Series Review - Darkest Minds Trilogy

The Darkest Minds Trilogy

Alexandra Bracken

7 Stars
YA / Dystopian / Mystery / Action /
Easy Read

This was one of those overly hyped series yet again. As always that makes me wary of reading the novels because of how high my expectations are and how often the books then fall short (even if they are great books). I was really pleased with how the series progressed, I had labeled these as a younger YA then what they turned out to be. There are some pretty heavy topics interwoven into the story, including big influences from such as WW2, prisoner of war, and genocide. I will definitely be recommending these books.

The Darkest Minds

6 Stars
This is my original Book Review.  I will be adding to it as my opinions have morphed a little since.

I found the writing and the concept of the story to be everything promised by avid fans. The plot however was painfully slow and the characters are largely unappealing. Personally I found Ruby's story was told so well. It is shame her character is so repetitive, while it draws out understanding and connection in the beginning, that quickly fades into whining and frustration on the readers behalf. Liam I thought very little of, I believe he is overly sensitive and naive. An alright character but a poor love interest in this case.

I struggled to finish this novel but did want to continue the series.

Beware SPOILERS!

Book Review - Darkest Minds

The Darkest Minds
Alexandra Bracken

6 stars
Ya / Dystopia / Action / Mystery

This is the first novel in this trilogy, and I had heard amazing things about these novels.

Welcome to the USA, you cannot enter or leave the country. It has become a dictatorship instead of a democracy and the adults live in fear of the children.
All the children in the new generation where born with a mysterious x gene, there are five different classifications ordered least to most dangerous : Green, Blue, Yellow, Orange, Red. All of the children were put into government established camps, which are more like prisons.
Ruby lives at Thurmond camp from the day she turns 10 and while she has been classified a Green, she has a secret. Ruby is an Orange and she is terrified of her own powers. Escaping camp with the help of the government militia group known as the Children's League, is the beginning of her long journey of discovery.

I have just not been in a YA kind of headspace lately, so my opinion of this novel might flex a little with time. Overall I enjoyed this read, it had a few YA cliche pitfalls and hangups but the writing was good. I really liked the setting, how they explained the characters, the concept. The reason why the writing was just good and not great is : there are just too many unanswered questions. What caused the mutation? was it a gene? why the sudden onset, where did "it" come from? When exactly is all this taking place? Unfortunately not being given all the information and slowly finding out about the Colours piece by piece made the novel more confusing than mysterious.

Looking forward to seeing where this trilogy goes but not in a rush to get through them.

Book Review - Darkest Minds

The Darkest Minds
Alexandra Bracken

6 stars
Ya / Dystopia / Action / Mystery

This is the first novel in this trilogy, and I had heard amazing things about these novels.

Welcome to the USA, you cannot enter or leave the country. It has become a dictatorship instead of a democracy and the adults live in fear of the children.
All the children in the new generation where born with a mysterious x gene, there are five different classifications ordered least to most dangerous : Green, Blue, Yellow, Orange, Red. All of the children were put into government established camps, which are more like prisons.
Ruby lives at Thurmond camp from the day she turns 10 and while she has been classified a Green, she has a secret. Ruby is an Orange and she is terrified of her own powers. Escaping camp with the help of the government militia group known as the Children's League, is the beginning of her long journey of discovery.

I have just not been in a YA kind of headspace lately, so my opinion of this novel might flex a little with time. Overall I enjoyed this read, it had a few YA cliche pitfalls and hangups but the writing was good. I really liked the setting, how they explained the characters, the concept. The reason why the writing was just good and not great is : there are just too many unanswered questions. What caused the mutation? was it a gene? why the sudden onset, where did "it" come from? When exactly is all this taking place? Unfortunately not being given all the information and slowly finding out about the Colours piece by piece made the novel more confusing than mysterious.

Looking forward to seeing where this trilogy goes but not in a rush to get through them.