Book Title: The Darkest Minds
Author: Alexandra Bracken
Series: The Darkest Minds #1
Series: The Darkest Minds #1
Date Started: December 7th 2013
Date Completed: December 9th 2013
Genres: Dystopian, Thriller, Romance, Fantasy
Rating: Five stars
Review:
I wasn't entirely aware of the hype around this book when I started reading it. I didn't think it was going to be that great, just another teenage romance with some fantasy thrown in to attract a wider audience. And when I started, that is what I got. But then the story went on and I was proven very, very wrong.
Ruby is dangerous. She's one of the children the government want to get rid of so much that they'll kill her. So when her chance comes, Ruby slips away to run straight into a small bunch of runaways. Before she knows it, they're on the run together, their combined threats breathing down their necks. But as the time goes on, Ruby starts to find herself getting to know the people around her, but she has more to hide than they're aware of.
I liked the writing when I got past the initial start of the book where I felt there wasn't anything going on, however I can't say there's anything that particularly stuck out as amazing to me apart from the subtly. Not with emotions as such, but the behaviour and actions of the characters were very calm and slow and that made me grow to love them (for example, it was fairly obvious who Ruby was becoming involved with, but the gradual pace they went at made it all the more sweet when it actually happened). I don't think I've read a book that took its time quite like this, and it was a lovely side-note when the danger and thrills faded away.
I wasn't sure what was going on when I started reading the book. It was slow to start, and I was worried I wasn't going to like it at all: I felt I could tell what was going to happen; it all seemed rather dreary and boring. And then something I didn't predict happened. And then everything picked up so fast I wasn't even aware it was happening.
Suddenly there was danger at every turn, and I wasn't sure when the characters were safe or when they should be on their guard. The plot suddenly became so unpredictable I didn't want to put the book down because every chapter ended on a cliffhanger.
One of the best things about this book for me was the fact that it wasn't always the main character being the hero. It wasn't even always the male lead or the third most important person etc. Everyone seemed to have a point where they saved someone or made a discovery. There aren't many books where the glory is shared so widely over the characters. This not only helped me fall in love with the people in the book more, but also made the plot seem more real.
And then there's the little details that were weaved into everything. The relationships and their effects on the characters; I could see each person developing more and more in my head as I read, and I started to grow with them and understand them more deeply. The intricate little hints about the world and what happened that appear every now and then. All these little things just adding up to make quite a remarkable collection of words.
I was not emotionally ready for the ending. Honestly, I had seen it coming early in the book, but I was pushing it to the back of my mind in a vain attempt to refuse the ultimate climax. Unfortunately, despite my struggles, the ending still happened and it still crushed me. It isn't often that a (slight spoiler!) romance-including storyline almost brings me to tears. But this did. And the worst thing is it isn't even definite - I've got to keep reading all the way to the end of the trilogy for it to be confirmed I bet.
The characters are what made me connect most with the story. I liked the story, and the writing was okay, but it's the characters that made it hard for me to put the book down.
I admit, at the start of the book, I really didn't like Ruby. I found her annoying and childish and I didn't like her dialogue. But she definitely grew on me as she got stronger and cleverer. For some reason, I got the feeling she didn't really care about many other people at the beginning, maybe because she wasn't shown with many other people, but as the story went on and she started to get attached to people, I started to like her more and more, and by the end I'm glad to say I think she's a good protagonist.
Liam was beautiful and I think I might just have fallen in love with him… I'm glad that for once we had an open male interest, it's a change from the macho men and actually I connected a whole lot better with him. He was still able to be protective and strong and clever without constantly bigging himself up. I love Ruby now, but I want Liam, sorry.
Chubs was my favourite character for may reasons. First of all, he's adorable and the most loving of all the characters in my opinion. Secondly, he's the brains and actually turns out to be the hero more than once. I also loved his literary references as they kept popping up, because I could relate to that. I just think he's the loveliest character and was worth a lot more than people regarded him as.
Suzume, for me, didn't stand out too much. I'm trying to think of something to say about her, but not much comes to mind. I think her involvement was definitely key to Ruby becoming a better character and their relationship really was sweet. I'd like to see her when she's had a bit of time to become independent.
Clancey annoyed me and I didn't trust him for one minute. But he was an amazing plot device, because I really caught myself doubting my judgment a couple of times and I did start to trust him.
I had real problems with pacing at the start. For the first 150 pages I didn't really enjoy the book that much because there was nothing happening, we were just being told what was going on. Usually I would be a little nicer about it, but I think the information given to us there could have been gradually introduced as we went through the story, so the first part of the book wasn't really needed in my opinion.
However, once the story picked up, everything started racing past. It wasn't rushed, but it was extremely fast paced with so many twists and turns I honestly didn't know what was going to happen next. I found it very, very hard to put the book down near the end.
As the book finishes, I felt it was on a little bit of a low point, pacing-wise. I understand why this is, but I feel like I'm in a bit of a slump now because of the events of the end and I'm finding it hard to pick up another book, just because my heart wasn't racing right until the end. This isn't necessarily good or bad, I'm just not sure whether it was originally intended to have that effect on the reader.
The Darkest Minds really surprised me; I thought it was going to be another typical Young Adult novel with a romance-led plot with a bit of fantasy and danger in the background. But it turned out to be an amazing story with real threat and thrills at every turn and a really engaging love story and world. I loved it and I think a lot of other people will, so if you like dystopians with some good storyline and characters, pick up this book. You'll love it.
