The Darkest Minds is an amazing trilogy. In this dystopian or post-apocalyptic world, many children have been infected with a disease know as IAAN (Idiopathic Adolescent Acute Neurodegeneration). While the disease kills most kids, those who survive have amazing psychic abilities. Sadly, many of these survivors are sent to labor camps. This series is full of dimensional characters with traumatic pasts and deep emotions, plot twists that will tear apart your heart, and a fast paced story telling. It is an amazing series that has won 4.35 stars on goodreads and a perfect 5 stars on this site. This book combines fantasy with a dystopian setting and is recommended for anyone who is a lover of those genres.
0 Comments
Alexandra Bracken’s In the Afterlight is the final book in the Darkest Minds Trilogy. It picks up not long after the bombing of Los Angeles. Ruby and the remnants of the Children’s League are trapped in the ruined city. Ruby and the kids who survived the bombing escape the city and set up refuge in the north. The Children’s League is fractured, but Ruby and Cole, Liam’s mysterious older brother, take leadership of the surviving kids and begin to plan for the future. Sadly, not everyone supports. To make matters worse, evil genius Clancy is their prisoner, and Ruby is the only one with any chance of keeping him in check. This novel marks the tail end of Ruby’s development as a character. She has gone from fearing her powers to accepting the fact that she needs them. She has gone from hopeless to hopeful, weak to strong. She has loved many and lost many as well. She does everything she can to protect the people she loves, including keeping secrets. From experience, all readers know that nothing good happens when an important secret is finally made public. Her secrets cause rifts in her friendships and Ruby must deal with the aftershock of all her decisions. Ruby is a phenomenal character and it is sad that this is her last book. In the Afterlight was amazing. It was a faced paced book that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Plot twists come out of nowhere and fracture your heart. Characters are constantly in danger of being killed or mentally exploding from the pressure put on them. Ruby has grown a lot as a character and seeing the world from her mind is both a limited and expansive experience. Unlike previous entries in the series, there are very few relaxing moments. It is all high energy and high emotions as the characters begin to keep secrets from each other. This book is full of teenage angst and lack of communication. . In this novel, the world of the Darkest Minds is expanded upon. The story is well written and truly finishes this amazing series. While reading this book, I recommend thinking about this phrase; the darkest minds never fade in the afterlight. It is combination of all three title of the book and can be applied to many of the characters in this story. I give this 537 page book 5 stars. Alexandra Bracken’s Never Fade is the second book in the Darkest Minds trilogy. Never Fade picks up a six months after the events of The Darkest Minds. Ruby joins the Children’s League to keep them from going after Liam. The Children’s League has taught her how to control her powers, shoot a gun, and work together with other kids from the Children’s League. She performs many Ops and is soon entrusted with an important and secret Op. One that has her traveling across the country to locate Liam, who unknowingly holds information that can change the world. Ruby has changed a lot in the six months between the two books. In The Darkest Minds, Ruby is terrified of her powers. She only uses them in self-defense and feels like a monster at for both having and using her powers. In Never Fade, Ruby is forced to use her powers for the Children’s League. She leads several dangerous missions. She breaks into and destroys the minds of her enemies. She still feels like a monster, especially when she destroys someone’s mind, but she is also willing to do anything to keep her friends alive. Her protective nature is more evident than ever in this installment. In The Darkest Minds Ruby used her powers as a last resort because she didn’t want to isolate herself from the only people that cared for her. Now, her friends know what she is capable of, so she is slightly more inclined to use her powers if anyone threatens the one she loves. Alexandra Bracken doesn’t disappoint with this sequel story. Never Fade is one of the few books that are better than its predecessor. There was a lot of backstory and world-building in The Darkest Minds. With this world established, Never Fade has lots of room for an action filled plot. Both books have a lot of car travel and road trips. In Never Fade, the trip is made more exciting by having lots of conflicts interfering with Ruby’s journey. During the trip, it is easy to get emotionally invested in the characters. Each character has a developed personality and Alexandra Bracken does an amazing job of making you care about what happens to the characters. This book is full of tension and plot twists that will keep you hooked from start to finish. It is a constant action packed adventure and a worthy successor to The Darkest Minds. I give this 507 page book 5 stars. Alexandra Bracken’s The Darkest Minds is the first book in the Darkest Minds series. In this futuristic reality, millions of children are dying due to Idiopathic Adolescent Acute Neurodegeneration (IAAN). Those who survive are gifted with psychic powers and are taken to labor camps where the public is told they are being "rehabilitated". In reality, these camps are ways to keep the children away from society. At camp they are forced to work and are assigned colors based on their powers. Blues are telekinetic, Greens have photographic memory and are incredibly smart, Yellows are electro kinetic (have power of electricity), Oranges can control a person’s thoughts and actions as well as see into a person’s mind, and Reds are the most dangerous of all. On Ruby’s tenth birthday, she is sent to the horrible camp Thurmond. For six years, she lives there with the Greens and endures the White Nose that can make ears bleed when played. When she is given the chance to escape and discovers an entire new world outside the camp. While trapped in the horrendous Thurmond camp, Ruby believes she is a Green. When she is given the chance to escape, she finds out she is an Orange. Oranges are capable of controlling a person’s actions as well as seeing into their minds. Because she has this power, she sees herself as a monster and constantly works to hide her power. Due to the people she encounters in the book, she slowly becomes more accepting of herself and her powers, but when she is forced to use her powers, she, once again, thinks of herself as a monster. The Darkest Minds is an amazing read. It is one of the few series that blends a dystopian society with fantastical powers. Ruby and the other kids are constantly running for their lives. The stakes are always high and one wrong move can spell death for a whole group (or tribe) of kids. Unlike many YA books, these kids are completely on their own. Because many children were abandoned by their parents, all of these kids hate adults. Many of them have created their own way of living and few of the kids with psychic powers have reached the age of 20. There is little to no guidance from adults. The plot moves slowly throughout the middle of the book, but Ruby's psychological battle never rests. The slow movement throughout this middle section allows Ruby to develop in a slow natural way. Action scenes are scattered throughout the book's slow-paced middle, making sure the story is never dull. In the high-intensity beginnings and ends, the book is even more amazing. The exposition paints a dark picture that immediately intrigues the reader. The ending chapters are also full of action and emotion. A love triangle starts to form late into the book, but dissolves before it really starts to affect Ruby. The worldbuilding in this book is phenomenal. The world is believable and intriguing. Alexandra Bracken doesn't overwhelm you with the whole world dropped on you in one chapter. We learn more about the world of The Darkest Minds as the plot develops. While it is unlikely kids will develop superpowers, if they ever did, the story would play out similar to this. I give this 488 page book 5 stars. |
The Darkest MindsThe Darkest Minds series takes place in a dystopian world. Many of the children in this world are infected with Idiopathic Adolescent Acute Neurodegeneration (IAAN). Those who survive IAAN have psychic abilities and sent to labor camps where they are closed off from society. The ways the childern manifest their powers is determined by color. Blues are telekinetic, Greens have photographic memory and are incredibly smart, Yellows are electro kinetic (have power of electricity), Oranges can control a person’s thoughts and actions as well as see into a person’s mind, and Reds can create and control fire. Kids who escaped form tribes and the Children's League works to free the children, but don't really offer the kids the freedom they promise. Archives
March 2016
Categories |