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The Darkest Minds

(The Darkest Minds #1)

Alexandra Bracken (Goodreads Author)

4.20 · Rating details · 134,622 ratings · 15,901 reviews

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 ...more

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Hardcover, 488 pages

Published December 18th 2012 by Disney Hyperion

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Oct 19, 2013 Khanh, first of her name, mother of bunnies rated it did not like it

Recommended to Khanh, first of her name, mother of bunnies by: Mai is a Happy Bibliophile

If The Hunger Games brought back my faith in YA dystopia, Darkest Minds made me an atheist. This book has a plot filled with more holes than a Dunkin Donuts. It is mind-boggling to me that the rating in this series is as high as Hunger Games when the supporting characters in this book are are without personality nor complexity, combined with a weak-ass, whiny wimp of a main character, not to mention the majority of a book is a pointless snoozefest of a roadtrip.

Let's for 1 minute talk about The ...more

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Feb 25, 2011 Sarah Maas rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: EVERYONE

THE DARKEST MINDS is one of the best books I have EVER read. No joke. I can't even properly express how much I love this book. It touched my soul--it's THAT incredible. It haunted me for days and days (and still does!). The world-building and plot are phenomenal (it leaves you absolutely breathless in spots!), and the characters are some of the most vivid I've encountered.

When 2012 rolls around, DO NOT miss this book--it will stay with you long, long after you've finished reading it.

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Jul 21, 2015 Emily May rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2015, young-adult, dystopia-utopia

“They were never scared of the kids who might die, or the empty spaces they would leave behind. They were afraid of us-the ones who lived.”

Ever since The Darkest Minds was released at the height of the dystopian craze in 2012, I think I've been subconsciously saving it to enjoy at a later date when the hype died down and I was no longer sick of reading YA dystopias. With an average rating of over 4.3, I was sure that I would enjoy it when I eventually gave in. But now, to be honest, I am ...more

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Apr 21, 2014 Emma Giordano rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audiobooks

WOW this book REALLY holds up over the years! I'm SO pleased I decided to reread this series :)

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Sep 18, 2014 Nick rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2014, favorite-authors, ya, mystery, dystopian, favorites

“Sorry about that. Hey—I don’t think we’ve had the chance to meet. I’m Liam.”

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Apr 09, 2012 Kaylee Magic rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favourites

OH. MY. GOD. Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod!!

This book was so damn beautiful, so damn heartbreaking, and so damn freaking AMAZING! I think it's one of the most in-depth books I've read since The Hunger Games -- and I mean that with my heart and soul. It's not just another fluffy mock-intense book; it's not just another dystopian knock-off that I could never see happening in real life; it's not another sweet romance without anything else of substance that makes for a good time passer but doesn't ...more

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Jan 06, 2013 Christine Riccio rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

MUST READ. FANTABULOUS BOOK. I just posted my booktalk ( http://youtu.be/90NS3uB8LxI ) which includes Review / Reaction / and Discussion on all the feelings it created.

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Mar 11, 2012 SerenaSmiles rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: I hereby sentence EVERYONE to read this NOW.

Shelves: dystopia, would-kill-for-next-book, book-boyfriend, book-royalty, favorite-heroines2013, will-read-again, 2013-favorites

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. THE ROYAL REVIEW for...

The Darkest Minds
By Alexandra Bracken

WARNING: This review contains spoilers.

no.
NO!
NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! LIAMM !!
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Why? Why must you do this to me? There is only so much my heart can take…
Alexandra Bracken you have managed to weave my heart full of glowing bright fibers of pure gold and happiness, then, just when I decide to blink, managed to crushed it with a giant sledge hammer over and over again into tiny pitiful particles in the form of tears…
AND I LOVE YOU ...more

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Dec 26, 2012 Mitch rated it did not like it

Shelves: no-just-no

On the surface, The Darkest Minds has a lot more going for it than your typical dystopian. It's incredibly dark and disturbing, but more than that, there's a certain realism to Alexandra Bracken's writing that makes the plot believable in a way few other books in the genre are. Yeah I'm frustrated, but not because this book is a generic dystopian - it's not, not because the plot calls for kids being rounded up in concentration camps and shot in the back - though that happens, but because I feel On the surface, The Darkest Minds has a lot more going for it than your typical dystopian. It's incredibly dark and disturbing, but more than that, there's a certain realism to Alexandra Bracken's writing that makes the plot believable in a way few other books in the genre are. Yeah I'm frustrated, but not because this book is a generic dystopian - it's not, not because the plot calls for kids being rounded up in concentration camps and shot in the back - though that happens, but because I feel like this is a book with massive potential derailed by really poor execution.

