The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

This was a reread for me. I’ll be getting the 2nd book soon and felt like I needed to reread it to refresh my memory, since I could only remember the smallest details (those being 2 names and about…3 events).

Title: The Darkest Minds

Author: Alexandra Bracken

Publisher: Hyperion

Series Status: The 1st in The Darkest Minds trilogy

Number of Pages: 488

My Rating: 4.5//5 stars!

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.

Since this was a reread for me, going back into this book all I could remember was how much I loved it the first time. And now the second time round, I feel like I love it even more.

I really like the backstory behind the book. As the synopsis tells us, it starts off as a disease, and once children hit the age of 10, they will most likely die. But the problem is if they don’t die. These kids end up with abilities, and the government becomes scared about what they can do, so they all get locked away in rehabilitation camps. From the beginning you can really see how Thurmond (one of the camps) has affected our main character, Ruby. She has no confidence and is afraid. It really does show how bad this place must have been.

As the story goes on, you see more of the world as it is. Although the descriptions didn’t blow me away, there were quite a lot of comparisons between the past and present that were hard-hitting. The happy memories from the time before everything went wrong overshadowed by the events of this dark world. But it was scarily realistic. The idea behind it was explained so well that I had no problem believing it could happen.

I loved the characters in this book. Loved them. They developed so well through the story, and each of their personalities were different but genuine. I especially liked how the friendships developed. each of the characters had to adapt to the world, and deal with anything that came their way. Gradually they all became braver and tougher, but still had their weaknesses that made them seem like real people.

The story really was addictive to read. The pacing was even, switching between action, the journey and finding out information. I read 300 pages of this book without even realizing it – and that’s saying something, since I usually read about 100 pages a day. It was a very clever story. There were so many different sides to it, and you never quite knew who were “the good guys” of the story.

The darkest minds tend to hind behind the most unlikely faces.

I became really attached to the story. I sobbed at the ending, even though I’ve read it before and knew what was coming. I don’t understand how I didn’t buy the second book immediately after reading this one the first time! I feel like I need the second book right now…but I am getting it soon, so not to worry. I’m really looking forward to continuing this series!

Rated 4.5//5 stars!

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Have you read this book? Let me know what you think!

And if you haven’t, is it on your TBR list?

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