The Darkest Minds (The Darkest Minds #1) by Alexandra Bracken

Title: The Darkest Minds

Series: The Darkest Minds #1
Author: Alexandra Bracken

Publisher: Disney Hyperion

Release Date: December 18, 2012

Pages: 488, Hardcover

Summary from Goodreads:

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.

Review

The Darkest Minds was an interesting read for me. I was immediately drawn into the concept of abilities. I liked how these abilities were explained as an evolutionary process and how some minds could adapt and some couldn’t.

I was intrigued by the fact that these special kids were sent to camps. How the public bought into the image of reform and were so quick to give up their kids. I found it sad but telling that their solution was to execute all of the Yellows, Reds and Oranges for fear of what they could do. Even the rebel groups were violent and controlling. The world was imperfect and dark and set the tone for the rest of the story.

Ruby’s story is a sad one. She is an Orange and one of the few left. Her past haunts her. She lives in fear of what she can do and she doesn’t understand the extent of her own power. She doesn’t want to be a monster. She doesn’t want to be defined by this thing she can do. She is genuinely good and doesn’t want to hurt anyone, unintentionally or not. Her struggle moved me and I was happy to see how far she has come by the end of the story.

But the pace was slow-moving for the first half of the book. It had my attention in the beginning, as the story is introduced and the rest of the book is set up, but I admit that I did struggle to stay engaged when Ruby was on the road. The plot is not action-driven. This is more of Ruby’s story with a few conveniently timed obstacles to mix things up.

The ending broke my heart. For those of you who read it, you know what I mean. Alexandra Bracken better fix that somehow or I am not going to be a happy camper.

Simply put, I found this book to be intriguing even if the story progressed a little slower than I would have liked.