Image Source: http://youthvoices.net/sites/default/files/
image/15025/jun/darkest-minds.jpeg
I wasn't entirely aware of the hype around this book when I started reading it. I didn't think it was going to be that great, just another teenage romance with some fantasy thrown in to attract a wider audience. And when I started, that is what I got. But then the story went on and I was proven very, very wrong.
Ruby is dangerous. She's one of the children the government want to get rid of so much that they'll kill her. So when her chance comes, Ruby slips away to run straight into a small bunch of runaways. Before she knows it, they're on the run together, their combined threats breathing down their necks. But as the time goes on, Ruby starts to find herself getting to know the people around her, but she has more to hide than they're aware of.
I liked the writing when I got past the initial start of the book where I felt there wasn't anything going on, however I can't say there's anything that particularly stuck out as amazing to me apart from the subtly. Not with emotions as such, but the behaviour and actions of the characters were very calm and slow and that made me grow to love them (for example, it was fairly obvious who Ruby was becoming involved with, but the gradual pace they went at made it all the more sweet when it actually happened). I don't think I've read a book that took its time quite like this, and it was a lovely side-note when the danger and thrills faded away.
I wasn't sure what was going on when I started reading the book. It was slow to start, and I was worried I wasn't going to like it at all: I felt I could tell what was going to happen; it all seemed rather dreary and boring. And then something I didn't predict happened. And then everything picked up so fast I wasn't even aware it was happening.
Suddenly there was danger at every turn, and I wasn't sure when the characters were safe or when they should be on their guard. The plot suddenly became so unpredictable I didn't want to put the book down because every chapter ended on a cliffhanger.
One of the best things about this book for me was the fact that it wasn't always the main character being the hero. It wasn't even always the male lead or the third most important person etc. Everyone seemed to have a point where they saved someone or made a discovery. There aren't many books where the glory is shared so widely over the characters. This not only helped me fall in love with the people in the book more, but also made the plot seem more real.
And then there's the little details that were weaved into everything. The relationships and their effects on the characters; I could see each person developing more and more in my head as I read, and I started to grow with them and understand them more deeply. The intricate little hints about the world and what happened that appear every now and then. All these little things just adding up to make quite a remarkable collection of words.
I was not emotionally ready for the ending. Honestly, I had seen it coming early in the book, but I was pushing it to the back of my mind in a vain attempt to refuse the ultimate climax. Unfortunately, despite my struggles, the ending still happened and it still crushed me. It isn't often that a (slight spoiler!) romance-including storyline almost brings me to tears. But this did. And the worst thing is it isn't even definite - I've got to keep reading all the way to the end of the trilogy for it to be confirmed I bet.
The characters are what made me connect most with the story. I liked the story, and the writing was okay, but it's the characters that made it hard for me to put the book down.
I admit, at the start of the book, I really didn't like Ruby. I found her annoying and childish and I didn't like her dialogue. But she definitely grew on me as she got stronger and cleverer. For some reason, I got the feeling she didn't really care about many other people at the beginning, maybe because she wasn't shown with many other people, but as the story went on and she started to get attached to people, I started to like her more and more, and by the end I'm glad to say I think she's a good protagonist.
Liam was beautiful and I think I might just have fallen in love with him… I'm glad that for once we had an open male interest, it's a change from the macho men and actually I connected a whole lot better with him. He was still able to be protective and strong and clever without constantly bigging himself up. I love Ruby now, but I want Liam, sorry.
Chubs was my favourite character for may reasons. First of all, he's adorable and the most loving of all the characters in my opinion. Secondly, he's the brains and actually turns out to be the hero more than once. I also loved his literary references as they kept popping up, because I could relate to that. I just think he's the loveliest character and was worth a lot more than people regarded him as.
Suzume, for me, didn't stand out too much. I'm trying to think of something to say about her, but not much comes to mind. I think her involvement was definitely key to Ruby becoming a better character and their relationship really was sweet. I'd like to see her when she's had a bit of time to become independent.
Clancey annoyed me and I didn't trust him for one minute. But he was an amazing plot device, because I really caught myself doubting my judgment a couple of times and I did start to trust him.
I had real problems with pacing at the start. For the first 150 pages I didn't really enjoy the book that much because there was nothing happening, we were just being told what was going on. Usually I would be a little nicer about it, but I think the information given to us there could have been gradually introduced as we went through the story, so the first part of the book wasn't really needed in my opinion.
However, once the story picked up, everything started racing past. It wasn't rushed, but it was extremely fast paced with so many twists and turns I honestly didn't know what was going to happen next. I found it very, very hard to put the book down near the end.
As the book finishes, I felt it was on a little bit of a low point, pacing-wise. I understand why this is, but I feel like I'm in a bit of a slump now because of the events of the end and I'm finding it hard to pick up another book, just because my heart wasn't racing right until the end. This isn't necessarily good or bad, I'm just not sure whether it was originally intended to have that effect on the reader.
The Darkest Minds really surprised me; I thought it was going to be another typical Young Adult novel with a romance-led plot with a bit of fantasy and danger in the background. But it turned out to be an amazing story with real threat and thrills at every turn and a really engaging love story and world. I loved it and I think a lot of other people will, so if you like dystopians with some good storyline and characters, pick up this book. You'll love it.
Image Source: http://youthvoices.net/sites/default/files/
image/15025/jun/darkest-minds.jpeg
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