The Darkest Minds (Darkest Minds Novel, A)

Booooring.

Ruby is a childish, "goody-goody" girl with low self-esteem that doesn't even know how to use her powers, nor does she WANT to. Wtf? That was the whole selling point. If a girl survives five years in a hell camp, I expect her to be a little smarter, stronger, and well... kick-ass. But none of it. Funniest part? She kept referring to herself as a monster, which was BS. Why? Because she erased memories once? Bo-hoo, haven't you seen worse by now? Reading that made me cringe.

Liam. When I realized he was THE love interest, I stopped reading. He was just as righteous as Ruby, too sweet, too accepting, too trusting. Why would he assume Ruby is green? Why be such a blind believer? Anyway, if you are like me and like to read books with strong, self-confident, and "badass" characters, this isn't for you.

The writing was bad as well. Dialogue interruption all the time. Sudden switches, chaotic line of reasoning. Sometimes I had no idea what had happened because there was no transition.

I first read THE DARKEST MINDS in December of 2014. I stumbled across it in an Epic Reads list of books featuring road trips. I really enjoy taking road trips and the title and cover of this book intrigued me so I had to pick it up! I have to say that that might have been the best decision I've ever made.

When I picked up the audiobook of this one to do a reread, a little part of me was worried that I wouldn't love this book as much the second time. Thankfully, this was not the case. In fact, I think I may have loved it even more this time around!

When I first started listening to this, I wasn't 100% sure what I thought of the narrator, but I really grew to like her. I love all the different voices for the different characters. I think that this audio was about 11-ish hours and it was easy to listen to this narrator talk for that long.

This book is a little bit dystopia, a little bit science fiction, a LOT awesome. It has an amazing romance, adventure, high stakes, heartbreak, betrayal, and a wonderful friendship.

The book follows Ruby Daly. She was sent to a camp on her 10th birthday. She used her abilities to convince the person running the sorting test that she was a green rather than an orange. She spent the next six years terrified of what she can do. When she gets sprung from camp, she realizes that the people helping her aren't what they seem and she runs away, right into a group of kids who are in about the same predicament as she is. Together, they roam West Virginia, searching for the safe haven of East River.

Ruby is probably my favorite book heroine ever. She goes through some really fantastic character growth in this book. In the beginning, she's basically scared of her own shadow. She won't let anyone close to her, afraid that her won't be able to control her abilities and they'll see her for the monster she believes she is. It takes her a long time to open up to anyone.

But along her journey she kind of starts to own her powers. She starts to not see herself as so awful for what she can do. She doesn't truly trust her powers yet, but she sees that she can use them to help her friends and keep them safe.

The only real fault that I can think of in her is that she is CONSTANTLY like, "Nooo, just leave me behind. Leave me here. Forget about me." Ruby, just stop. No one is ditching you.

Liam Stewart is my number one book boyfriend. He's so swoon-y. He's so sweet and kind to everyone around him. He's caring. He's funny. I feel like he kind of comes off a little bit as though he's got a bad boy side. Mostly just because it's mentioned that he has been in some fights and he wears a leather jacket. I guess that doesn't necessarily equal bad boy status, but there ya go. He's super protective of his friends (especially Ruby) and would do anything to keep them safe, even if it meant sacrificing himself.

If I ever had my own Liam Stewart that called me "Darlin'" in his sweet southern accent, I would absolutely melt on the spot.

Chubs is a little bit abrasive at first. He is 100% not okay with Ruby tagging along with their group. He doesn't want to be caught in the crossfire if/when the people chasing Ruby catch up with them. He doesn't understand why they should put themselves at risk for someone they don't even know. I think that I didn't really like Chubs the first time I read this book. I wanted him to be nicer to Ruby. But this time around, I didn't find myself disliking Chubs before he warmed up to Ruby.

