Thursday, May 23, 2013

re·view : The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken




The Darkest Minds (The Darkest Minds #1) by Alexandra Bracken
5 Stars.



syn·op·sis 


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.





re·view 




Oh.. so many feelings.

I had to give myself a couple of days before I wrote this, mainly because there are so many conflicted feelings happening.

I loved the writing, LOVED IT. There is something about the way Bracken writes that mixes the disturbing things in the book with such realism that gave me goosebumps.
When I started reading, all I could think of was XMan, which I thought could go very wrong, very fast. Surprisingly it didn't.
I loved the dark tone of the story, but what I love even more, was how well the little happy moments were written, the calm before the storm days were just SO beautiful.

The pacing is great, I was so sick reading this, even with half the NyQuil in the US, I still had to make myself put this down a couple of nights. You know, with the need to sleep and all.

Taking the writing out of the equation for a moment, the best thing was most definitely the characters. Their evolution is almost palpable, the way Ruby learns to take control, the way Zu grows in to herself, the confidence we see in Liam.. and Chubs, well Chubs is Chubs.. Love that name, Chubs :P
But the thing I want to talk about here is not even the characters we love, but the ones we hate. I don't know how Bracken did it, but I was actually disgusted to my bones of Martin, aaargh. Also the other orange, aaah, take them away from me!
Is it weird that I like that? That I like hating characters? Even Cate.. passive aggressive b***. 

Here is where I explain the conflicted emotions though.. I heard some people talking about this, and is mostly way they didn't like the book. This actually made the book better to me though.
And that is where the plot was going. They didn't really know anything or anyone, they were just looking for the Camp, but they didn't know how to find it, or what to do when they got there.
We also get the impression Liam wants to be in some king of resistance, but he doesn't know how to do it.
They mostly have a sh*t load of questions, but not enough answers. 
We don't really know what is going on aside from the main characters, but I'm ok with that.
This is book #1, I would have a problem if this was the final book and we didn't have answers(Pandemonium anyone?).
But we are seeing this world with Ruby's eyes, she is being in a concentration camp for 6 years, so I'm guessing the author will leave as to find out things when Ruby does. 
And for once, I love that.








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