Alexandra BrackenCritiques

About the Book:
Ruby is in a world where all of the children are at risk, and the ones who haven’t died are different. All of the children who lived are now in a camp and sorted based on their ability. Green being the least dangerous and Orange being the most. Ruby is an orange. This story is about Ruby coming to terms with her abilities and learning how to control them. She made it out of the camp, but she didn’t know how dangerous it would really be. Nor did she know what else was out there.

Review:
I went a little out of my comfort zone reading this book because I am more used to YA romance, but I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It was very engaging and I never found myself wanting to put it down. I will say I was a bit confused in the beginning, but once you understand the premise of the book it makes way more sense. I enjoyed the characters as well, they are all likable and I am excited to learn more about them in the next books! The only reason I knocked the book down a star was because the ending made me angry, but not to the point where I wouldn’t recommend it.

"Mentes Poderosas" es una emocionante novela que te sumerge en un mundo distópico donde los jóvenes desarrollan habilidades extraordinarias. Con una trama llena de giros inesperados y una narrativa ágil, Alexandra Bracken te lleva en un viaje lleno de acción y suspenso. Los personajes están hábilmente construidos, cada uno con sus propias fortalezas y debilidades, lo que te hace conectar profundamente con sus luchas y triunfos. Además de ser una emocionante aventura, la novela también plantea preguntas importantes sobre el poder, la ética y la búsqueda de la identidad en un mundo que teme a lo diferente. "Mentes Poderosas" es una lectura emocionante que te dejará ansioso por sumergirte en sus secuelas y explorar más a fondo este fascinante universo literario.

This book wasn't the best fantasy I've read all year - but I think it has potential, and it's not unusual for the first book in a series to need a little settling in. It was enjoyable on its own, and I'm interested enough to see how the next one feels.

All I can say is a very juvenile omg, cause the awesomeness of this book blew me away.

EDIT: Loved it just as much the 2nd time around, but book 2 isn't on Whispersync yet :/

Summary: Meet Lore Perseous, not the hero of ancient lore, but a fierce survivor of a deadly game that pits gods and their scions against each other every seven years. After abandoning the dangerous world of the Agon, Lore finds herself pulled back into the chaos when a childhood friend seeks her help. As she navigates the treacherous game, Lore discovers secrets that could shake the foundations of Olympus itself.


Pros:

[b:The Darkest Minds|10576365|The Darkest Minds (The Darkest Minds, #1)|Alexandra Bracken|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1343178841l/10576365._SY75_.jpg|15483434]
I have a very love hate relationship with this genre. I however found this one quick and enjoyable. It is something where I am glad I read it. I will also be watching the movie. My thoughts are as follows. The Darkest Minds is another dystopian novel, one of the many now found on YA shelves, but this novel is not just another dystopian but a creative story focusing on children with unique abilities and the cruelty and oppression they suffer. The plot is interesting and engaging, if not predictable at times. The unique story with supernatural abilities and youth trying to fight a Government that’s not completely in control leads to a resistance and different groups fighting to control these children, government groups and splinter groups as well as the groups these youth form on their own.
The characters are where this novel really shines, with a strong, but unsure female lead in Ruby, a young girl named Suzume who never speaks out loud, an intelligent and grumpy (but loving) boy nicknamed Chubs, and the love interest with a heart-of-gold and endearingly naïve named Liam. This group Ruby finds herself apart of is dynamic, interesting, and very sweet and watching them grow close and learn the darker histories each character hides is incredibly satisfying. I also love that instead of a “bad boy” love interest which has become a staple in a lot of young adult fiction, Liam is unfailingly empathetic and compassionate as well as optimistic in their bleak circumstances. He has his share of flaws to balance out his best traits. The romance is sweet but not rushed and a healthy and positive example of love, even if their life on the run doesn’t allow it to be easy.
The writing is good, but can be unclear at times, especially in action sequences when several things are supposed to be happening at once but comes out more convoluted. It also felt like random facts would show up in conversation, things I didn’t remember them talking about, but suddenly everyone knew it anyway (this happened once or twice but still confused me). Some scenes are written with a certain point in mind but come of more ambiguous as to what the other meant. Despite these snags, the writing is still absorbing and the story and characters bring it together nicely

I'm a sucker for a mythology retelling, I have a definite bias towards them. That being said, all bias aside, this book was incredible. It took Greek mythology and turned it into something that I don't think I've ever read before. The world building that took place inside a location I'm already familiar with was expert. The characters were easy to get to know and care for (or in MANY cases, hate). I loved that there was a lot of grey in the book, rather than just simple black and white good and evil. Although, there was a lot of obvious bad.

* I got this book for review*
I really enjoyed this book. Alex has always been a master at slow burn stories and espeically slow burn series! I think this book overal had such a fun merln esc world and i love the female focus of this book and this book was def more bloodthristy then i was expecting i really loved the found fmily eleemnt in this story and grew to love the main character. This book was a ton of set up but the last 50 pages was a wild ride!! I am excited for book 2!!

I found this to such a fun take on this story. I thought this graphic novel and it was able to create a more complete story then the book had previously. I really did like the changes as of aging down he hero. I also thought the graphics and art did add a lot to the story. It was a really fun read and loved how it wrapped up the whole story!

