Release Date: December 18, 2012
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Page Count: 488
Format: Hardcover
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.I remember seeing The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken for the first time in 2013 at Barnes & Noble. At that time I thought it sounded interesting but I didn't buy it, flash forward to around February 2014 and I finally bought it and its sequel. While it reminded me several times of other books including The 5th Wave it was still a very enjoyable book.
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.
The Darkest Minds is set several years in the future when a disease has torn through the country, killing children. The children who survived developed certain types of powers and were feared by many, so much that they were rounded up into camps to be experimented on. Alexandra Bracken describes many different places in The Darkest Minds including government camps and a diseased America. It was extremely interesting to read about how America had fallen down so low, the prices of many things were much higher than normal and many people had lost their homes. Of course it was sad but I always love reading about scenarios like this, where a country or the world has drastically changed. Alexandra gives you an America that still seems the same but if you can concentrate you can see all the differences and changes. Whether its highways, towns, homes, schools, or any other place it has at least one thing that makes it different. This is one of the reasons I was reminded of The 5th Wave, both show an altered America and show many examples of it. Overall, The Darkest Minds is not lacking in world-building and you will greatly enjoy reading about how much our world has changed in the book.
The characters in The Darkest Minds were as realistic as they could be in their situation (having powers and living in government camps). Ruby is one of the kids who manages to escape a camp and she teams up with Liam and several others. There are definitely sparks between the two but romance is kept to the minimum as Ruby tries to stop herself from falling for him. Ruby as a character matures fairly quickly, from a scared girl fleeing from a camp to one who uses her powers to fight for what she believes in. I liked Liam as well and couldn't stop myself from hating Ruby at the end where she makes Liam forget herself. Just as they were finally starting a relationship she just had to go and make him forget her. All of the characters in The Darkest Minds were realistic, complex, and worth reading about (one of them even has a short story about her, which I HIGHLY recommend reading).
The sequel to The Darkest Minds has already been released and the final book comes out later this year (the titles of the books when put together spell: The Darkest Minds Never Fade In The Afterlight). All three of them have gorgeous covers and the two currently out are both really good books. Word of advice, when reading The Darkest Minds be prepared for your heart to be crushed. The Darkest Minds is perfect for people who like The 5th Wave, powers, books set in the future, and world-building.
4.5/5 - Really good book
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