The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken takes place in a world where a virus called Idiopathic Adolescent Acute Neurodegeneration wiped out the majority of American children, the ones who survived got psychic powers. The government created “rehabilitation” camps for the children, which in reality were just work camps to hold them in one place. The main character, Ruby Daly, had the power of mind control but convinced the person testing her that she had a different power. Ruby lived in the work camps for years, but managed to escape when someone from an anti-government group broke her out. The book follows her journey for safety with a group of fellow runaways: Liam, Chubs and Zu. Together they travel across a dystopian America, fending off the government, bounty hunters and a mysterious rebel organization.
I give this book 5 stars because I found this book to be an incredibly enjoyable and fast-paced read. Ruby’s resourcefulness and her ability to survive no matter what made her an interesting heroine to follow. All the characters were very well-developed and fleshed out, but what I loved the most was the main group’s found family dynamic that developed along the way. Seeing Chubs slowly warm up to Ruby and reading about Liam and Ruby’s slow romance was one of my favorite parts. I also really loved the way the author developed a post-apocalyptic America, using fear as a powerful motivator for how humanity can completely upend its values of protecting the innocent. The book inspired many thought-provoking questions from me because of this, and I was all for it. The writing style that accompanied the plot complemented it very well. There was no disconnect from the way it should have been written vs the way it was. On that note, the plot was also fantastic. It went quickly, but at a pace reasonable for an action novel and with plenty of space for the narrator’s thoughts. Finally, the ending was heartbreaking enough to make me want to read the next book as quickly as possible. I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone that likes action, dystopias, found family and heavy themes. The Darkest Minds may appeal to fans of Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Legend by Marie Lu, and Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson.