Book Review: The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

Hey everyone!
A few days ago, I read The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken, the first book in the trilogy. The second book, Never Fade, is coming out this October. I loved this book- one of my favorite dystopian books this year, so far!
 
The Darkest Minds | Alexandra Bracken, Book 1
"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."
 
One thing that I find that can really make a book are the characters. And this book- I loved the characters! Ruby, Liam, Zu, Chubs.... I all loved them. I'm not going to go into specifics, but I think that each of them had their own flaws, yet had awesome attributes, too! The action was great. Some CRAZY things happened in this book. And even when they were driving, the conversations and all were so interesting! The writing was good, too. There were great uses of figurative language, but it was easy to understand. But the things I loved most:
SPOILERS!
Sorry, but you really don't want to read further if you haven't read third book. Come back when you do!


I really want to talk about Clancey. When we first met him, I was like, "I don't like you." When we last saw him: "I HATE HIM SO MUCH!" Nothing against Alexandra Bracken- he's a great character and all, but I would never be his friend. And every time they held hands or something I was screaming at the book or refusing to read. There's no such thing as Cluby or Cuby or Rancey or whatever. NEVER.
The ending. The ending. Let's talk about the ending. Oh my gosh. Everything was going so well, and then RUBY had to just erase herself from Liam. NOT OKAY! BE QUIET HAZEL AND AUGUSTUS.
Out of the four (Ruby, Liam, Zu, and Chubs) I thought that Chubs was going to die when we first met them. We don't really know if he's alive, but for now I'm saying he is. Just he's alive. Aliveeee.
When Zu left, I was so sad! I loved her character and the relationships between her and all the characters. I especially loved the chapter where Ruby and her had their "girl time". It was so cute!
Ruby being an Orange scares me a bit. There aren't a lot left and it worries me that something is going to go badly with that. (I.e. the whole Liam/Sam/parents thing). I just don't even know...
I really don't know what to expect for the next book. In all honesty, I'm not sure I like the direction it's heading in. Without Chubs, Liam, and Zu, I really don't know how much I'll like the next book. And if she's just training and working on her powers... I really hope we meet up with Liam and Zu and Chubs the next book, and Liam somehow remembers her. It's going to be so painful when they do meet up again and they don't remember each other... THANKS ALEXANDRA BRACKEN..............!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

In other words, I loved this book and I am looking forward to the next one! -Kait