The Darkest Minds

The Darkest Minds

 

Alexandra Bracken

 

 

 

I've heard so many great things about this series, and I completely understand why. It may seem like one of the many recycled plots: girl discovers she has powers and tries to save the world blablabla, but this is so much more than this (at least I thought so). The idea behind the world was very creative.

 

 

One of my favorite things about the book is the main character. There's just something great about growing up and growing stronger with a female lead. When kids started to drop dead in her class and around the country, everyone panicked. When they realized that the alternative was the surviving kids had powers, it was an outright frenzy. On Ruby's 10th birthday, she accidentally erases herself from her parents' memories in a single touch. Scared and confused, Ruby was taken to a camp where the kids were being sorted into colors. She realized that she did not want to be associated with the oranges, who did unspeakable things. Instead, she somehow managed to get sorted into green (not knowing that she performed some sort of mind-control on the person sorting her). She then spends 6 years in this camp trying to hide her secret.

 

So, the powers. Such a great idea for there to be certain types. There's the reds, who can do things with fire, the oranges who can see inside peoples' minds, the yellows who can do things with electricity, the greens who are ridiculously smart (I think, I didn't grasp what they can do very well), and the blues who can move things with their minds.

 

Ruby goes on a crazy journey with 3 remarkable people. The characterization in this book is lovely. Even when I hate characters, they're so complex that I end up loving them at the same time (Chubs). In reality, Ruby faces something that I've always feared more than pretty much anything: being forgotten. She doesn't know how to control what happens, so she's desperately afraid of touching someone and erasing her from their minds. How can she ever get close to someone, and why would she bother if they'll just forget her anyways?

 

The ending nearly broke me. There's something about a weak girl realizing her strength and ability and sacrificing everything for another person that I just love (must be why I loved Divergent so much). I can't wait to continue this series!