The Darkest Minds (The Darkest Minds, #1) by Alexandra Bracken
Published: December 18th 2012 by Disney Hyperion
Pages: 488

When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something alarming enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that gets her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government “rehabilitation camp.” She might have survived the mysterious disease that’s killed most of America’s children, but she and the others have emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they cannot control.

Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones.

When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. Now she’s on the run, desperate to find the one safe haven left for kids like her—East River. She joins a group of kids who escaped their own camp. Liam, their brave leader, is falling hard for Ruby. But no matter how much she aches for him, Ruby can’t risk getting close. Not after what happened to her parents.

When they arrive at East River, nothing is as it seems, least of all its mysterious leader. But there are other forces at work, people who will stop at nothing to use Ruby in their fight against the government. Ruby will be faced with a terrible choice, one that may mean giving up her only chance at a life worth living.

“The Darkest Minds tend to hide behind the most unlikely faces.”

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

When I finally decided to start reading The Darkest Minds, it was already three years after it first had been published. In most cases, it doesn't affect my opinion on a book. However, when a book is being surrounded by so much hype ever since it came out, it surprisingly does. This wasn't the amazing action-packed dystopian I needed it to be.

Despite my several issues with this book, there were still some very good things that made me rate it three stars. For example, there is no denying my love for the haunting world. Author Alexandra Bracken made it fit perfectly into the dystopian genre by using common elements such as diseases, evil governments and mysterious abilities. I thought I'd grown tired of these kind of books a long time ago, but Bracken proves me wrong. Although it took a while for me to finally settle into the world, it came across as believable. I love that about a dystopian. They are, after all, books where the world is an absolute focus and must be done right.

Unfortunately, there's always two sides to a coin. Even if my issues with the world are very limited. Starting off, I had quite some trouble with figuring out what each colour meant and what they exactly did. Call me retarded, but I did not think it was a smart choice to name abilities after colours, as I kept struggling with them until halfway through. Another personal matter, was the rehabilitation camp. This close relative of the concentration camps was by far something that added some darkness and serious topics into the book. It was simply captivating, but also controversial at the same time. I may have had some trouble with it just because it was so unexpected, to say the least. Let's say I'd seen enough to get a perfectly clear image of Ruby's tortured past.

I never expected to dislike Ruby as a character, even if I do. Because all the hype surrounding the book, I thought loving her would be easy because of her bold attitude and strong personality. Nothing like that happened. Ruby turned out to be nothing but a weak and whiny character. I hold no grudges against weak characters, since they are most likely the ones who surprise you in the end. I hope she will fit into this category, as I was mostly irritated with her in this book. She kept complaining and getting hurt, and believing she's the biggest "monster" of them all. After discovering bits and pieces of her past, I get where she is coming from, however it still does not qualify as an excuse for whining all the way through the five hundred pages.

The other characters started out quite meh for me. They were kind of thrown in there like I simply had to deal with them for the rest of the series. As the story progressed, my opinion changed very quickly. All the layers of their personality started to show, revealing who they really were underneath. In the end, they are just scared kids on the run, looking for a future together. It was really a journey for me that paid off. All the others, ranging from side characters to love interests, surprised me in a pleasant way. Depth was brought to their characters through backstories I loved. In the end, I couldn't help but fall for the characters they really were. I adored the dynamics between the trio. Bracken made it really believable and showed me many times how much they cared for each other. Their strong friendship was the light touch to this book I absolutely needed. Clancey, on the other hand, was a real twist to this book. Without giving away too much, I'd suggest you keep your eyes out for this character. He's intriguing, mysterious, and a pleasant surprise.

The overall pace and plot of this book, weren't all too great to be honest. Instead of the action-packed book I'd expected it to be, it was nothing but a bunch of kids who traveled around and didn't do much. It wasn't until the second half that things started happening. Though some of the action-scenes were still a bit on the annoying side, a lot of my issues regarding the plot and pace faded away. No one was still doing anything, yet it didn't feel like that anymore. Tension started to build up slowly but steady, and I found myself more and more interest in what would happen next. The ending left me open-mouthed, which is my main reason for continuing the series. It holds some strong potential, and I have to find out myself if it is really worth it in the end. For now, I do think so.

An Ember in the Ashes (Sneak Peak) by Sabaa Tahir
Published: March 23rd Penguin Young Readers Group

I will tell you the same thing I tell every slave.

The resistance has tried to penetrate this school countless times. I have discovered it every time.

