Government rehabilitation camps are set up to squash the powers of the children who have survived a terrible plague upon the world. Ruby is one of these, but when she is stolen from Thurmond, she knows she must find other kids who are still free and fight the government.

Now, I wanted to be more invested but after having started it in December and reading other books at lightening speed past this, I realized I wasn't in to it. Maybe it was that there wasn't enough information given up front about the conditions of the kids and what was happening in the world or maybe because it's wordy, clocking in at almost 500-pages, but I had to skim to finish.

This is the first time reading anything by this author, so I didn't really know what to expect. This book was fast paced and easy to read. There were lots of twists and turns that I didn't expect. I look forward to reading more from this author. I highly recommend this book.

I enjoyed reading this book and incorporated as a choice in my university class on young adult literature! Great complement to other contemporary dystopian texts, particularly as we think about geography and road trips in YA texts.

I'm sure this is an excellent book, but I do not recall requesting it. I do not intend to read it, mostly because I'm not as interested in YA fantasy as I used to be.

This gripped me from the beginning. I enjoyed the characters and all their abilities. The fast oace kept me turning the pages till i reached the last and then i wanted even more.

A fantastic read, a worthy addition to the dystopian canon. Ruby is a wonderful hero and I'm looking forward to seeing her on the big screen. Off to read the rest of the series now.


(My apologies for the {extremely} late review, I have been seriously ill for a long time.)

This book has been a great success in my high school library. Students have enjoyed the story, and have been reading the sequels. They like the strong female main character, and her determination to fight for what is right.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10576365-the-darkest-minds?from_search=true

I loved this book! I loved the dsytopian world Bracken creates and fleshes out after the sickness outbreak that either kills a child, or leaves them with 1 of 4 different powers. I enjoyed the progression of escaping the mental institution and seeking out a safe place in the wild. She and her friends are looking for freedom and safety in a world where it might not truly exist anymore. Never was so scared of the color orange.

I didn't get a chance to read this before it expired on my nook. I'm sorry! I did begin reading this when I met the author a couple years ago at Apollycon, but I wasn't in the mood for dystopian at the time. I do want to finish this series! I own all the books!

Awful. Poorly written. Trying too hard to shock her audience. Bracken is not a bad writer, but this book in particular was a disaster.

Murderous Minds
The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

* ARC received from NetGalley for review


5 out of 5 gnomes

A truly mad world, is what the characters in this story have to live with. Kids all over the world begin dropping dead. This new disease, “Idiopathic Adolescent Acute Neurodegeneration—IANN for short,” only has an effect on children. There’s only one of two outcomes though, you either die or gain a variety of powers. A cure is supposedly being looked for but the kids who are left are basically being sent to prison camps if they exhibit powers.

The kids with powers are grouped like so: Blue, Green, Yellow, Red, and Orange. Blue can move things with their minds, Green are crazy good at sorting and codes, Yellow can control electricity, Red can control fire, and Orange’s all have some kind of powers having to do with the mind or mind control. As you can see this means that there’s a wide range of powers and some kids are better at controlling their powers than others. The Blues and Greens are seen as relatively safe while the Yellows are more towards the unsafe end of the spectrum. The Reds and Oranges are portrayed as being the most dangerous.

Ruby has had one heck of a hard knock life. Everything was going pretty great until her tenth birthday, that’s when everything changed. At the age of ten she was taken away and put into one of the camps. These camps aren’t exactly nice places and Ruby tries to blend in by not causing trouble or acknowledging her true nature. After about six years though new problems arise and Ruby sees a potential way to get her freedom.

The group that Ruby becomes a part of gives the reader another glimpse of the world and just how it's changed. The group is composed of very different people but they become as close as a family over the course of the story. I LOVE that Ruby and Liam don’t have that whole instant love connection but actually build towards something. At first the relationship treated most seriously is that between the whole group that she meets and quickly becomes a part of. It was a breath of fresh air to see the group dynamic as more important because it lets you see more of all the characters instead of just the happy couple.

This book is dark, twisty, and just the right amount angsty. There is just so much going on in this book and so much happens. The atmosphere and characters grab you right away and just never let go. Plus the ENDING, it’s one of those that kind of makes perfect sense for the book but still make you want to curse/shout at the same time. I don't think I've ever been so happy to know that a book is part of a trilogy, I truly am looking forward to seeing where the story goes from here.

Another amazing book from Hyperion. I love that I have yet to hit a book published by them that wasn't well written and stunning.
I'm not sure I can put into words the wonder of this book. It's long but it doesn't feel long. It's like being on a rollercoaster - it keeps pulling you forward and dropping the ground from beneath you. Nothing in this world is as it seems.
Ruby is scared and weak but realizes that she can be the one to protect her new friends. She stays but understands that as much as she can protect them from the outside, there is no one to protect them from her.
I love her growth and how she learned to trust not only those she had become friends with but herself as well. She learned to trust her abilities and make those choices that come from a place of knowledge instead of fear.
I look forward to reading what happens next.

When I started reading, I though I had a hit book that my students would love.

But then I kept reading and the whole book fell apart. I cannot recommend.