Monday, April 1, 2013

Book Review: The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken.

The Darkest Minds (The Darkest Minds, #1)The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken.
Book Summary: 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.

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.

Liana's Summary: When Ruby turns ten, everything changes. Her parents don't recognize her anymore- their memories of her all erased. So Ruby is sent to a rehabilitation camp. When she finds out that she has a frightening ability that is beyond her ability to control, she's afraid, afraid out of her mind. Now she's sixteen, and escaped, helped by someone she learns that can or cannot be trusted. So, escaping that someone and their group, Ruby encounters Liam, and many other escaped teens, just like her. Ruby is aware that she may hurt him-- so the only choice is to pull away. But will Liam pull away? Will he do it if he knows it's for his own good? He won't.

Rate(1-10): 8.6

And here I go, starting out this reviews like I start many other reviews: This was a recommendation. Heard lots of good things about this book. Yep. LOL. 

I liked this book lots. When I heard so many good things about it, I knew I had to check it out.

The cover and title are absolutely fabulous, and they were the aspects of this book that drew me in at first. Dad barged into the room as I was reading this and he grabbed it and started accusing me of having a dark and wicked mind.. LOL.

At first, I'll have to admit, it wasn't really that good until after the first 100 pages. (Things started to escalate from there, so yipee!)It probably had to do with the fact that I'm absolutely SICK of the dystopian genre-- and I shouldn't really be reading something in the same genre as the story that I'm currently writing, in case I get influenced.. I'll probably go back to the dystopian genre one day when I'm honestly sick and tired of Fantasy and Contemporary. Anyways, when I had my first glance at this book, I had no idea that it was going to be dystopian at all, but, it was really good, still.

This book is actually what I consider to be 'semi-dystopian' where the world isn't really different from our modern world today, but still quite different. It's set in the future, where Barack Obama is NOT president. So that's one hint that it's in the future. Another one is is the camps. The camps are a terrible place to be, kind of like the Japanese internment camps many decades ago. Except, instead of innocent Japanese people, the camps have kids in them. Kids that are segregated into groups by sex and 'color.' You're either green, blue, red, orange, or yellow, and that technically defines your danger to the adults. Usually in dystopian worlds, the adults are always unreasonable.

The ending. It was the ending that totally got me going. All I really wanted to do was scream and hurl the book across the room at the ending, but what I did was sob. omg. I can't. The ending is what makes this book a true tragedy.. to me, anyway. It was definitely a twist ending, fosho.

The romance is absolutely adorbs and completely WONDERFUL. I wouldn't have liked this book without the romance. The romance is why the ending happened at all.

Character Discussions-

Ruby- She's a likable protagonist, and she's independent, too, but she gets scared easily and sometimes the readers can't help but be just a tiny bit annoyed.

Chubs- His nickname is awesome, 'cept I like Charles so much better. LOL. He's absolutely AWESOME. Chubs is such a great character I can't even. He seems to be the 'I-wanna-look-like-I-don't-care-but-I-actually-do' guy. He's loyal, mostly.

Liam- I love Liam. His Southern accent, the way he says 'darlin',' the way his blond hair curls against his neck. Ermahgerd. He's so nice and an AMAZING leader.

Suzume- She's a wonderful little girl, smart and optimistic. No one can dislike her!

Overall, I enjoyed this book! Can't wait for the next one in the series.

"Ruby!"


Can you just go away I swear


"..darlin'."


Ermahgerrrd he called her darlin' SO Q I CAN'T


"Great--I mean, no problem,"



D'AAW HE'S STUTTERING


"Try to imagine where we'd be without you, darlin',"



omg this is too cute I CAN'T


"..pressed a light kiss against my bruised cheek."



HEHEHE














"..The Most Attractive Person I Had Ever Seen."


NO YOU CAN'T THINK HE'S ATTRACTIVE STAHP


"..turned up in a handsome grin."



No you can't think his smirk is handsome you CAN'T

"Sometimes, I just wanted him to lean closer, to tuck my hair behind my ear."


No you can't want that Ruby what are you doing you can't


"When my lips finally pressed against his.."


FINALLY OMG DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG I WAITED FOR THIS
WAITED IN AGONY
FOR THESE WORDS
FINALLY

"I can't tell if you're just a spoiled little shit, or if you're too worried about getting your pretty princess hands dirty, but it sucks."



No one will ever need to remind me EVER why I love Chubs


"You too, darlin'."


-------------
That's that!
What did you think of this review?(;
Happy April, everyone! Read lots.

4 comments:

  1. Hi, I love your site. I would like to download this book the darkest minds. Do you know where I can find this book?
    thanks Marieke

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, thanks! And, um, not sure! Try searching on Google!

      Delete
  2. I need to read this book, ugh! Great review! :)

    http://reviewbooks21.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. This was amazing! A new and interesting concept, impeccably executed, fast-paced, and exciting. I HIGHLY recommend this series, especially if you're getting tired or lost in YA.
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    ReplyDelete

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