If you are working with he resistance, if you contact them, if you think of contacting them, I will know.

Laia is a Scholar living under the iron-fisted rule of the Martial Empire. When her brother is arrested for treason, Laia goes undercover as a slave at the empire’s greatest military academy in exchange for assistance from rebel Scholars who claim that they will help to save her brother from execution.

Elias is the academy’s finest soldier— and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias is considering deserting the military, but before he can, he’s ordered to participate in a ruthless contest to choose the next Martial emperor.

When Laia and Elias’s paths cross at the academy, they find that their destinies are more intertwined than either could have imagined and that their choices will change the future of the empire itself.

"The field of battle is my temple. I mentally chant a saying my grandfather taught me the day he met me, when I was six. He insists it sharpens the mind the way a whetstone sharpens a blade. The swordpoint is my priest. The dance of death is my prayer. The killing blow is my release."

Thank you Penguin Young Readers Group for providing me with a sneak peak for review.

Legend meets The Winner's Curse in a breath-taking novel. Or at least, that's what I have gathered from the sneak peak. Honestly, I'm surprised with how much I loved this shortened version of An Ember in the Ashes. I'd never imagined to rate a sneak peak five stars, but my unbelief doesn't stop there. It was so action-packed I could barely wrap my head around it. This was only the beginning of a story about the clash in an ancient Rome-like empire, yet it didn't hold author Sabaa Tahir back from anything. There was action. There was such a heart-wrenching scene. There were wonderful characters I now care for.

There's no questioning Tahir's talent, as I could gather so many different aspects of the book, just by reading one chapter. Despite the fact that the world belongs to the fantasy genre and thus requires a lot of world building, it drew me in very quickly and didn't let me go. Without having to deal with info dumps, there's a lot of information brought to the reader in a smart and insightful way, combined with some excellent and just gorgeous writing. In my case, it only left me hungry for more.

In a nutshell, I absolutely loved loved loved the sneak peak of An Ember In The Ashes. For now I can only cross my fingers and hope for the rest of the book to be this good.  After all, if my hopes turn into reality, there is no denying my excitement.

Mind Games by Teri Terry
Published: March 5th 2015 by Orchard Books
Pages: 448

Luna is a no-hoper with a secret: in a world of illusion, she can see what is real. But can she see the truth before it is too late?

Luna has always been able to exist in virtual and real worlds at the same time, a secret she is warned to keep. She hides her ability by being a Refuser: excluded by choice from the virtual spheres others inhabit. But when she is singled out for testing, she can’t hide any longer.

The safest thing to do would be to fail, to go back to a dead-end life, no future. But Luna is starting to hope for something better, and hope is a dangerous thing...

"Five minutes of Realtime, and it is nearly two hours before I stop being sick. That's a pretty good reason to be a Refuser, isn't it?"

Thank you Orchard Books for providing me with an advanced reading copy for review.

DNF at 50 %

I wonder if I was fooled by the gorgeous cover, or the premise of Mind Games. As with so many books these days, a synopsis can be either exactly what you think it is, or turn out to be something entirely different. It's sad to say that Teri Terry's novel falls into the last category.

Throughout my reading experience, it was required to read this book with all the attention and focus I could get. Most of the times it's not necessarily a bad thing, but I didn't like how Mind Games played with my mind. I had to read every single word with care and attention, in order to follow along and understand both the story and the world building. Nonetheless, I still got very confused along the way. Mind you, I don't hold a single grudge against being thrown into the world of a book without any explanations. It's mostly a lot of fun because I have to figure out what is going on all on my own, but not in this case.

There was an overload of unknown terms, combined with such little explanation. The only choice I had was to continue anyway and hope that I would be less confused as I go on. None of that happened. Once I started to get a hold of the story, so many other aspects turned my knowledge into chaos. A lot of that had to do with Terry's futuristic world full of technology. This is where a certain aspect I adored jumps in: the virtual reality. It was my ultimate main reason for requesting the book in the first place, and also what made the book so fascinating. It was so different from any other dystopian I've read before. How could I not be excited about that? However, things started to take a turn when I that aspect fell flat. In my opinion, there wasn't much world building to be found. I felt like a lot was just thrown in my face, and I had to deal with it. I couldn't connect to anything and because of the lack of world building, I never understood how it all worked or how some things were even possible.

The vague plot dragged immensely, and at some point I had no desire whatsoever in picking it up again, ultimately resulting in a DNF. As sad as I am to admit it, Mind Games was all in all, a boring read which could have been so much more.