As much as Chubs sometimes seems to need to get a sense of humor or something, I think that he would make a wonderful friend. He's good to have around in times like this because he's really smart and he's got a little bit of medical knowledge!

Zu is the one who initially lets Ruby into their little group. She is the youngest of the group. She's such a little sweetheart and is super girly. You don't really get to learn a lot about her in this book though, so that's about all I can say!

The romance in this book is so adorable. Ruby and Liam are my favorite book couple. The scenes with them being cute together completely give me life. I just want to put them in a protective bubble to keep them safe forever. I just think they work really well together!

I really can't think of anything in this book that I didn't enjoy. I love the characters. I love their friendship. I loved going on this adventure with them. I love everything about this book.

Overall, I don't think there should be any question in anyone's mind that I 100% recommend this book. To everyone. If you like awesome character growth, WONDERFUL FRIENDSHIP, super swoon-y romances, or books about road trips, READ THIS!

It took me a couple of trips to Barnes and Noble to finally convince myself to pick up a copy of this novel. I hadn’t heard anything about it at the time and was unsure of whether or not I wanted to read it. I knew after reading The Hunger Games and the Insurgent series that I liked dystopian novels a lot. I’m really glad that I decided to finally pick up this first novel in The Darkest Minds series.

Going into this novel I really appreciated that Alexandra Bracken showed us her world rather than tell us about it. Some authors can get so caught up in telling readers about their world that before they know it they’ve spent have the book telling us about the world rather than telling us the story. Readers do have to pay attention when reading Bracken’s novels, but as long as you are it’s easy to follow along. What I love most about the world that Bracken has built is that it isn’t all rainbows and unicorns. It is dark and violent and different from most YA novels.

The story is told from the POV of the main character, Ruby. She is easy to identify with and very engaging. She has been through a lot and grown from her experiences. She is strong and determined to do what she thinks is right. I absolutely fell in love with Liam right from the start. He has a great sense of humor and an amazing personality. He felt real, not just a character in a book. I also loved the rest of the secondary characters. Without them, the story that Bracken is trying to tell would have fallen flat.

I highly recommend this book if you haven’t read it yet.

The Darkest Minds is another dystopian novel, one of the many now found on YA shelves, but this novel is not just another dystopian but a creative story focusing on children with unique abilities and the cruelty and oppression they suffer. The plot is interesting and engaging, if not predictable at times. The unique story with supernatural abilities and youth trying to fight a Government that’s not completely in control leads to a resistance and different groups fighting to control these children, government groups and splinter groups as well as the groups these youth form on their own.

The characters are where this novel really shines, with a strong, but unsure female lead in Ruby, a young girl named Suzume who never speaks out loud, an intelligent and grumpy (but loving) boy nicknamed Chubs, and the love interest with a heart-of-gold and endearingly naïve named Liam. This group Ruby finds herself apart of is dynamic, interesting, and very sweet and watching them grow close and learn the darker histories each character hides is incredibly satisfying. I also love that instead of a “bad boy” love interest which has become a staple in a lot of young adult fiction, Liam is unfailingly empathetic and compassionate as well as optimistic in their bleak circumstances. He has his share of flaws to balance out his best traits. The romance is sweet but not rushed and a healthy and positive example of love, even if their life on the run doesn’t allow it to be easy.

The writing is good, but can be unclear at times, especially in action sequences when several things are supposed to be happening at once but comes out more convoluted. It also felt like random facts would show up in conversation, things I didn’t remember them talking about, but suddenly everyone knew it anyway (this happened once or twice but still confused me). Some scenes are written with a certain point in mind but come of more ambiguous as to what the other meant. Despite these snags, the writing is still absorbing and the story and characters bring it together nicely

The story is interesting, but the writing is terrible, especially if you’re an educated adult. I enjoy children’s and young adult novels, but the writing for this novel caused me to lose a couple brain cells. Not recommended unless you want to understand what bad writing looks like.

