"It's a minivan, not a Viking." -The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

This book is rated 10 out of 10 jellybeans. If you don't read it, the likelihood you'll be regretful on your deathbed is a good 100%. The likelihood that your regret has to do with not reading this book is more like 5%. At most. You should definitely read it.

Imagine having a nightmare one and night and your parents not recognizing you the next day. Or blowing up the engine in your car during a drive to the mall. The United States has been dealing with these problems and worse because of a curious disease known as IAAN, or Idiopathic Adolescent Acute Neurodegeneration, has killed the large population of children ages eight to twelve and left the survivors with superpowers. The government has taken to classifying these powers with colors: greens are unimaginably intellectual, blues can use telekinesis, yellows control (or rather completely mess with) electrical appliances and circuits, oranges can control minds, and reds are deadly with fire. The living children pose threats because of these abnormal abilities, and many are sent to "camps" meant to "fix them." Cue female hero. Ruby is one of these weirdos, only she has a dark secret. [lightning flashes] She is not what she seems. After a sly escape from camp, Ruby is stuck in a van with Suzume, Liam, and Chubs. But she's afraid that once the other kids find out who she is, she'll be cast out onto the streets. But how can you hide who you are when the effects may be fatal?

I'm a sucker for sci-fi because they generally pique my interest. The Darkest Minds is no exception. I love the twist on "normal" science fiction with the superhuman powers that young kids have. Even if it's at the expense of 99% of the kids in their class [Pfft, they were jerks anyway.] Characters like Zu are perfectly crafted, proving how insane and terrifying humans must be to shove children into scarring labor camps, I mean, if you didn't know already. It really gets you right there (your heart).

On the other hand, I sometimes cannot stand Ruby. She's out there fighting wicked adults that want to send her friends back to camps for money. But she has an extremely frustrating indecisive quality. There are times in the book in which I just wanted to tell her that she shouldn't be afraid of herself and believe anyone else was. Especially friends. She has trust issues and blames herself for everything bad that happens. The sadness in me that she couldn't accept herself was probably worse than her own pain. We'll still forgive her because she's [raises voice an octave] awesome!

Everyone should read this book, if not only because it has explosions. There's no doubt science fiction fans will desire this easy-to-read, fun candy book, and dystopian fans will dive into this story head first. It's got a Hunger Games/Divergent vibe. And it's a trilogy. That's right. Three gripping novels that are all nearly if not 500 pages long. Superpowers storm through every corner of this book. If you like Iron Man, there's nobody smarter or sassier than some of the greens. If you like Jean Grey, the blues have cooler telekinetic powers (now you'll have to read the book to find out). If you're into Magneto, Dr. X, hate the X-men, or just generally like people that accidentally burn stuff like Leo Valdez, there's a character for you.

Also, Ruby will rip your heart out.

Formula: Sci-Fi + Superpowers + Confidence + Disease = corrupt American government

#katie #death #5stars #scifi #superpowers #plottwist