The Darkest Minds | Book Review

THE DARKEST MINDS BY ALEXANDRA BRACKEN BOOK REVIEW BY NEVERLEAVETHELIBRARYSITE

THIS REVIEW IS SPOILER FREE

SYNOPSIS:

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.

 

MY THOUGHTS:

OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD. I finished this book yesterday (I know, I’m a little late to the Darkest Minds train), and I’ve been incapable of forming a coherent sentence since. Wow. Alexandra Bracken, you have gifted my life with this beautiful book, and the even more beautiful Liam Stewart.

The Darkest Minds had a really great balance of dark and light. It was sad, it was funny, it was cute, it was dark, it was intriguing and it was one of the new series I’ve read this year. I enjoy dystopian novels (even though they make me scared for the future of our planet) but a lot of the time I do feel slightly disconnected from the storyline because I’m so stuck in the fact that the world would never truly be like this. However, Alexandra Bracken has spun a story so clever that it doesn’t matter. It could begin to rain pigs and I’d still not care.

The characters are so clever and realistic, and you can connect to them on such a deep level. For quite a large section of the book, Ruby is fearful of her abilities and what they could mean for other people, and how she will be defined because of it. It’s understandable and perfectly reasonable, like all of Ruby’s character traits, which made me adore Ruby and sympathize with her.

I found the start of this book a little bit slow because I wanted characters to latch to, and we only had Ruby, a few creepy blokes and the fascinating, confusing character of Sam. And then we meet the squad. I want to be part of this squad. But in my world, because I don’t want to go live in the world of The Darkest Minds. Not a nice place. We have Liam, Chubs and Zu, all complicated, wonderful and very clever characters. I praise Bracken for these beauties. They’re so realistic and funny and adorable. Ruby goes on this fun little road trip with them, which was really cute. So A+ for characters!

Some of the problems that people have with The Darkest Minds are the plot holes. Why do they lock up all the kids in Thurmond? Like, the whole Earth population will die out! They are trying to cure them of this. They’re locked in these camps while scientists search for the cure! And as to the other plot holes – Ruby has been locked in a concentration camp for six years and this is told in first person. She’s not going to know everything about everything! Plus, this is a trilogy. Two more books to go, which is plenty of time for some of those plot holes to be filled. PATIENCE, CHILDREN!

All in all, I loved this book. It was a quick, fun read, so long as you didn’t get too wrapped up in all the Why?’s, which I didn’t. I hope they will come into play in the next two books, which I’m ecstatic to go and read! I’d recommend this book to any lover of YA, and a must read for fans of The Hunger Games and Divergent.

I’d rate this book 9/10 stars. LOVE LOVE LOVE!

-Kyla xoxo