Review: The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
Published: December 18, 2012
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Pages: 488
Series: The Darkest Minds #1
My Rating: 3 of 5 stars

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 Review: I had very high hopes for this book after seeing all the glowing reviews for it. I honestly don't see why everyone seems to love it so much.

The beginning of the book was great. I liked being dropped right in the middle of action, but after she got away from the camp things started to slow down. The road trip to find East River was pretty boring even when they were getting hunted down by skip tracers. After I got through the middle of the book it started to pick up again. But then I got to the end and I wanted to throw the book across the room (but I didn't because that would hurt the book). Those three stars are for the end of the book. Now I need the next one because that ending left me wanting to strangle Ruby and I need to know how this is all going to get fixed.

I really couldn't stand Ruby. I couldn't take the "I can't tell them my secret because then they'll hate me" thoughts. I just wanted to slap Ruby and make her tell them because the constant thoughts about that were driving me insane.

There was also a love triangle. Now I didn't mind Liam. I actually liked him, but I couldn't stand Clancy. I knew from the moment that they met that he would make a love triangle. Clancy reminds me of Warner from Shatter Me because they are both psychopaths but the girls they like doesn't seem to think of them that way. I'll stop right there with the Shatter Me comparison otherwise this could turn into a rant.

I did like the idea of kids with superpowers. It was interesting but it was never explained where these powers came from. They just kind of appeared and no one seemed to question where they came from. The color classification was a bit confusing. I understand that Oranges are psychic, Blues have telekinesis, and Yellows have something to do with electricity but I'm not really sure. I have no idea about Green and I think Red has something to do with fire but I'm not sure.

Overall I liked this book mostly because of the ending and how intense it was.