For one, the concentration camp angle really bothers me, but not for the reasons you might think. We've had internment camps in this country before, so I'm not going to question whether it's realistic the government can round up kids and lock them up - it's a stark reminder of what could happen, except to say, if all the kids are either dead or locked up, and having more is illegal for fear of more tiny terrors with psychic powers running around, yeah, the United States isn't going to survive once the last twenty something dies of old age, no? Just something I wish Bracken would’ve considered.

But beyond that, it’s the way Bracken handles the concentration camps that really irks me, because I am not a fan of writing bad guys to be incredibly sadistic for no reason other than to score sympathy points for the victims. It just never works for me. And that’s exactly what happens here, we have adult guards rifle butting and mentally abusing little kids, and for what? So I can feel sorry for Ruby and the other child victims? It’s strange, because Bracken actually has an out - the Oranges, the kids with mind control powers, some of them really are mentally unstable and get the guards to shoot each other, and if I were a guard at a place like that I’d be scared like shit and might take my constant paranoia out on the kids. That psychological angle would’ve at least given a point to all the child abuse (besides as cheap emotional manipulation), but I don’t think Bracken worked that distinction into the story until too late - until my impression of a camp run by sociopaths for housing sociopaths made me want to fling my copy of the book across the room.

Then Ruby manages to escape, and for one glorious moment I thought my frustration would be over - but turns out... not even close. Because this is a book with no end game, no direction, none of the characters, Ruby included, really knows what the heck they’re doing. So Ruby basically stumbles around from one ‘bad guy’ organization (the U.S. government) to another before she just happens to fall in with Liam, Chubs, and Zu and go on the lamest road trip ever. I think my eyes started glazing over as they’re driving around, because Liam is completely bland and not an interesting character in the slightest, Liam and Ruby together are a total fail, Chubs and Zu have their moments of brilliance but end up contributing very little to the overall plot, and the whole thing just meandered around until just when I thought I couldn’t take any more of it they get shot at by bounty hunters or somebody and my interest is briefly sparked until their pursuers are dealt with and I’m back to being bored.

The whole time, none of them really has a plan for what they're going to do, it's mostly Ruby wanting to learn more about her powers while the others stick with her because they don't have anywhere better to go I guess? And this cycles three or four times as they’re going up and down the Eastern Seaboard looking for this supposed hiding place where they’d be safe and where Ruby can learn more about her powers, and the only thing it ultimately does for me is remind me that journeys which are just a string of random plot points assembled together usually aren’t very interesting unless you’re doing it Jumanji style by hitting the characters with various dangerous jungle obstacles at the roll of a dice.

So finally, the ~~three~~ four of them make it to the sanctuary they were looking for. Interestingly enough, I’m not spoiling anything, this is all in the summary, but two thirds of the book has already gone by. Anyway, after being introduced to *two* evil organizations already, neither of which has been sufficiently developed to make them compelling enough for me to actually care whether they’re a threat or not, I’m introduced to another group that may or may not be evil and I’m trying to think what the heck Bracken’s trying to do with all these groups and... I have no clue. Something about using the kids to take control of the country, but how does group one figure with groups two and three? None of the groups really interact with each other, characters pop up, do stuff, then disappear again, and I'm really left with zero idea why Ruby would choose to work with any one of these groups over the others... well, besides the government, since they’ve been torturing her for years.

Sure, there are a few reveals at the camp, but nothing I couldn't guess from before, and no real information that would actually tell me where the plot is going - how are Ruby and her friends going to take down the evil dystopian government? What's the point of the Children's League? What's their game? And was that just a rape scene I read and nobody really says anything? And you know, the ending, I supposed I should be shocked or outraged or something, but considering I never actually liked Liam, he didn’t do much of anything during the book, I don’t think I’ll miss him.