* I got this book for review from the publisher*

I rarely read standalone, but overall this was such a great novel. I loved how much this story was told. I loved how alex transformed the greek world and made it mix between percy jackson and hunger games in some way. I also loved how she featured some of my favorite elements like a boy best friend, NYC as a backdrop, blast from the past romance, and found family. I really loved this world and these characters and the Villian and how this book ended was awesome. I really loved this read.

* I got this book for the publisher for my honest thoughts*

Overall I enjoyed this book. I really did love the new setting and also the new character dymancics. Even thought this book was fast pace at points, it has slower parts that just did not compelling me to keep picking it up. I did like the duel time line in this book, and found it to be a fun element of the novel. I felt like throughout this novel I sometimes got lost in the details. I think this book struggled t captured my attention but I was happy to read the conclusion to this series.

*I got this book from the publisher for my honest thoughts*

I really enjoyed this book alot. I thought it was the prefect way to dive back into this world and give us a whole new story but still respect the other series and give nods to it. I just love the lead character so much and getting inside her head was such a fun experience. I loved the mixed cast of old characters and new and how they all balanced each other out. I thought the book was a fast pace adventure but such a solid mystery. I flew through his book and really hope we get future stories in this world because i just want to see more from these characters and this world.

I really loved alex first adventure into middle grade. I loved the world and how creepy it was. I really loved the world building and the elements of witch craft and the time and place of this novel. I thought the lead male was so well crafted and he had me on his side from page one. The story had so many twists and turns and I was shocked when it ended. It such a fun/creeepy read and can't wait to re-read/ eventually read the last book in the series next year

LOVE THE STORY! A MUST READ FOR THIS SERIES!

This book was a super nice end to the series. It did drag at points and i think re-reading this book will make the story flow better for me but i really liked it overall. I loved the new characters that we met and also the places we went to.

Strong and cool story. I had to adjust to the world building like anything but i really loved the characters. The presence of black character going through time was so cool to read about and th drama it caused was unexpected but a great read. This book was so fast pace and i can't wait to read the next one.

I enjoy this story so much more on the re-read :)

Strong book. I loved the world building but i wish it was stronger at points. I loved the characters but it really did feel like the start to a new series and not a stand alone. I enjoyed reading alex first book :)

In the Afterlight: Spoiler Review I really loved this book! I gave it five stars. It was a strong ending to this series and left limited loose ends. I will always want more from this story because I was so captured by the world but overall I loved the book.
 
I loved seeing the new group dynamics and also seeing how the story ended. I loved seeing the end and how the truth about the illness was shown. I also enjoyed seeing most of the characters have some type of ending with their parents because I have been waiting for that since book one. It was really important for me to have ruby have that.
 
I loved seeing how complex Liam and Ruby relationship and how his brother really acted as wedge in that relationship. i loved the last 50 pages of the book and seeing old characters again. The book has been become one of my fav series and can't wait to read more by this author. 
I still love Chubs and Liam so much and really grew to like all the other characters in the book. I loved the last scene of this book and also can't help hoping for more from this world!
 
Afterlight Spoiler review:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E8BjB1__Ns
 
Series non- Spolier review 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7Dk5BItH2c

Very good! so glad they did not kill my fav character :)

Done amazzing :) Poor Chubs really hope he is not done. Waiting for the next one :)

* I got this book for review*
I really enjoyed this book. Alex has always been a master at slow burn stories and espeically slow burn series! I think this book overal had such a fun merln esc world and i love the female focus of this book and this book was def more bloodthristy then i was expecting i really loved the found fmily eleemnt in this story and grew to love the main character. This book was a ton of set up but the last 50 pages was a wild ride!! I am excited for book 2!!

I found this to such a fun take on this story. I thought this graphic novel and it was able to create a more complete story then the book had previously. I really did like the changes as of aging down he hero. I also thought the graphics and art did add a lot to the story. It was a really fun read and loved how it wrapped up the whole story!

* I got this book for review from the publisher*

I rarely read standalone, but overall this was such a great novel. I loved how much this story was told. I loved how alex transformed the greek world and made it mix between percy jackson and hunger games in some way. I also loved how she featured some of my favorite elements like a boy best friend, NYC as a backdrop, blast from the past romance, and found family. I really loved this world and these characters and the Villian and how this book ended was awesome. I really loved this read.

* I got this book for the publisher for my honest thoughts*

Overall I enjoyed this book. I really did love the new setting and also the new character dymancics. Even thought this book was fast pace at points, it has slower parts that just did not compelling me to keep picking it up. I did like the duel time line in this book, and found it to be a fun element of the novel. I felt like throughout this novel I sometimes got lost in the details. I think this book struggled t captured my attention but I was happy to read the conclusion to this series.

*I got this book from the publisher for my honest thoughts*

I really enjoyed this book alot. I thought it was the prefect way to dive back into this world and give us a whole new story but still respect the other series and give nods to it. I just love the lead character so much and getting inside her head was such a fun experience. I loved the mixed cast of old characters and new and how they all balanced each other out. I thought the book was a fast pace adventure but such a solid mystery. I flew through his book and really hope we get future stories in this world because i just want to see more from these characters and this world.