The Darkest Minds – Alexandra Bracken
Dystopian, young adult, fiction.
Rating 10/10
Ruby wakes up on her tenth birthday changed by a disease that has been killing off kids and ones who survived were sent to rehabilitation camps. The government is afraid of the kids who survive the disease rather than the dead kids. Her parents sent her off and she lives at the camp until she reaches sixteen. During that time, she had laid low and had manipulated, with her powers, to have her be labeled as a green even though she is orange. Orange and red labeled kids were killed or erased, fearing that she did what she had to do. The camp is thrown into panic after they use this device that harms only orange and red labeled kids and not the others, she is sent to the infirmary. Her fate was sealed with the camp, but a doctor sneaks her out after telling her that she knows Ruby’s secret. After Ruby sees some suspicious behavior and overhears the woman talking with this man, Ruby must make a run for it after she saw the man’s memories of him killing a kid. She finds this kid that leads her to other kids who are trying to find the Slip Kid to find and or contact their family members. Ruby comes to trust this group of kids named Zu, Chubs, and Liam. As they journey to safety, she comes to terms with who she is and what she is ought to become while empowering her newly found friends. Once they meet with the Slip Kid, all hell breaks loose, and sacrifices are to be made to survive.
Immediately as I was looking for new young adult novels to read, I was contemplating this novel and series due to the fact this is dystopian apocalyptic genre of young adult. I was expecting this to follow the same clichés, but I was wrong. This is like nothing I have read before and I come to love the book so much. My boyfriend had surprised purchased The Darkest Minds boxed set and I intend to reading them all plus the collection of short stories. I took my time reading this first installment of the trilogy and I cannot stress enough the fact I found my new favorite young adult series. I had read a lot of young adult series but none of them can hold a candle to this one. A very fast paced and descriptive book that keeps the reader on their toes, and when one expects one outcome there is a different outcome. I do recommend this novel.
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