In short, the best part of the book, writing wise at least, was the first couple of chapters describing the horrors of the camp, though the way it was done pissed me off completely. After that, it felt likes these characters just aimlessly wandered around waiting for the plot to find them rather than actually doing anything about their situation and nothing really happened. So thanks The Darkest Minds for the two hours of my life I’ll never get back. ...more

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Feb 25, 2011 Alexandra Bracken rated it it was amazing · (Review from the author)

ETA--For those confused about the title change: http://www.alexandrabracken.com/?p=1121

Well, I like it a whole lot! Can't wait to hear what you guys think!

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Jun 09, 2013 Raeleen Lemay rated it it was ok

Shelves: young-adult

OH MY GOD THIS BOOK WAS SO BORING.

I also felt like the world and all of the powers weren't explained very well, and you're constantly in the dark! It's ok to leave some things unanswered until later, but basic things should be explained early on, and I didn't feel like they were in this book.

Highly disappointing.

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Jan 10, 2013 ♥ Becky 22 rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: dystopian-post-apocalyptic, awesome, favoritebooks, so-so-so-good, fave-covers, love-the-characters, unputdownable, 22, 2013, loved-it

Everybody, everybody should go read this book. Like right now.
The Darkest Minds is amazing. This is one of the best books I've read in a long time. 100% recommended.

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1) The writing = perfection.
I felt like I was there. I could hear the music when Ruby and Liam were dancing by the fire. I felt the cold from the AC in the hotel room. I honestly felt like I was there. And the writing is beautiful. And also funny.

"Use the damn map," Chubs groused behind him.
"I can figure it out

...more

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Mar 05, 2016 lolo' rated it it was amazing

I JUST LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH. MY HEART ACHESSSSSS FOR LIAM I NEED HIM IN MY LIFE.

Thank youuuu literary gods for making me love this book.

I LOVE IT.

Passenger is nooooooothing compared to this.

I love everything about it.

The writing I love it.

The powers are so awesome.

The characters AHHHHH.

Liam my sweet cinnamon roll I love you forever and always.

CHUBS IS MY FAVORITE AND IS MY NEW FICTIONAL BESTFRIEND!!

Zu i just want to wrap her in a blanket and keep her safe.

RUBY IS AWESOME AND THE CHARACTER ...more

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Mar 29, 2017 Montzalee Wittmann rated it it was amazing

The Darkest Minds (The Darkest Minds #1) by Alexandra Bracken is one creepy, but good book! Something happened to the kids when mistake happened. The white noise buffer they always hear stopped. A strange loud noise pierced the air and the ears of the kids. Many kids died right away, others slowly, and others changed. Some slowly, others quickly. The government took all the kids to a brutal camp. One of the camp "doctors" save her and got her out of the camp, but she knows this doctor is going ...more

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Jun 02, 2016 Lauren rated it it was amazing

Shelves: dystopia, favorites, read-in-2016, books-i-own, young-adult, all-time-favourites, uncompleted-series, kindle, 2012-publication

"That girl was gone forever, and all that was left was a product of the place that had taught her to fear the bright things inside of her heart."

For once I understand why a book has so much hype. So many books are overrated and others are so underrated. The Darkest Minds deserves the 4.28 average stars it has. It deserves much more than that. This book destroyed me and if I wasn’t in public when I was reading the ending I probably would have done more than tear up. I would have starting crying ...more

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Oct 14, 2013 Jesse (JesseTheReader) rated it liked it

I really enjoyed this book! It didn't necessarily blow me away, but it definitely held my attention.

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Jun 29, 2014 Angela rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 5-star-favorites

LOVED THIS BOOK... A LOVE CHILD OF SHATTER ME AND XMEN!!! COULDNT GET ENOUGH

MOVIE PLEASE

UPDATE AFTER MY RE READ
I’m going to leave my original review and rating.
I originally read this book the first time in 2012. So at that time this was all so new to me that it was definitely a five star read. Now all these years and books later my opinion has kind of changed. I would say now I would give this book a 3.5.

Ruby annoyed me a lot more then I remembered. Liam and chubs are still perfect.

Movie ...more

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Apr 30, 2014 Hailey (Hailey in Bookland) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: owned, science-fiction

I need 5 years to process this bye

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Dec 25, 2016 Sana rated it it was ok

Shelves: young-adult, dystopian, i-dont-get-the-hype, romance, cut-my-left-nut-off-instead, literal-garbage, kill-this-character-pls

I have finally finished this almost 500 page boring crap, thanks to my cousin.

description

Expectations, expectations, I should seriously start lowering them. I went into this book expecting some badass, kickass action scenes with a strong heroine, but what I got was a boring ass long as fuck road trip story with some dun dun dun.

