Helpful Score: 1
I loved Brackens book Woven Brightly and was excited to read her version of a YA dystopian novel. This is a very well written book. It gets a bit long at points but it is very creative and very well written. The second book in the series, Never Fade, is scheduled for a November 2013 release.
Children start dying around the age of 10 years old from a mysterious disease. Shortly after this starts happening, humanity learns not to fear the disease itself...but the children who survive it. The survivors have developed crazy mind powers of different types. For their own safety and rehabilitation the kids are moved into camps. As you can imagine nothing good happens in these camps.
The story follows Ruby, a young girl admitted to the camps at the age of 10 years old. We hear about her life in these camps and then what happens when she goes back out into a world stricken with poverty and almost no children. We also know that Ruby has a dark secret about why she was taken to the camps to begin with.
The book is excellently written, engaging, easy to read and very creative. I enjoyed the world and the kids in it a lot. The idea of kids developing mental powers they cant control is incredibly interesting. The kids are all rated by color. For example Greens are super smart, Blues are telekinetic, and Yellows can control electricity. Ruby isnt any of these...she is an Orange.
Ruby is a very caring and passive girl who's developed a very dangerous mind ability. She is an excellent character to read about. She comes across as a bit naive at times, but that is totally understandable given how she lived the majority of her young adult life in a camp. She is tough when she has to be, but a bit too trusting at times.
We never really get a good understanding of the why behind these diseases and the situation. Ruby is too busy trying to figure who to trust and who not to trust. We know that the United States is in poverty and bankrupt. We dont really know why. I am hoping that part of future books in this series will be getting answers to these questions.
The plot gets more and more complex as the book progresses. There are different government factions, private gangs, and other groups...all of them want to use these kids with special powers for their own means. Despite all the complexity things never get too complicated to follow.
Overall this is a very well done young adult dystopian novel, I enjoyed it alot. It is very well written and the characterization is very well done. All of the characters are interesting and have a lot of depth to them. The world is interesting and mysterious and I cant wait to read more about it. Definitely recommended to fans of YA dystopia. I will be picking up Never Fade when it comes out for sure.
Children start dying around the age of 10 years old from a mysterious disease. Shortly after this starts happening, humanity learns not to fear the disease itself...but the children who survive it. The survivors have developed crazy mind powers of different types. For their own safety and rehabilitation the kids are moved into camps. As you can imagine nothing good happens in these camps.
The story follows Ruby, a young girl admitted to the camps at the age of 10 years old. We hear about her life in these camps and then what happens when she goes back out into a world stricken with poverty and almost no children. We also know that Ruby has a dark secret about why she was taken to the camps to begin with.
The book is excellently written, engaging, easy to read and very creative. I enjoyed the world and the kids in it a lot. The idea of kids developing mental powers they cant control is incredibly interesting. The kids are all rated by color. For example Greens are super smart, Blues are telekinetic, and Yellows can control electricity. Ruby isnt any of these...she is an Orange.
Ruby is a very caring and passive girl who's developed a very dangerous mind ability. She is an excellent character to read about. She comes across as a bit naive at times, but that is totally understandable given how she lived the majority of her young adult life in a camp. She is tough when she has to be, but a bit too trusting at times.
We never really get a good understanding of the why behind these diseases and the situation. Ruby is too busy trying to figure who to trust and who not to trust. We know that the United States is in poverty and bankrupt. We dont really know why. I am hoping that part of future books in this series will be getting answers to these questions.
The plot gets more and more complex as the book progresses. There are different government factions, private gangs, and other groups...all of them want to use these kids with special powers for their own means. Despite all the complexity things never get too complicated to follow.
Overall this is a very well done young adult dystopian novel, I enjoyed it alot. It is very well written and the characterization is very well done. All of the characters are interesting and have a lot of depth to them. The world is interesting and mysterious and I cant wait to read more about it. Definitely recommended to fans of YA dystopia. I will be picking up Never Fade when it comes out for sure.
I'm not sure how you make a book about psychic teenagers living in a crumbling society boring, but this book managed to do it with flying colors. The ONLY thing I liked about it was the idea that nowhere is really safe; when you're on the outside it's more about choosing the lesser evil than finding a group of "good guys" to align with. That said, the characters were flat, the conflicts weren't engaging, the color system of the kids is never explained...but worst of all this is a nearly 500 page book where almost nothing happens. Definitely not interested enough to read the sequels.
