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| TITLE: The Darkest Minds (The Darkest Minds #1) AUTHOR: Alexandra Bracken PUBLISHER: Disney Hyperion PUB DATE: Dec 18 2012 |
Summary from Goodreads:
"When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something alarming enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that gets her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government “rehabilitation camp.” She might have survived the mysterious disease that’s killed most of America’s children, but she and the others have emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they cannot control.
Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones.
When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. Now she’s on the run, desperate to find the one safe haven left for kids like her—East River. She joins a group of kids who 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 a life worth living."
Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones.
When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. Now she’s on the run, desperate to find the one safe haven left for kids like her—East River. She joins a group of kids who 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 a life worth living."
Rating:
I’ve read Bracken’s first book, Brightly Woven, and I just adored the story. It’s been a while since I read her first book so I was ecstatic to find The Darkest Minds. Even better is finding that this was going to be a series. Hooray! I just knew from the synopsis that I was going to enjoy reading The Darkest Minds.
“The government was never scared of the kids who might die, or the empty spaces they would leave behind... they were afraid of us – the ones who lived”
What a line! It actually gave me goose bumps when I stumbled upon it. If that doesn’t get you intrigued, I don’t know what will.
I was already impressed by Bracken’s world building skills and writing style from her debut novel, and she did not fail to impress me the second time with The Darkest Minds. While Brightly Woven was a simple sweet fantasy story, this book was dark and downright crazy. A world where our heroes befall misfortunes, being hunted by every possible villain, and find that there are no good guys to side with – that has got to be tough!
The protagonist, Ruby was an interesting character, although I couldn’t really empathize with her scepticism over touching people or any kind of human affection at first. So she’s dangerous – heck all of them are, right? That is, until I found out about her story; the real reason behind it all. Wow... look at me jabber about her isolating herself too much... and then I get it. Oh, Ruby. You poor, poor girl. Nevertheless, the development in her character just made me admire her more. And that ending... *sigh* that was just sad. But I commend her for such a great sacrifice.
My only complain about this book would probably be the lack of explanation on how they color coded the kids in the camps. Where did all that come from? I get that Reds are the most dangerous and the Greens are the least, but how do they actually classify them?
Action, deception, awesome powers, love and a show of altruism – The Darkest Minds is a book that will keep you guessing and eagerly anticipating what’s next to come. Definitely a series worth reading.
