The Darkest Minds #1
Published: December 11, 2012
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Author: Alexandra Bracken
Pages: 488
Genres: Dystopia, Young Adult, Fantasy
Genres: Dystopia, Young Adult, Fantasy
Buy this book at: Amazon, Barnes&Noble, Book Depository
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.
I have long waited to read this book. And I finally did.
Ugh.
I am officially in a book hangover period. I honestly don't know what to do with myself. I don't know what to read, I ... My mind is still in HERE and I'm supposed to be... OUT. And I'm just not.
The world that Alexandra Bracken presents to us is completely new and original. A disease has spread over America and children from the age of 10 and above start to show symptoms... and only a few are able to survive it.
And those who make it through this stage, begin to exhibit certain... mental abilities.
Thus, the government considers them dangerous and all of the children are sent to different "camps" (note the sarcasm) to help them improve.
Ruby, our protagonist, who was taken from her home at the age of 10, has now spent 6 long years in Thurmond Camp. Each of the skills that the children posses divides them into certain categories: (from the least dangerous to the most lethal.)
Green: kids with photogenic memory, very intelligent, skilled with numbers and solving puzzles.
Blue: that posses the power of telekinesis
Yellow: can manipulate electricity/technology
Orange: have mind control powers
Red: the most dangerous and mysterious.
I knew at all times what I was reading. A dystopian GENIUS.
And, of course, our girl Ruby is no other than an Orange. There are only a few of them left since the government thought they were too dangerous. She has concealed her abilities from the beginning, resulting for the others to mistake her as a Green, and she spends all of her time at camp pretending to be one.
But thanks to a series of actions, Ruby manages to get out of Thurmond. Thus, she meets Liam, Suzume "Zu" and Chubs. Every single one of the characters is adorable and HAS LAYERS! Of the three, I think Chubs was my favorite. Don’t get me wrong, Zu was absolutely heartbreaking and Liam was gallant and heroic but I really enjoyed Chubs’ realism and love of “stitching”.
The kids’ main goal is to find the Slip Kid, a
sort of mythic figure who runs a camp for kids that the government doesn’t
touch. I was completely engaged in this quest, particularly in the last third
of the book. This last section of the story really had me hooked because things
get turned around and Ruby does stuff. She does stuff!
Overall, I think THE DARKEST MINDS has a great
dystopian foundation. I hope the author really develops it and makes the next
installment of the trilogy even more exciting. Ruby finally starts finding her backbone
towards the end and I look forward to seeing what Bracken
does with the building blocks she’s put in place.
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