I was so excited to read this book. The storyline and synopsis made it sound so intriguing. But the writing style did not flow well. Many parts were confusing to read, and I had to re read some scenes to figure out exactly what the author was trying to portray or how the characters were in one place and ended up in another. I am sure it all made perfect sense in the author's head as she was writing it, but a lot of it had missing information that made the book have a staccato feel to it. Or incorrect information, and this may just me being picky with writing errors: the alarm clock at the hotel had 5:03 P.M. in the "gray-blue morning sky" on page 200. Which I felt maybe the author would explain the p.m. part of the time...maybe splurge of Zu's power wrecking havoc on the alarm clock? But, nope, the beginning of chapter 13, Chubs and Zu were awakened at 5:30 a.m.)

I felt that this book had so much potential. But it was a letdown. Each chapter I was hoping the author would finally hit her writing groove and the book would take off, but each chapter I was more and more disappointed. I won't continue reading the rest of the series.

The book is dragging. More than halfway through, and I can't find an interesting point for any aspect of the story. The protagonist lacks any depth, similar to the "love" she develops for another character, and retreats from any situation that would add a change of pace or progress to the book. I'm lacking any sense of empathy because these kids seem to find food, shelter, and gas for the van at every turn despite the government hunting ALL children... But conveniently the 16 year old can pass for 21 years. Sigh and facepalm. I suggest to move along for another book, save your money.

I am 17 years old, and I did really enjoy this book! It was really good. I read this book about a year ago, and read it again before "In The Afterlight" came out. But, to all those parents out there who are looking at reviews about the book to see if it will fit your son or daughter, the first book gets you hooked, and pushes to to really enjoy it, then the second and third book have a ton of swearing in it (and by swearing I mean using the F-Bomb like 50x though out the second book and like 80x though out the third). At first, I just blew it by, but as i went on, it started to really irritate me. At first it was just a character by the name of Vida, then Cole, then a few others, Ruby included. Besides that though, The book was really good and if there is such thing as a "clean version" of this book I would totally recommend it.

Book: The Darkest Minds
Author: Alexandra Bracken
Rating: 1 Out of 5 Stars

This was supposed to be one of those books that I was supposed to like. I love science fiction and dystopia books. Plus, with this book being so popular and so many people giving it such rave reviews, I was bound to like it. It has all the elements that I normally look for in a good book-lots of action, good characters, and a lot of mystery. So, what happened? I really have no idea!

First off, I was really confused. The opening plot just did not make a lot of sense to me. I get the whole illness killing kids for reasons unknown and the fact that a kid could drop dead at any given second was a really cool idea. I kept thinking that yeah, this is going to be great! However, the explanation of the illness just really isn't there and the symptoms made me wince. Really? Now, this doesn't sound so scary at all. The next thing I know, we are rounding up the kids. Why?

Now, let's in the fact that not all the kids die and that some develop these strange powers....Okay....Why? Why didn't we take some take to develop this a little bit instead of jumping right into it? It just made everything seem all that much more jumper and poorly done.

Alright, now, these kids powers are actually pretty strong, but, yet, they can't seem to break out of the prison. We see them control minds, but, yet, they can't get out? Why? It just doesn't make sense! Now, had the author given us some kind of an explanation as to why they can't break out or had explained that the government put a block on their mind of some kind, then we would have had something.

Rudy was okay, but she's just not a main character who sticks out in my mind. I guess she is strong, but at the same time, she's kind of whiny. She just doesn't do anything for me and I just don't under why we are supposed to like her. She doesn't embrace her own strength and she doesn't grow through her strength. She just whines and it is just hard to like her. She has no complexity and just nothing.

This book just was not for me. I really wanted to like this, but it just did not work.

Not my cup of tea. I found nothing to make me hope for any sort of good in this book and actually stopped reading it for a while because it is just plain depressing. Nothing good happens. Nothing. Life sucks. It sucks some more. The end.