When I think Dystopian, this is what comes to my mind:
•Evil government
•Some sort of plague/disease
•Group of teens that must take down the government
•SOME ACTION
•Butt kicking ...more

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May 19, 2018 ♥ℂĦℝΪՖƬΪℕÅ rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: romance, young-adult, finished-buddy-read, 2018-reading-challenge, dystopia-and-utopian, fantasy, magic

3 One of Us 's

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

Buddy read with Nancy
This was my very first Alexandra Bracken book and I gotta say I didn't love it but I didn't necessarily hate it either. The writing could have been a lot better, I seemed like some of the sentences were unfinished as well. I kept waiting and waiting for more details that never came. I love the idea and premise of the world and the characters she has created, it just needs more work.
The ...more

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Jul 04, 2013 Regan rated it it was amazing

Shelves: books-owned-read, favorites

Absolutely fantastic, it feels like its been a long time since I've read a book so good. The characters had depth, the story was engrossing and action packed, I honestly could not put this book down. Easily in my top for this year ALREADY.

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Nov 04, 2014 Anja H. rated it it was amazing

Shelves: books-i-own

*5 DARKEST STARS*

Sobbing.
That's all I can do right now. That ending was so heartbreaking I can't even get my thoughts straight. I'm still wondering why it took me so long to decide to read this absolute gem of a book. I would give this evey star in the galaxy if I could!

I'm really sad I still haven't been able to get my hands on the sequel, since I really NEED to read how this continues asap!
Full review coming soon!

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Aug 08, 2018 ✨ jamieson ✨ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, science-fiction, series-to-complete, dystopian, series, 2018-reads

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

here I was thinking 2013 culture was dead and buried, but the darkest minds says hello i guess

oh my god ?? I enjoyed this SO MUCH MORE than I thought I would. I mean I just think 2012 and 2013 was a dark time for YA lit and I barely like any series written around then jfdhgkjf but i had so much fun with this, honestly if the beginning was a bit better I probably would have given this a five star?? like it really was entertaining ...more

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Aug 01, 2013 Zoë rated it liked it

I enjoyed this book!
I love stories about people with special powers so this book was perfect. I had a few problems with this book, some due to the fact that I had to read it really slowly since I had limited free time this month. I didn't really enjoy any of the romance in this book which is upsetting for someone who loves romance and I didn't get very attached to any of the characters.

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May 15, 2015 Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: own, fantasy-all

UPDATE: 99 cents on Kindle US 5/19/19

www.melissa413readsalot.blogspot.com

I loved this book. I felt sorry for these kids that had to go through this stuff. Most often, at the age of 10, all of the children would develop abilities and the majority of their parents would send them off to camps. Instead of helping the children manage these abilities, the camp either kept them around forever, or they killed certain ones.

At these camps the children were labeled with colors with, red and orange being UPDATE: 99 cents on Kindle US 5/19/19

www.melissa413readsalot.blogspot.com

I loved this book. I felt sorry for these kids that had to go through this stuff. Most often, at the age of 10, all of the children would develop abilities and the majority of their parents would send them off to camps. Instead of helping the children manage these abilities, the camp either kept them around forever, or they killed certain ones.

At these camps the children were labeled with colors with, red and orange being the most dangerous and pretty much killed right off the bat. I'm sure if they did the right thing and tried to help them with these abilities there would still be some evil kids, but that's life.

Some of the kids get away or they hide when they start to develop their powers. It's a pretty sad existence.

Ruby is one of the children taken away after her parents called for her to be picked up. She was in the camp at Thurmond from age 10 through age 16 when she was broken out by a so called good team of grown-ups. I'm not sure about these people yet as you know how adults are!

They make a pit stop and Ruby spots a little girl scavenging for food. She follows her and ends up with this little rag tag team of kids who are trying to get to a sort of safe haven. The little girl is named Zu and the other two are Chubs and Liam. I loved Zu and Liam right off the bat, you have to learn to like ole Chubs, he's a little cranky. I would probably be just like him, but worse!

Ruby is hiding the color she truly is from the other kids. She's afraid they will want to get rid of her. She wants to meet the other kid at the safe haven that is just like her.

