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The Darkest Minds (The Darkest Minds, #1)

Alexandra Bracken

Start date: April 12, 2014

Finish date: April 30, 2014

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What Members Thought

Dec 10, 2012 Yzabel Ginsberg rated it liked it

Shelves: dystopia, young-adult, science-fiction, psychic-powers, a-breath-i-didnt-know-i-was-holding

Pleasant enough to read, and raising quite an amount of valid points about the wide black-to-white spectrum of human nature. Well, rather black than white in many cases here. It becomes clear enough, and soon enough, too, that whoever those kids encounter, they should be wary of--even their own kind. And yet, if they can't even trust their kind, then what's left to them?

Ruby came off as too whiny a lot of times. However, considering her powers, what happened because of them, and how she basicall Pleasant enough to read, and raising quite an amount of valid points about the wide black-to-white spectrum of human nature. Well, rather black than white in many cases here. It becomes clear enough, and soon enough, too, that whoever those kids encounter, they should be wary of--even their own kind. And yet, if they can't even trust their kind, then what's left to them?

Ruby came off as too whiny a lot of times. However, considering her powers, what happened because of them, and how she basically was ripped off from her life at the age of ten, to be thrown in a place where she didn't exactly have the opportunity to develop other social skills than "must make myself inconspicuous in order to survive", I could understand that she'd be wary of herself above anyone else. So it kind of made sense.

I'm not rating this book higher, though, because there were also a few things that bothered me. Among other things, the lack of urgency during the travelling parts. We're told several times about how the Psi Corps (yes, sorry, black + psi letter = Psi Corps forever in my mind), bounty hunters, the League etc. are a danger and are chasing the kids, but the few encounters they have with such groups didn't give me the thrills, so to speak; there were a couple of opportunities for something bad to happen, the characters were aware of it, you'd expect said bad thing to happen, and... nothing. It made the travelling part of the book less exciting than it could've been. Also, some things didn't make that much sense (Thurmond and other camps could've been put to way darker uses way sooner: it would've worked pretty well in such a book), and others were a little too easy to predict. (view spoiler)

On the other hand, I liked the twist at the end, as well as Ruby's decision. It was sad, but I feel that it was the only way out, all things considered, and no matter what, it makes me wonder what will happen next. Which means I'll likely pick the next book when it's out. ...more

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Jan 18, 2014 Andria rated it liked it

Overall, I liked The Darkest Minds. But not sure if I liked it enough to invest in the sequel.

+ While the scenario was a bit unbelievable, I found the idea of the kids with super powers being shunned and sent to correctional camps interesting. This felt darker than your average YA.
+ Loved the side characters like Zu and CHUBS. "I'm from NORTHERN Virginia." LOL perfection.
+ Speaking of, lots of Virginia love, which I always appreciate.
+ Trying to clearly explain cerebral Orange qualities like w ...more

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Nov 29, 2018 Jaime rated it liked it

Shelves: kindle

Seriously, why did it take me over TWO MONTHS to finish this book? Here's the thing, I didn't hate it but at the same time when I finally finished that last page I was like, "Well thank God that's finally over." ...more

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