"and then someone gets hit by a boulder and plummets to their death - and, surprise it's the fat kid in glasses. I think I'm going to play it safe and go read."
The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
Why I read it: Brightly Woven was a great book & when I heard she was writing a dystopian series I had to give it a go.
Simple Synopsis: Panic spreads as an uncontainable sickness starts to kill off children. Survivors are being corralled to contain the strange powers they've developed; heightened intelligence, telekinesis, an electric touch, and influence over other's thoughts.
Review: Ruby has been in Thurmond camp for five years as a Green - a 'safe' classification for a kid with above average smarts. But the camp is testing a new system, one designed to root out any dangerous children who were missorted. Luckily a resistance group has infiltrated the camp just in time to get the oranges out. Now Ruby is back in the outside world with a power she's feared and never wanted that makes her incredibly powerful and desirable. Desirable, however, is not how the group of escapees she runs into think of her. Out of pity they agree to take her to her grandmother's last known residence.
Something about this book, I can't put my finger on what, made it so imaginable. Does that make any sense? From the first page I was able to picture the story vividly as a movie playing in my head rather than being played out in words like most other books. I was on the bus to Thurmond with Ruby, I felt the bus shake and heard the sniffling and sobbing. Suzume's yellow gloves were the one bright spot in a world with hardly any saturation. It was an amazing experience to see every line played out in such clarity. I hope Never Fade is just as visual (edit from the future it is NOT).
Props to Bracken for mentioning some of the little stuff. Like where the gas for their cars comes from and Ruby shaving her legs for the first time. Any time a writer incorporates the fact that humans need to urinate and girls menstruate I like the story 20% more. There are still other things I'd like explained, like how all these parents allow their children to be held prisoner for years without any contact, but I'll be patient and wait for an answer or just suspend my disbelief enough, I do it with every zombie story I read. The love story in it was perfect! Similar to that in Blood Red Road, Dragonswood and Birthmarked, the relationship plot is there but it doesn't take over the story. And it's pretty 'awww' inducing, at least for me.
I can't think of resolution to the story though. There is no one catch all solution that could rescue those in camps, reunite them with their families and move on without a lot of rampaging. Kids want revenge, parents deluding themselves to think the government was doing right by them will want retribution and those with children killed in the camps will retaliate. Adults have placed themselves in a situation where those with the power to easily kill them are not going to feel much mercy. But.... the next line I read after I had this thought summed it up pretty well "maybe nothing will ever change for us - but don't you want to be around just in case it does," thanks Chubs.
I know she's not old enough yet but I'm casting Mana Ashida as Suzume.
I was watching a lot of cult documentaries when I read this and it coincidentally come in handy.
Recommendations: Ashes, Ashes, The Declaration, Shatter Me