These poor kids have bounty hunters, guards from the camps and those people from the other place after them. That's a lot of people to have to hide from! Needless to say some major stuff goes down and they end up finding out who Ruby really is as she has to use her powers to help save them.

They finally make it to camp and find out the other kid is leading the group. Anddddddd.... it's not all that it's cracked up to be.

The ending makes me mad and I hope it turns out ok in the next book. I probably shouldn't hope for anything good, half the time it's something bad!!

Overall, I think it's a great book and I really enjoyed it! ...more

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Nov 09, 2015 ambsreads rated it really liked it

Shelves: favorites, books-i-own, dystopia, fantasy, young-adult

4.5

I can't even write a proper review for this book, oh my lord. I loved it. I loved Ruby, Liam, Chubs, Zu and Betty so much omg. I'm totally having grabby hands over the next book and all you need to know is I loved this book and I'm so happy it met every expectation I had.

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Sep 10, 2018 Nenia ⚡ Aspiring Evil Overlord ⚡ Campbell rated it it was ok

Shelves: you-can-watch-it-on-the-telly, help-help-i-m-being-repressed, ya-ya-land

Instagram || Twitter || Facebook || Amazon || Pinterest

This book is called THE DARKEST MINDS but it could just as well be called THE X-HUNGERVERGENT GAMES, seeing as how it's a snapshot of everything that was trending in 2012. Set in the ambiguous "near-future," an idiopathic degenerative virus (idiopathic being medical jargon for "fuck if I know") has killed most of the United States' children. The ones who survive get neat, psychic powers. Rather than doing anything useful with these powers ...more

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May 11, 2018 Lara (Bookish_turtle) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: young-adult, abominable-ending, 5-stars, dystopian, i-will-go-down-with-this-ship, buckets-of-tears, read-in-2018

This book is so so so gooooooooooooood!! Drop everything and go read it!

LIST OF LOVES:
~Liam is the greatest cinnamon roll sweetheart cheeseball to ever walk the earth... Just sayin'.
~Zu is the most adorable, precious, and underestimated thing ever!
~Chubs broke my heart like 17 times
~Ruby (MC) was pretty awesome
~Also, the protagonist wasn't whiny. THIS IS SUCH A RARE TRAIT THANK YOU RUBY!!!
~Attention was grabbed right from the beginning
~But seriously guys, Liam is incredible!
~Perfect number of ...more

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Apr 02, 2015 Kai rated it liked it

Shelves: 2015

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

I expected something better than this. The Goodreads rating is incredibly high, so I was excited to finally be able to read it. But it was a let-down: I found the Darkest Minds to be nothing special and even a little boring. For me, this is just another average dystopian novel. The main character was plain, the big plot twist very obvious. And it took so long until Ruby, Chub, Zu and Liam finally arrived at camp.
Don't get me wrong, ...more

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Feb 23, 2011 Kogiopsis rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorite-2012-reads, fangirl-alert, reviewed, author-took-a-level-in-awesome, not-for-the-sensitive

Edit: Re-read in May 2014, but leaving original review standing because it still expresses my feelings perfectly.
Edit x2, January 2016: Having read some negative reviews, I'm thinking I might need to reread again and re-write this - not because I have doubts, but because I'm a little pissed off at the way people react to a traumatized teen by calling her whiny. I've had friends say it, I've seen reviews complaining about it, and it infuriates me. Come at me, bros; I'll fight you for Ruby Daly's ...more

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topics	posts	views	last activity
2019 SQHS Your Li...: The Darkest Minds, by Alexandra Brackens	4	9	Nov 26, 2019 08:52AM
YA Buddy Readers'...: The Darkest Minds (The Darkest Minds #1) by Alexandra Bracken - Restarting July 20th 201	281	468	Jul 31, 2019 09:25AM
You Are Never Too...: The Darkest Minds #1 - July 2019	13	7	Jul 16, 2019 01:15AM
What's the Name o...: SOLVED. YA/NA sci fi about psychic/cursed people. [s]	4	15	Mar 24, 2019 04:19PM

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About Alexandra Bracken

Alexandra Bracken

18,890 followers

Hi! I'm Alex and I write books. Please note that I don't respond to messages here on GoodReads. Please send me a note on twitter (@alexbracken) on on Tumblr (alexandrabracken.tumblr.com). xx A