There is no doubt that The Darkest Minds was a great read – possibly one of the best I’ve read in a long time. The writing, plot, and characterization were just astonishing! Sure, I still had a few trifling problems here and there – but, despite that, I still cannot wrap my head around the overall sheer brilliance of this book.
I will admit that it took me a little while to get into this book. But once Alexandra started explaining her world, I dove right in to the point where it was almost impossible for me to stop reading.I have to say that one of the things I loved most about The Darkest Minds was the beautiful writing! It’s a talented and rare author who can have such brilliant ideas for stories and is able to actually execute that idea well. Alexandra Bracken has definitely proven herself to have that rare talent. Her writing is beautiful and so eloquent! It flows smoothly, and has just the right amount of suspense, action, and humor to keep even reluctant readers glued to the pages.
“Use the darn map,” Chubs groused from behind him. “I can figure it out without it,” Liam insisted. He kept swiveling his head back and forth, like he expected someone to appear and guide him in the right direction with road flares and fanfare. Five minutes later, the map was spread over the steering wheel, and Chubs was gloating in the backseat.
And the plot? It’s simply superb! ‘Nuff said. Well, actually, I do have more to say… This is one of the most creative and original dystopias I’ve ever read. Alexandra has an amazingly vivid imagination, and it truly shows it’s radiance throughout the story. Our story is set in the near future shortly after a deadly plague. Mind reading, mind control, memory manipulation, telekinesis – these are powers that teenagers are soon capable of – if (and that’s a big “if”) they’re not killed in a deadly plague first – one that seems to only affect children. Our story follows 16-year-old Ruby– one of the superhuman children who survived the plague and has gained her powers. And now she’s on the run… I don’t really have any words to describe the plot. It’s utterly scary (more so than most dystopian stories) – but, on the other hand, it’s so plausible. I truly hope that this isn’t what our world comes to! The character development is extraordinary! The characters in The Darkest Minds were amazing – they all, even the supporting characters, had such depth and personality. They felt like real people to me! Alexandra truly worked hard on the character development in this story – and it definitely paid off! The Darkest Minds has a wide variety of characters, all with their own unique personalities. You have Liam – the loyal boyfriend; Suzume – the perfect example of what a great friend should be like; Chubs – the mysterious, yet kind, friend; and Clancy - the supposed friend. And the ending? It gets its own section because it was so heart-breaking! I’m usually not the biggest fan of cliff-hangers, and The Darkest Minds definitely had a gigantic cliff-hanger. Yet, this cliff-hanger had such a profound effect on me. It was so utterly heart-wrenching, yet I kind of enjoyed it. I definitely plan on continuing the series to see what happens next! I was just gushing over the scene where Liam and Ruby are imaging a "prefect relationship" together, and then Ruby just erases Liam's memories of her...and by that point I was like... Miss Bracken...you better give Liam back his memories in the sequel... And yet, despite the brilliant writing, plot, and characterization contained inside these 448 pages, I didn’t seem to enjoy the book as much as I thought I would. Honestly, I felt like something subtle was missing from the story – though I can’t quite put my finger on what exactly that “something” is. I think this is my only major concern and letback for giving this story 5 stars. All in all, this is a beautiful book and I look forward to reading the rest of the series (which will soon consist of Never Fade and a yet to be named series-ender.) I'd highly recommend The Dangerous Minds to everyone - but specifically fans of dystopia and especially of Dan Krokos' False Memory.
Does it say anywhere this is in the 'teen' section of the library? I'm not sure what age this book is for, I can't really see a 'teen' liking it so I'd think maybe ages 10-12 might be about right----if they can stick with it
It is very confusing as it doesn't explain anything, yes the children are 'different' and are sent away to special 'camps' and given a color code' but nothing is explained, the main girl, Ruby, is ten when she goes to camp and is about 16 when she finally gets out or 'escapes' but again it just goes from one unexplained event to another
I found it tedious reading and I don't know how a YA reader can stick with it but good luck
It is very confusing as it doesn't explain anything, yes the children are 'different' and are sent away to special 'camps' and given a color code' but nothing is explained, the main girl, Ruby, is ten when she goes to camp and is about 16 when she finally gets out or 'escapes' but again it just goes from one unexplained event to another
I found it tedious reading and I don't know how a YA reader can stick with it but good luck
