Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones.
When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. Now on the run, she is desperate to find East River, the only safe haven left for kids like her, and she joins a group of other runaways who have escaped their own camps. Liam, their brave leader, is falling for Ruby, but she 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 Liam. But there are also 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 - and one that may mean giving up her only chance at having a life worth living.
More info on Goodreads.....
Review:
The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken is a thrilling and exciting story that will leave you desperate for more!
I have to be honest and say that it did take me a little while to really be caught by this book. The first few chapters weren’t what I was expecting and as such, it was a little while before the story really captured me attention, but once it did, I didn’t want this book to end.
The Darkest Minds was very well written; the pace more or less perfect and the story exciting. Alexandra Bracken has woven together a very intriguing tale. Admittedly, I was a tad confused about what was affecting the children of the USA and where this had all come from; a bit more detail and explanation wouldn’t have gone astray. Why were adolescents over the age of 10 dying or exhibiting supernatural abilities? And yet, at the same time I understood Bracken’s use of mystery surrounding this- no one really did know what was causing this disease or what brought it on, only that the children who managed to survived it were gifted with unnatural abilities. Told in first person, you can only know as much as your main character knows, so as Ruby learnt more, we in turn did too.
Throughout The Darkest Minds there’s an undeniable aura of desperation that saturates the pages. The children and characters of The Darkest Minds are essentially alone, and must protect themselves and each other. The world they live in fears them and thinks them monsters, no matter if they’ve never hurt a soul; they’re alive when others aren’t and therefore must be something awful. Having been locked in horrible camps and treated horrendously by those who are supposed to love and protect them, these kids and teenagers are on their own.
And in saying all this, I think the biggest strength of this book for me were these incredible characters. And especially the friendship and bon that develops between our main characters so quickly during their time together. As our main character and protagonist, Ruby was quite enjoyable to read about. She had a good heart and a strong desire to do the right thing, to be the right thing, even though she was an Orange. She showed courage when required, but she also demonstrated fear and unease when it affected her. She made mistakes and had flaws but she strove to do the right thing in the end.
As a highlight in the book, the dynamic between Ruby, Liam, Chubs and Zu- three other teenagers Ruby meets during her escape from her camp—was brilliant. Despite only having known each other for a short period of time, these four really hit it off; bonding quickly over their shared circumstances. It was so sweet seeing them come to care for one another; from Ruby and Zu’s “girl time” to the chemistry between Ruby and Liam to the fantastic friendship that was already there between Liam, Chubs and Zu when Ruby makes her way into their lives—it was fantastic to read about it!
With four fantastic characters and a storyline that explores human nature, fear and desire to survive and really does get better with the turn of every page, The Darkest Desire was a great read! Sporting a shocking cliffhanger ending that won’t be what you as the reader want to see, I know I personally cannot wait to see what Alexandra Bracken does with this series next!
Rating:
Source: This was a Christmas present from my brother :)
Format: Paperback
Buy it: Booktopia // The Nile // The Book Depository // Amazon
Recommendation: If you enjoy dystopians, then this is for you!
Will I read sequel/continue with series: Definitely! Looking forward to more!
Great review! I started reading this on Netgalley, a few months before the pub date and I was really liking the direction it was taking. I stopped because I wanted to get a physical copy and read it while all comfy in bed. Also, can I say Aw that this was a Christmas gift from your brother?
ReplyDelete