Alexandra Bracken: The Darkest Minds (The Darkest Minds #1) | Lara
When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something frightening enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that got her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government “rehabilitation camp.” She might have survived the mysterious disease that had killed most of America’s children, but she and the others emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they could not control.
Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones. When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. She is on the run, desperate to find the only safe haven left for kids like her—East River. She joins a group of kids who have escaped their own camp. Liam, their brave leader, is falling hard for Ruby. But no matter how much she aches for him, Ruby can’t risk getting close. Not after what happened to her parents. When they arrive at East River, nothing is as it seems, least of all its mysterious leader. But there are other forces at work, people who will stop at nothing to use Ruby in their fight against the government. Ruby will be faced with a terrible choice, one that may mean giving up her only chance at having a life worth living.
“The Darkest Minds tend to hide behind the most unlikely faces.”
Guys I officially hate Goodreads’ 5-star rating system. It heavily prevents me from being an indecisive whiny little bitch so now I’m stuck in an infinite loop of changing this book rating from 3 to 4 stars and vice versa. I simply cannot give this book more than 3.5 stars, but giving it 3 stars pains in because I rather liked this book.
Well, what’s it about?
Situation in America is getting worse, especially when sickness called IAAN occurs. It is known to affect children aged from 10 to 18, killing 90% of the affected kids and leaving the rest with unnatural telekinetic powers. Those kids are taken away from their homes and transported to camps where they live under the supervision of cruel PSF soldiers, doing heavy factory work every day for the rest of their lives. So-called, Psi kids, are sorted in five colors based on their powers: Green, Blue, Yellow, Red and Orange. Ruby is 16 but has spent the last six years of her life in Thurmond. One day she ends up in hospital during her unexpected seizure and is broken out of camp by Cate, a woman who claims to work for Children’s League – organization set to stop the government from sending Psi children to camps. When the time comes, Ruby sees that everything isn’t as it seems and League isn’t all about helping innocent children – more about using and turning them into weapons.
Although sometimes I do feel kind of sad because I haven’t been reading certain books in the time they were released, enjoying the hype and excitement and anticipation for the release of sequels, it is not the case with YA dystopian books. I’m pretty sure I would have been sick of the genre in that post-Hunger Games madness so I’m really okay with being out of date but enjoying them as they are xd
Bracken starts her book pretty strong with kickass worldbuilding and promising plot ahead. For the first 25% or so I have really gotten into the story, Ruby’s experience at the camp, her escape and finally meeting Liam, Chubs and Zu. Up to that point, it had all been a thrilling adventure - reader slowly involved in the plot, Ruby’s mind, and the futuristic world. Ruby’s narrative comes with a certain dose of mystery and a lot of unknown factors since she had no connections with the outer world for the past six years. Readers are slowly welcomed to the story while getting to know America, The League, and Psi kids.
As I said I really liked dynamics and pacing throughout the first part of the book, but at some point (I’d say after she was accepted in the Black Betty crew) the plot came to a sudden halt that it never recovered from. I could actually feel myself getting less and less interested after every chapter that passed in which nothing happened but few car chases and endless traveling. It just feels there are a good 150 pages in excess until they decided to start looking for the Slip Kid.
This book won me over for the most part with its characters – specifically, Black Betty crew. What can be better than four kids on the run in a black mini-van? Not to mention one of them is Chubs aka the best character, nerdy 60-year-old trapped in a teenager’s body.
Well, what’s it about?
Situation in America is getting worse, especially when sickness called IAAN occurs. It is known to affect children aged from 10 to 18, killing 90% of the affected kids and leaving the rest with unnatural telekinetic powers. Those kids are taken away from their homes and transported to camps where they live under the supervision of cruel PSF soldiers, doing heavy factory work every day for the rest of their lives. So-called, Psi kids, are sorted in five colors based on their powers: Green, Blue, Yellow, Red and Orange. Ruby is 16 but has spent the last six years of her life in Thurmond. One day she ends up in hospital during her unexpected seizure and is broken out of camp by Cate, a woman who claims to work for Children’s League – organization set to stop the government from sending Psi children to camps. When the time comes, Ruby sees that everything isn’t as it seems and League isn’t all about helping innocent children – more about using and turning them into weapons.
Although sometimes I do feel kind of sad because I haven’t been reading certain books in the time they were released, enjoying the hype and excitement and anticipation for the release of sequels, it is not the case with YA dystopian books. I’m pretty sure I would have been sick of the genre in that post-Hunger Games madness so I’m really okay with being out of date but enjoying them as they are xd
Bracken starts her book pretty strong with kickass worldbuilding and promising plot ahead. For the first 25% or so I have really gotten into the story, Ruby’s experience at the camp, her escape and finally meeting Liam, Chubs and Zu. Up to that point, it had all been a thrilling adventure - reader slowly involved in the plot, Ruby’s mind, and the futuristic world. Ruby’s narrative comes with a certain dose of mystery and a lot of unknown factors since she had no connections with the outer world for the past six years. Readers are slowly welcomed to the story while getting to know America, The League, and Psi kids.
As I said I really liked dynamics and pacing throughout the first part of the book, but at some point (I’d say after she was accepted in the Black Betty crew) the plot came to a sudden halt that it never recovered from. I could actually feel myself getting less and less interested after every chapter that passed in which nothing happened but few car chases and endless traveling. It just feels there are a good 150 pages in excess until they decided to start looking for the Slip Kid.
This book won me over for the most part with its characters – specifically, Black Betty crew. What can be better than four kids on the run in a black mini-van? Not to mention one of them is Chubs aka the best character, nerdy 60-year-old trapped in a teenager’s body.
“We'll just have to try to make better mistakes tomorrow.”
Ruby as the main character was just meh. I would think I’d hate her since she’s whiny, indecisive and cowardly-boring, but there was just something about her character and the flow of her thoughts that hid some kind of unspecific bravery and kindness, which eventually made me like her. I really liked her backstory and the way she was dealing with her powers and problems. Romance was pretty predictable but in a cute a-lot-of-chemistry way. I felt pretty indifferent about Liam and Ruby for the better part of the book, but the ending was incredible and unexpected. I thought they’ll be just a boring couple for the rest of the trilogy, but this cliffhanger is going to set their relationship on a difficult path.
“When a girl cries, few things are more worthless than a boy.”
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