[Review] The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Braken

Series: The Darkest Minds #1

Rating: 3 stars

Published: December 8th 2012

Goodreads Synopsis:

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.

It's another one of 'Raisa reads 2012 series', and it's been a hot minute since I've read a dystopian.

This is going to be one of those reviews that doesn't really have much to say. I thought this book was okay (nothing more, nothing less). It wasn't mind-blowing, but it did have a cool concept that was prevalent for 2012 dystopians. Teens and kids were mostly wiped out by a disease, but the ones who survived now have powers that terrify the American government, and they're forced into "rehabilitation camps" to attempt to exterminate their powers. Clearly, this is not the case.


Ruby is one such child who survived. She has the ability to control minds, one of the strongest powers that exists.

I felt like I was just reading along without attaching myself from any sentiment towards the characters or the plot. Ruby doesn't reveal what really happened to her and how she ended up in Thurmond until midway through the book, and that was only when I could actually consider some interiority on her part.

There's Zu, Liam, and Chubs, but again, we get the briefest of flashbacks on what happened to them that I couldn't bring myself to care for them too much.

I am semi-interested in what happens in subsequent novels, because by the end, Ruby does have some control on her powers, and there are national effects that stem from her actions (and the actions of her friends).

Maybe dystopians just aren't my thing.