_edited.jpg)
2.25 stars! This review will contain no spoilers!
Summary:
This is the first book in The Darkest Minds series by Alex Bracken. A disease has swept across America. Most of America's children were claimed by the disease, but for Ruby and the others that survived, things were much worse. The survivors gained abilities that they could not control and the adults could not understand. Because of this, they were sent to rehabilitation camps to be labeled by the ability they have. Ruby having not known what she could do, managed to be labeled safely as a Green and continued her life at Thurmond harboring the secret that she is actually more dangerous than anyone thinks. Six years later, her secret is out and she narrowly escapes Thurmond with the help of forces she's never heard of. And in this world, you never know who you can trust. Ruby is on the run and after running into a rag tag group of survivors from another camp, she learns about the Slip Kid in East River. Ruby will do whatever she can to make to what seems like a safe haven, she only has to stay out to the clutches of those who want her dead and those who want to use her for her dangerous gifts.
Thoughts:
I truly truly truly wanted to love this book, but I’m sorry to say I didn’t. I wasn’t blow away by the stressful-survival-secretive type plot. I only really loved one character and it wasn’t the main one. And the only enticing part of the whole book was the last 5 or 6 chapters. The back story was not hard to follow, but I found myself confused about a couple things throughout the beginning of the book. Much of the first 3/4 of the book was completely and utterly slow. The plot felt like it was dragging and I was very detached from any of the characters. I didn't develop any interest for these characters until the ending. Then the ending blew by so quickly. It was the only part of the book that I felt like I couldn’t put it down and it was so short. I do think that this book has it’s good points like Liam, some of the battle scenes, and how the ending makes you want to know what will happen next, but I just don’t think I could drag myself though another book if it’s as slow as this one was.
Plot:
Before I start ranting about the things I didn’t like, I’ll mention the things I do. Bracken did a great job of creating the setting within the first couple chapters. The rehab camps give you the creeps and the PSF’s that work there make you want to wish you had some of the Yellow of Blue powers so that you could fight back. The fear that is instilled in the children that Thurmond feels real.
I do like how each of the kids had categorical powers (Blue, Green, Yellow etc.) rather than the usual type of abilities you see in books.
Brack also made some pretty lovable characters like Zu. I immediately felt protectiveness for Zu because Liam and Chubs were so protective of her. They were like her two daddies and I thought that was super adorable and mature for kids their age.
Onto things I didn’t like: feeling in the dark. As I said, I felt confused a lot in the beginning. There were so many things that I felt were left out that were kind of pertinent to the overall understanding of things. I know sometimes, authors leave things out to be explained later and in this story one of those things made sense. But there was a good amount of moments where I thought I may have missed a paragraph of something because I felt lost.
Now, let me explain why I’m emphasizing “slow” as a descriptive word for this book. The synopsis says Ruby’s is looking for East River, but she doesn’t find it or get near it for a long long long time. Once she was there however, nothing significant happens for another considerably long time. When things finally start to get interesting, the writing became kind of choppy and quick. And that whole time that the story is dragging, you have to deal with Ruby’s whining and inability to put her emotions into words.
Lastly, the way Ruby’s control over her ability developed was sporadic. She seemed to be able to control it sometimes, and then others not so much (pre- & post-training).
Again, my favorite part was the ending, which I could appreciate for its ability to make you want to find out what happens next.
Characters:
This book saving grace for characters was LIAM. He could possibly be the only reason I would want to read on in this series because I fell in love with his personality and his relationship with Chubs and Zu.
Ruby was a character that I had to just deal with in all honesty. She was the main character of course, so I had no choice, but there were so so so so many moments when I kept thinking to myself, “What are you doing? No seriously, what are you doing?!” I really thought she was kind of a twit for the whole beginning of the book, granted she basically grew up in a camp that couldn’t teach her anything. Still, her whole persona was just so frustrating and boring. I did not like her until the last two chapter when she finally started to grow a backbone and be interesting.
I liked Chubs and Zu, too, though not as much as Liam. They were side characters I could enjoy because they made being in Ruby’s head bearable too.
Clancy was written really well. I can’t say too much about him, but I know I definitely got the vibes I was supposed to from his character. I expect to see more of him to come.
Overall:
Very average book. More of a survivalist story than dystopian. May or may not continue? Please don’t hate me if you love this series. It just wasn’t for me. Who knows, maybe when I pick up book two waaaaay into the future, I’ll change my mind.