Alexandra Bracken: Never Fade (The Darkest Minds #2) | Lara
Ruby never asked for the abilities that almost cost her her life. Now she must call upon them on a daily basis, leading dangerous missions to bring down a corrupt government and breaking into the minds of her enemies. Other kids in the Children’s League call Ruby “Leader”, but she knows what she really is: a monster.
When Ruby is entrusted with an explosive secret, she must embark on her most dangerous mission yet: leaving the Children’s League behind. Crucial information about the disease that killed most of America’s children—and turned Ruby and the others who lived into feared and hated outcasts—has survived every attempt to destroy it. But the truth is only saved in one place: a flashdrive in the hands of Liam Stewart, the boy Ruby once believed was her future—and who now wouldn’t recognize her.
As Ruby sets out across a desperate, lawless country to find Liam—and answers about the catastrophe that has ripped both her life and America apart—she is torn between old friends and the promise she made to serve the League. Ruby will do anything to protect the people she loves. But what if winning the war means losing herself?
“I don't want to just see someone's face; I want to know his shadow, too.”
Ruby is with the League for 6 months now and she still hasn’t figured a way out. She forces herself to be cold and distant towards Cate and her teammates, doing everything they ask of her, operations and training while silently rebelling from within. Ruby’s team is sent on a mission of retrieving an agent in custody – who turns out to be Liam’s brother Cole. Things in the League aren’t as good as they seem and the number of agents who aren’t that fond of Psi children is increasing. Their selfish motives are surfacing and kids who once fought alongside them might not be safe anymore. After rescuing him from imprisonment, Ruby has been assigned to retrieve a flash drive with extremely important information that is in possession of no one else but Liam Stewart.
Two books into the Darkest Minds and I started to get fond of these books. They have their ups and downs and sometimes I get frustrated by the course author decided to take with certain parts of the book, but the second book surprised me pleasantly, especially because it was better than its prequel.
While I had a problem with pacing and lack of “real action” in the first book, that wasn’t the case with Never Fade. Bracken throws us in the middle of Ruby’s Op, six months after events at the end of The Darkest Minds. Things shift to action almost immediately, and readers are pulled into a turmoil of plans, switching loyalties and interesting turnarounds. I enjoyed the story and its fast development. I couldn’t predict where would the plot take us, but most of all, I liked how Bracken represented the Children’s League. It wasn’t some all-mighty secret organization that was there all along and just happened to be there when MC needed help and now is going to solve everything, but a group with their own agendas, rescuing only those kids they can use.
I really liked the plot and didn’t feel like the book was too long, despite the fact that it was even longer than the first book. Happenings and action were evenly arranged, with a big amount of plot twists and revelations, but easy to follow and keep readers engaged in every part. As I said before, I had to force myself through some part of The Darkest Minds because there were a lot of empty parts with literally nothing going on, but that just wasn’t the case with the second book. I really enjoyed the story, even though some parts about the development of two certain characters khm were unnecessarily long and tiresome.
The biggest highlights of this book definitely belong to characters. I was thinking a lot about this and I can’t say I dislike one single character. Bracken keeps developing her old while introducing new, equally interesting and colorful characters.
Ruby’s narrative has really changed, her time with the League shaped her into something more than always scared and insecure girl. In the beginning, she had some really good moments, especially while interacting with League’s agents, Cole, Vida and Jude and how she tried to push them out so she wouldn’t hurt them when she betrayed them. She got a dose of badass-ness and I started to like her and her fight for her beliefs and friends. Up to the point… where all the drama with Liam started. I know those things were explained multiple times during her narrative and to her (and the author probably) made sense, but I couldn’t grasp some of her thoughts and turn them into valid arguments that legitimated her actions. All those “I don’t want him to become a monster so I’m going to wipe his memory and send him somewhere he’ll be in more danger” and pushing people away seemed like a bad attempt at making her character more complicated.
I liked the growth of the other characters very much as well, especially because they were thoroughly developed and had a lot of room to prosper despite Ruby having the only narrative. It’s hard to create a specter of diverse characters from the first person perspective of one character, but Bracken managed to deepen correlations as well as individual development of the old, and new characters. I loved Vida and Jude immediately, and old characters started to grow on me more, even Liam who I thought was nothing special.
After that cliffhanger and heartbreaking *spoiler*
“Oh, I'm sorry," Chubs said, 'apparently the middle of my sentence interrupted the beginning of yours. Do continue.”
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