I FINALLY decided to read this book. Honestly it had been on my TBR for ages and with the movie coming out I decided to see if it was worth the hype. And IT IS (I immediately ordered the following book).

This is a post-apocalyptic book where teenagers are suffering from a kind of virus that killed most of them and the one surviving end up with strange powers. That is why there are locked in “rehabilitation camps”. Honestly, those are my favourite kind of books; I could never grow tired of this. We have seen thousands upon thousands of stories involving diseases and teenagers but I just LOVE that. Anyway, Ruby is among the one surviving and she is sent to Thurmond of which she will escape and run for her life.

Ruby is my favourite type of character. She is a normal teenager; she has her fears and she is no superhero. But she is also a real badass when faced with danger, I thought she was weak at the beginning but the more danger she faces, the angrier she gets and she is such a strong character. I loved everything about her.

The other characters were interesting as well, especially Zu who is one of my favourites. I hope we will get more of her in the coming books, but I am not so sure about it.

The relationships between those teenagers were interesting and particularly well developed. Even in their condition, they still are teenagers and so they behave like ones.

The middle of the book was a bit slower and I think it could have been a little bit shorter but honestely, it is just to find a flaw in the book!

I can’t wait to discover the rest of the series (and watch the movie as well!).

In The Darkest Minds, a disease hits the US that kills over 90% of all the kids. Those that survive develop powers and are locked up in internment camps by the government where they are abused or killed. Outside of those camps, the world falls to chaos as everyone divides into groups and fights over what to do. With almost all the country's children dead and the few left alive being targeted by the government, the future is looking pretty dire in the US. And the rest of the world seems to have cut off all contact as it destroys itself. I decided to go with the Doomsday square for this one.

"The darkest minds tend to hide behind the most unlikely faces" (Bracken 456).

I have finished reading the incredible dystopian novel that is The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken for my project. I was stunned by the events that lead to the end of the novel. I won't spoil it for you, but I guaranty that you'll want to read the next book with the cliff hanger it leaves you on. The quote above is clearly where the book title comes from. The passage it comes from is very interesting, and I invited you to guess who its directed toward. It's likely the intended target of the quote will surprise you. My partner has also finished her book, Passenger, by the same author. When comparing our novels, I found several similarities. The writing style was obviously very similar, with a lot of imagery and details. Both books also include lots of travel. In The Darkest Minds, Ruby and her friends travel around in Black Betty looking East River. In Passenger, the main characters Etta and Nicholas travel through time and place looking for an important artifact. To end this blog post, I would like to help you find some new books on this website. One way to do this is on your dashboard. Your dashboard is filled with your friend's review and your bookshelf updates. Make sure to check out these books, and not overlook them. And to get more books on your dash, simply make sure to follow more authors. I hope you liked my updates on The Darkest Minds and you find some great books.

I have continued to read the novel The Darkest Minds. Recently, we've been instructed to look at our books from the biographical criticism standpoint. After researching my author (Alexandra Bracken) I did find some similarities between the author's life and her writing. One parallel between Bracken's writing and her life is were she went to college. She went to The College of William and Mary, which is in Virginia. The majority of the book I have read thus far has also been in Virginia/West Virginia. Based on this information, we can assume that Virginia and Bracken's college years as a whole had a great impact on her. I also learned that the author has a dog she cares for through research. Similarly, a character in the book, Chubs, has a soft spot for animals. He accuses Liam of leaving a box of defenseless kittens alone (though the group had no way to care for them) and was described to have a goofy grin on his face while feeding ducks breadcrumbs. I can clearly see how much the author loves animals in general, as she pushes this love into one of her characters. After looking at Alexandra Brackens writing through the "lens" of biographical criticism, I have found that knowing more about her life has better helped me to understand her work.

As I read deeper into the book The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken for my project, the more I love it. She is such an amazing author and describes her characters so well. I feel as though I know each of them individually. The quote above is from Ruby, (one of her thoughts). She is convinced that she can't stay with the small group of kids she has found a home with, as she thinks they will hate her when they realize what she is. An Orange. She believes herself (and her power to see into peoples minds) to be a monster, worse then the people trying to put them into concentration camps or hunting them for a reward. With this quote, we can see how deeply these thoughts akin to self hatred really run. The way Bracken has Ruby call herself one of the "real monsters of the world" is such a great to show how camp Thurmond influenced her and her own thoughts about her powers. It is truly a magnificent quote by the author to show us what Ruby thinks of herself.