I just felt his presence.

The other side chapters, which are the author's idea of the afterlife of her family, reminded me of Fannie Flagg's Can't Wait to Get to Heaven. I loved that book so much for its humor, hope, and love.

The author's son was deprived of oxygen during his birth, and that resulted in brain damage. This book opens like a mystery that the author is trying to solve. Was his traumatic birth the reason for his epileptic seizures and ultimate death?

Charlie Bynar, the author, tells of her husband's journey with a terrible and incurable disease. I honed in on all of the details because I have a form of the same disease that could either not develop further, or I could die from something different, or it could develop into a full-blown cancer that requires treatment. So I was riveted to the details of his experience.

Yes, there are many mundane details, but there are also so many valuable aspects of this story.

[Renee Novotny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charlie Bynar tells a heartbreaking yet captivating story of unimaginable loss—first her 16-year-old son, Isaac, and then her husband, Chris—over the span of just three years. Through deeply personal storytelling, she shares her journey through grief, her investigation into the circumstances surrounding Isaac’s death, her efforts to honor Isaac's life, and her path toward healing.

What makes this book especially powerful is the way Charlie also writes from Isaac’s perspective on the other side, creating a comforting bridge between two worlds. Woven throughout are messages of resilience, determination, and the strength to keep going.

As a mother with a son in spirit, I found immense comfort in the scenes where Charlie describes Isaac being supported by loved ones in spirit, and how he learned to send signs to let her know he was still with her. Those moments—and many other messages—resonated deeply with me.

This book touched me on so many levels. It brought comfort, validation, and healing to my own grief journey. The story flowed beautifully, was easy to read, and kept me engaged from beginning to end. I highly recommend Through the Darkness to anyone who has a loved one in spirit or is navigating the pain of loss.

[Laura Tomei · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am in awe of this courageous brilliant woman. Through the Darkness is an incredibly beautiful tribute to Charlie’s beloved son Isaac, who tragically passed at age 16. Her journey through the
impossible tragedy of child loss is inspirational, to say the least. The courage she possesses, and the relentless search for her son who she eventually finds, is impactful. Her clever intriguing narrative dances from her reality to the Afterlife, where her son strives to reach her, to let her know he is alive, very well, and infinitely loved by family members who have also crossed over. To add to her heartache, the illness her husband Chris succumbs to a few years later takes its toll on her already exhausted body. The book is interlaced with so many wisdoms learnt; from ancient times, to the more scientific quantum theories, to medium readings where she is reassured that love never dies and to “trust her gut, her intuition”
I definitely recommend this book to anyone who is struggling with the loss of a loved one, in particular a child, but also to anyone who wishes to understand the prolonged emotional turmoil grief inevitably brings.

[Liz Brooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am grateful to have received an advance review copy, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This book offers a perspective of comfort, connection, and alternative insight into the experiences of loss and grief. It is a heartbreaking and heartwarming story of sudden loss, navigating the process of grief and the experience of finding a way to continue after that loss. I did lose my connection with the story at some points due to the level of additional details about the characters' daily interactions and experiences, however, I recognize that for some this causes disconnection and distraction while, for others, this increases the reader's involvement and connection with the story. Overall, it offers an incredible perspective to explore.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was deeply moved by Charlie's writing. She intersperses history, neuroscience, metaphysics, medical science, and fiction, and does it all masterfully. Her courage through the most difficult challenge a human can face...the loss of a child, is awe inspiring. Charlie takes the reader through the disheveled mind of someone experiencing this loss. The day-to-day workings of a mind experiencing grief is beautifully depicted and Charlie is exceptional when it comes to details. The reader takes away important lessons about grief, possibility of life after death, courage to move when life paralyzes you, the importance of family, and our purpose on this planet. One comes away awed by Charlie's resilience and inspired by her message.

[Troy Ulrich · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the last decade I have experienced tremendous loss, leaving me pondering what happens to our loved one's after they pass. I think most of us have a hope that there is something good that happens beyond this life, that our loved ones continue on in another realm of existence. Although I do not know personally the likes of Charlie's loss, 'Through the Darkness' is a heartfelt sharing of the frustration, sense of injustice, and coming to terms with the loss of her only child, Isaac, as well as the loss of her husband in all too short a span of time. Through Charlie's sharing, I have renewed hope in the soul's journey once we pass from this life. This book inspires one to live life to the fullest in honor of those we love. Well worth the read.

[Yuval Avniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charlie describes her journey through loss to discovering a deeper connectivity that transcends our day-to-day existence highlighting the bonds between intertwined lives. The characters are relatable, embodied with a comfortable wisdom and welcoming of the readers involvement. The books premise sits with intuitive comfort, leaving one optimistic about the connections between our loved ones, both past and present. The story is well crafted and written in a comfortable real-world manner which is well suited to those interested in a broader interpretation of what connects people one to the other as well as those struggling to find a way forward after loss.

[Susanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this novel and I really wished I loved it. It would be so wonderful to believe the author's desperate belief of life after death for it would be so comforting and peaceful. Sometime you need a crutch to allow your self to go on with your life when horrible unfair things happen. The novel in itself was well written but there were parts that were boring for me and I hate to say it because this book was obviously written with love. It just wasn't for me.