The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken Book Review

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.

My rating:4/5

“The Darkest Minds tend to hide behind the most unlikely faces.”  

So you decided not to play fair, huh book? Leaving us with that heartbreaking ending?? Well... I'm over it, just so you know, COMPLETELY FINE.

Clue: I'm not.

The darkest minds tells the story of Ruby, one of the survivors of a plague that killed thousands of children and left the remaining survivors with strange and sometimes dangerous abilities. Ruby is one of the dangerous one.

Their powers are classified as colors, Ruby is an Orange, which means she can influence people's minds. Each person has a different variation of the power, Ruby can tamper with people's memories and her powers work if she is touching their skin, while there are others who can mess with people's feelings or thoughts.
She was very little when the plague began, and so she didn't know how to control her abilities which led her to delete the memories of her parents and friends, who turned on her.

She managed to stay alive by passing off as an inoquos Green, someone with high intelligence, until the day they tested a new device designed to spot different kinds of abilities, and that leaves Ruby exposed.

I really enjoyed the twists and surprises. With her ability to reach inside people's minds Ruby could see things others couldn't and it was an interesting contrast between what people appeared to be and what they really were.

I also loved the inner conflict Ruby had with her powers; when she touches someoene and reaches inside their minds she is also at risk of deleting their memories, their personality, everything that makes people be themselves and that is the biggest reason on why Ruby thinks she is such a monster, because she destroys people, and that power that other people want to use as a weapon has left her terribly alone.

I have to admit that I got a little bored towards the middle. It had become a bit repetitive; kids are on the run from bad guys, they are attacked, they escape and go on he run from bad guys, get attacked, escape... it was kind of the same during that time and made the reading to drag on and on but! once we get to the ending things start to heat up.

The ending, well I obviously can't spoil it but whether you love it or hate it (I seriously disliked Ruby) it will surely leave you wanting more.