The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
Series: The Darkest Minds #1
Published by Disney Hyperion on December 18, 2012
Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Dystopia
Pages: 488 : Hardcover edition
Source: Received as a gift from Kavs!
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When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something frightening enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that got her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government “rehabilitation camp.” She might have survived the mysterious disease that had killed most of America’s children, but she and the others emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they could not control.

Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones. When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. She is on the run, desperate to find the only safe haven left for kids like her—East River. She joins a group of kids who have 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 having a life worth living.

I blew through this in only a few days, because I just could not put it down. This is one of those books i was reading while doing every possible task; eating, brushing my teeth, when I was supposed to be doing my homework…oops. If I didn’t live alone this would have pretty much been me:

Okay, now how can I talk about this book in such a way that won’t wreck me more than my current state. Well, let’s start out with the good: the entire premise is awesome. It paralleled a lot of my feels that I had when reading/watching V for Vendetta (basically a really horrific society). The PSF’s are super creepy and awful which, to me, sold the whole point of how sad the situation was for the poor kids in these “reform” camps.

Our main character Ruby, I feel, is very underrated. I’m surprised I don’t hear more people talk about her when it comes to kick ass females. Sure, she’s flawed (because she’s a person), and she grows exponentially throughout the book which was interesting to see. Her powers slowly reveal themselves to us and I like that we were able to see inside her head and get the reasoning behind why she is so terrified of not only everything going on around her, but also herself.

And then, Liam. Oh wow, I love him. A lot. I was listening to the audiobook for part of this and the narrator did this perfect accent for him and it was just like *swoon*

What I would look like if I ever met Liam.

And Chubs and Zu are awesome too. I thought I wasn’t going to like either of them but their little motley crew really grew on me and left me with so many feels….I need to get my hands on the sequel ASAP so I can figure out what other shenangins these four are getting up to. And don’t even get me started on the Slip Kid. I will say no more for fear of punching my computer.

And then that ending! My god. I started crying probably 20 pages from the end, and just didn’t stop until I put it down. I had to physically move the book away from me so I wouldn’t fling it across the room.

I was a combination of both of these. It’s been about half an hour and I’m STILL not okay.

So, overall it was awesome! I’m actually pretty upset with myself for not having picked up this series sooner (which means you should all read it right now. Go. Put down the book you’re reading and read The Darkest Minds immediately. Then come cry with me). I can NOT wait to get started on the rest of the series and hope that all my precious babies are happy and safe. Down with the PSI’s.