BR: The Darkest Minds Series

Whenever the post title has BR, it’s going to stand for a book recommendation/review. So if you see BR and know it’s not your thing, you can just close the window if you want, no hard feelings! 

Now that’s out of the way….Where do I even start explaining how much I love this series? 

The Darkest Minds (1) Never Fade (2) In The Afterlight (3) is a series written by one of my favorite authors Alexandra Bracken. It’s a dystopian trilogy where the majority of children in the US have IAAN (Idiopathic Adolescent Acute Neurodegeneration). There’s only two outcomes when the children have IAAN: they either die or obtain Psi abilities classified into the groups Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, and Blue (why does it feel like I’m in microbiology class? Though the alternative to death was never as cool as developing mind powers or anything.). The kids that survive IAAN are considered to be a danger and under the guise of rehabilitation, they are taken to camps where they endure mistreatment, etc. The main character is Ruby Daly and the series is all about what trouble she runs into as she lives her life as a Psi. 

Now onto why I recommend reading this series. This is only a small list because honestly I can talk about these books for days. 

1. The Darkest Minds series is the reason I love dystopias. It was written so well. It’s the exact reason I still buy or check out every YA dystopia even though the market is saturated with them. When they’re done well, they just make me squeal. If you have any interest in dystopias, but find yourself a little tired of the typical ones, pick this book up! 

2. The characters. Ruby, Chubs, Liam, Zu, and many others…I adore them so much. From the first time the main four characters were introduced, they were written so well. Realistic, complex, three-dimensional—Ms. Bracken has a skill in creating distinct characters and it really pulls you into the story. 

3. Who doesn’t want to read about kids with awesome powers: pyrokinesis, mind control, electrokinesis (I’m not sure if this is actually a word, but basically the ability to control electricity), enhanced intelligence, and telekinesis.

4. It’s a finished series now, so you don’t have to suffer like I did waiting a year for each book to be published. Go out and buy all three. I’m warning you now. It’s in your best interest that you just buy all three so you don’t even have to suffer the car ride to your local Barnes and Noble or local indie store to get the next book. 

5.  I really admire Alexandra Bracken (if you haven’t noticed). I love the way she writes and I love that she does her research (regarding IAAN especially in the 3^rd book—biochemist/pre-med in me really appreciates that she didn’t just leave the science out of the series). Most of all, she really cares about her fans. She’s active on Tumblr and Twitter—I mean she retweeted me and answered a question on Tumblr. It’s the first time I reached out to connect with the author of a series I loved and Ms. Bracken exceeded my expectations. If I can just have a fraction of her writing ability, I would be satisfied with my writing (well not really, but I would be happier :D) 

6. Bonus: The book titles make a sentence! The Darkest Minds Never Fade In The Afterlight. How awesome is that? 

Seriously, I really recommend that you read this series. You will not regret it. Let’s just put it this way, I will be buying anything Ms. Bracken writes until there’s nothing left. 

Have any of you read this series? Or are you now interested in reading it after this blogpost? Comment below! I would love to fangirl about The Darkest Minds.