“The Darkest Minds tend to hide behind the most unlikely faces.
The Darkest Minds, a novel written by Alexandra Bracken, is full of twists and turns and it keeps readers on the edge of their seats the whole time. I give this book a 9/10 rating because I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to reading the rest of the series.
In the dystopian future, there is a disease called IAAN (Idiopathic Adolescent Acute Neurodegeneration) that has caused many of the children to pass away, and those that didn’t die received special abilities. There were many abilities, some more extreme than others. These abilities were categorized by color. For example, Reds can create and manipulate fire, Oranges can control and read minds, and Blues can move things with their minds, etc. The children who developed these abilities were classified as Psi by the government.
Ruby Daly (Orange) was one of many Psi children who were forced to live in “rehabilitation camps” created by the government to contain these children who are now classified as a threat to America. Ruby is one of few who manages to escape and is now on the run, from PSFs (Psi Special Forces), Skip Tracers (adults who receive money if they turn in Psi kids), and the Children’s League (the anti- government group who helped Ruby escape the camp she was in, but only want to use Ruby for her powers).
Ruby finds kids like her who are also on the run. Liam, their pure hearted leader who has a crush on Ruby, Chubs the genius who has doubts about Ruby, and Zu the little girl who really begins to look up to Ruby. Together they venture to find East River the hideaway, safe for kids like them. And Ruby is glad she found these kids, but she’s scared to get close for fear she will do the same thing to them that she did to her parents. “The government was never scared of kids who might die or the empty spaces they would leave behind, they were scared of us – the ones who lived.”
This is a great book about young people caring about their future and wanting to make change. Alexandra Bracken does a really good job with making you connect to the characters. She makes the characters very elaborate and interesting, which really improves the story. For example, Bracken makes Zu so lovable and sweet and a character you really love.
Readers who are fond of the Hunger Games series will enjoy The Darkest Minds. They are both set in the dystopian future and are about empowering young people.
In conclusion, This book is really fascinating, it catches the reader’s attention almost instantly, and it really makes you want to keep reading the series. The Darkest Minds is a riveting, on the edge of your seat read.
