Best YA novel I've read since The Hunger Games

This book, guys. Okay, let me attempt to bring my notes into a coherent review, so I can convince you to read it. The Darkest Minds is One of Those books did stands out from the mass of dystopian YA books in a way so few manage to accomplish. It has great characters, an interesting story and beautiful writing.

So Basically almost all of the children in the US died from a mysterious disease, and the ones who survived Develop Psychic Powers hit puberty When They. As some of Those powers can be quite scary, some xenophobic idiot (or rather a lot of xenophobic idiots) Decided to group all children together in work camps, Where They can not hurt the general public. Of course this is a great idea and society functions flawlessly Afterthat genius decision. Not.

Ruby has been put into One Of These work camps at the ripe age of ten. The childrens psychic powers are labeled by color from green to red once They get to camp. Ruby is an orange (Which Means she can get into peoples heads and manipulate them into Basically anything), but Because she has seen what oranges are potentially capable of, she is scared of her own powers and what people might do to her Because of them so she pretends to be a green. This works for a couple of years, but then there are incidents and the story starts for real.

One of the strongest part of this book what its emphasis on friendship for me. Ruby, Chubs, and Liam to are so much fun to read about. My favorite character is definitely Chubs Because I Can identify with him (for better or for worse), but I liked Ruby as a protagonist. The love story didnt really annoy me Either (as it oft does) Because The author Actually gives it time to develop rather than pushing it on the characters. Another positive point of this book is the writing style. It seems like Alexandra Bracken Really Took show dont tell to heart Because I never felt like she underestimated the readers ability to make up Their Own Minds about things.

For the vast majority of the book, I really apreciated that, but Ruby uses her powers in very questionable, if explainable, ways later on in the book (no, Im not just talking about that thing at the end) and no one ever mentions IT. This bothered me a little, not Because That shouldnt have been in the book it made her character a lot more interesting to me but Because no one implies thatthat might not havebeen the right thing to DO. Of course I dont really need someone to tell me did; I can make up my own mind, but I would have liked for some of her friends to question her behavior. Of course this might happen quietly in the next book.

There were slight hiccups someother, For Example I would have liked to know a little more about the different abilities (but im sure that'll be unavoidable in the sequels anyway), and sometimes I thought Ruby sounded a little too educated. I mean lets say I give her the benefit of the doubt When it comes to music and assume she was very extensively educated on classic rock as a child thats possible. But did I somehow miss the part where she went to her art class on Impressionism in the workcamp, or why did she describe the world seen through the rain-smudged car windows like an impressionist painting (putting in quotes but I might be paraphrasing Because In too lazy to find the page)? Towards the end, the book is thus a tad bit predictable Because it is obvious who the villain is. I saw some strong parallels Tom Riddle. Thats okay, but it didnt come as a shock Exactly When the Evil Plan of evilness what Revealed.

But lets get back to the good stuff, of Which There was plenty. The Darkest Minds is a very action-packed book. Theres always something happening and you never really know who you can trust. Its not too exposition-heavy, but lets you figure out the world piece by piece. Theres a big chunk of the book did indeed has roadtrip feeling to it did I so love, Which made me a happy reader. As is oft the case with thesis novels, there are no trustworthy Basically adults at all and the kids have to take care of Themselves as much as They Can. I didnt really know much about the book before I started it, so It took some unexpected turns and went into a different direction than I expected in a very good way. There are a lot of different parties, each with Their Own Agenda, Which is a great set up for the sequels.

I could say way more about this book, but since I try not to include too many spoilers in my reviews Ill leave it at that. Its always the marker of a good book if you cant shut up about it. In fact, I liked the book so much I ordered hardcover copies of all three books instead of continuing to borrow them from my room mate or wait for the paperback, so there.

What this ridiculously long review is trying to say: read the book, goddammit. Ten out of five stars.