THE DARKEST MINDS by Alexandra Bracken
4 Stars
Verdict: A sluggish start but a spectacular ending.
We've heard it all before. Kids start developing powers at puberty and the government has locked them all up in 'rehabilitation' centres. Ruby, terrified of her powers, is just trying to survive when the resistance takes too much of an interest in how she could help them fight the government.
This story could do with an exposition comb run through it, alongside a pair of thought-thinning scissors. It’s a slow read for the most part, dense with info and thought dumping, which left me craving action, plot, and active characters. My first impressions were not great. I actually stopped reading this after the first ten percent earlier this year.
Six months later and a third of the way in, I was gearing up for a two star review. I love kids-with-powers stories, but it sounded too much like other dystopians. I felt impatient for it to move along into fresher material. After all, how much world-building is necessary when we've heard it all before?
Then it got interesting. Ruby escapes the plot prison that is Thurmond. We meet some quirky and passionate characters that help breathe some life into Ruby, and things start happening. Slowly. The dialogue is still bogged down by too many descriptions and thought assessments, and Ruby spends a lot of time circling the same hopes and fears. Brushing that aside, the character moments were enjoyable.
By the last third, we’ve got all sorts. Action, twists, romance, and character development! I couldn’t put it down for long as the story kept building to a spectacular ending.
By the end of this book, I was in love. I cared about the characters and loved how they had changed by the end of it. So the writing style is a bit on the thick side and it took a while to get going – its still a great book to me. Here’s hoping that book 2 kicks off quicker than this one.
Source: Bought it!
4 Stars
Verdict: A sluggish start but a spectacular ending.
We've heard it all before. Kids start developing powers at puberty and the government has locked them all up in 'rehabilitation' centres. Ruby, terrified of her powers, is just trying to survive when the resistance takes too much of an interest in how she could help them fight the government.
This story could do with an exposition comb run through it, alongside a pair of thought-thinning scissors. It’s a slow read for the most part, dense with info and thought dumping, which left me craving action, plot, and active characters. My first impressions were not great. I actually stopped reading this after the first ten percent earlier this year.
Six months later and a third of the way in, I was gearing up for a two star review. I love kids-with-powers stories, but it sounded too much like other dystopians. I felt impatient for it to move along into fresher material. After all, how much world-building is necessary when we've heard it all before?
Then it got interesting. Ruby escapes the plot prison that is Thurmond. We meet some quirky and passionate characters that help breathe some life into Ruby, and things start happening. Slowly. The dialogue is still bogged down by too many descriptions and thought assessments, and Ruby spends a lot of time circling the same hopes and fears. Brushing that aside, the character moments were enjoyable.
By the last third, we’ve got all sorts. Action, twists, romance, and character development! I couldn’t put it down for long as the story kept building to a spectacular ending.
By the end of this book, I was in love. I cared about the characters and loved how they had changed by the end of it. So the writing style is a bit on the thick side and it took a while to get going – its still a great book to me. Here’s hoping that book 2 kicks off quicker than this one.
Source: Bought it!
Glad you persevered and that the book go so much better. Sounds perfect for this time of year. Great review.
ReplyDeleteWonderful review! I love books with twists and turns! :)
ReplyDeleteGlad you were able to stick with it and enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteThis looks interesting, I'm glad to know to keep going even if it isn't perfect in the start! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteGreat review! Glad you enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteSlow builds are sometimes the best - they make you work for it
ReplyDeleteglad you stuck through to the point where you enjoyed it.. i might have DNFed it
ReplyDeleteI don't blame you. The only reason I picked it back up is because I had DNFed about 4 books in a row and it was the best of a bad bunch.
DeleteI’ve decided to give this series a skip, it doesn’t really intrigue me.
ReplyDeleteGlayf you enjoyed it at the end
ReplyDeleteGreat review, I really want to read this series hopefully I will check it out one day. I'm glad that overall you enjoyed reading this book. Thank you so much for sharing your awesome post.
ReplyDeleteGreat review!!!
ReplyDelete