Review: In the Afterlight by Alexandra Bracken

Title:In The Afterlight
Author: Alexandra Bracken 
Source/Format: Borrowed from the Library, Hardcover
More Details: Young Adult, Dystopian
Publisher/Publication Date: Disney-Hyperion, October 28, 2014

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

Ruby can't look back. Fractured by an unbearable loss, she and the kids who survived the government's attack on Los Angeles travel north to regroup. With them is a prisoner: Clancy Gray, son of the president, and one of the few people Ruby has encountered with abilities like hers. Only Ruby has any power over him, and just one slip could lead to Clancy wreaking havoc on their minds. They are armed only with a volatile secret: proof of a government conspiracy to cover up the real cause of IAAN, the disease that has killed most of America's children and left Ruby and others like her with powers the government will kill to keep contained. But internal strife may destroy their only chance to free the "rehabilitation camps" housing thousands of other Psi kids. Meanwhile, reunited with Liam, the boy she would-and did-sacrifice everything for to keep alive, Ruby must face the painful repercussions of having tampered with his memories of her. She turns to Cole, his older brother, to provide the intense training she knows she will need to take down Gray and the government. But Cole has demons of his own, and one fatal mistake may be the spark that sets the world on fire...

One of my goals is to finish some of the series I’ve started, and the last two books of The Darkest Minds trilogy happened to be available at my local library. Hence, I’ve finished this trilogy, which is something I'm happy about. Especially because of the fact that I’ve consistently enjoyed this series and the same can be said about In the Afterlight.

The story basically picks up right where the last book left off, and Ruby & Co. are dealing with the fallout, struggling really, as they try to find the quickest and safest way out of L.A.. So, immediately, the tension was set up basically from page one. The plot took off from there quickly transitioning from point A to B and so on. Watching the story unfold was nothing short of entertaining, and I finally got some much needed answers about the series. So looking at this trilogy as a whole—it was well thought out with some solid world building.

The characters were great. Although, Ruby blamed herself for every little thing and still made some questionable decisions, she grew on me throughout the trilogy. I liked her more in In the Afterlight than in the last two books. And all of my favorite characters were back. I especially liked the friendships in this book—Zu & Vida—and it was nice to see that Ruby had friends who were female too. Not friends who were secretly enemies, but actual friends.

And then there was Clancy. I thought he was terrible in book one and two, but his presence in this book—the things he did—ugh, just no. There was nothing about him that made me even remotely sympathetic to his character. I get that he had a hard life that was worse than many of the other characters, but he had a problem with believing his way was the only way.

The ending was a little open-ended. While the essential plot was wrapped up nicely, there was still a little uncertainty about the future of the kids who were afflicted by IAAN. There was no immediate miracle solution, but the ending also hints at a better future with time.

At the end of the day, In the Afterlight was a good conclusion to the trilogy.

The Friday 56 (42) In the Afterlight by Alexandra Bracken

The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice where every Friday you pick a book and turn to page 56 or 56%, and select a sentence or a few, as long as it's not a spoiler. For the full rules, visit the the page HERE

Synopsis from Goodreads...

Ruby can't look back. Fractured by an unbearable loss, she and the kids who survived the government's attack on Los Angeles travel north to regroup. With them is a prisoner: Clancy Gray, son of the president, and one of the few people Ruby has encountered with abilities like hers. Only Ruby has any power over him, and just one slip could lead to Clancy wreaking havoc on their minds.

They are armed only with a volatile secret: proof of a government conspiracy to cover up the real cause of IAAN, the disease that has killed most of America's children and left Ruby and others like her with powers the government will kill to keep contained. But internal strife may destroy their only chance to free the "rehabilitation camps" housing thousands of other Psi kids.

Meanwhile, reunited with Liam, the boy she would-and did-sacrifice everything for to keep alive, Ruby must face the painful repercussions of having tampered with his memories of her. She turns to Cole, his older brother, to provide the intense training she knows she will need to take down Gray and the government. But Cole has demons of his own, and one fatal mistake may be the spark that sets the world on fire...


"Be better than this, I thought, my nails digging into the palms of my hands. You have to be better than this. The adrenaline was slow to leave my system; I couldn't keep from shaking, not entirely."--In the Afterlight by Alexandra Bracken

What are you reading this weekend?

Review: Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken

Title: Never Fade
Author: Alexandra Bracken
Source/Format: Hardback, Borrowed from the Library
More Details: Young Adult, Dystopian
Publisher/Publication Date: Disney Hyperion, October 15, 2013

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

Ruby never asked for the abilities that almost cost her her life. Now she must call upon them on a daily basis, leading dangerous missions to bring down a corrupt government and breaking into the minds of her enemies. Other kids in the Children’s League call Ruby “Leader”, but she knows what she really is: a monster. When Ruby is entrusted with an explosive secret, she must embark on her most dangerous mission yet: leaving the Children’s League behind. Crucial information about the disease that killed most of America’s children—and turned Ruby and the others who lived into feared and hated outcasts—has survived every attempt to destroy it. But the truth is only saved in one place: a flashdrive in the hands of Liam Stewart, the boy Ruby once believed was her future—and who now wouldn’t recognize her. As Ruby sets out across a desperate, lawless country to find Liam—and answers about the catastrophe that has ripped both her life and America apart—she is torn between old friends and the promise she made to serve the League. Ruby will do anything to protect the people she loves. But what if winning the war means losing herself?

Whenever I pick up a sequel to a book I really like there’s always that lingering worry that it’s not going to be good—that it might suffer from middle book syndrome where nothing happens, no plot development or otherwise. But thankfully, with Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken, stuff happens, lots of it actually.

Ruby is back and dealing with the consequences of her decisions from the end of book 1. She’s in the Children’s League, and right from the start I already knew that it wasn’t everything it first appeared to be, and the truth behind some of the agents was pretty much terrible—but their mindset tied in with the attitude that was often cast at the children. It wasn’t justified since Ruby and the others had no control over what happened to them, but at the same time these details fit with the established world set up by The Darkest Minds.

There were a few additions to the cast such as Liam’s older brother Caleb, along with Vida, Jude, and a few other kids she meets in the Children’s League. There were appearances by a few of my favorite characters from book 1, but they were changed by their circumstances and partially by some of Ruby’s decisions.

The plot was very interesting, and I felt like Bracken did a pretty good job with expanding the world. The pacing was excellent. The opening chapter really set up the tone of the story, and it was consistent throughout. There was never a point that I got bored with the book.

Really, my only complaint was that Ruby seemed to make some questionable choices again. But that minor details didn’t detract much from the story.

Overall, I really enjoyed Never Fade and look forward to eventually finishing this trilogy.

The Friday 56 (38) Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken

The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice where every Friday you pick a book and turn to page 56 or 56%, and select a sentence or a few, as long as it's not a spoiler. For the full rules, visit the the page HERE

Synopsis from Goodreads...

Ruby never asked for the abilities that almost cost her her life. Now she must call upon them on a daily basis, leading dangerous missions to bring down a corrupt government and breaking into the minds of her enemies. Other kids in the Children’s League call Ruby “Leader”, but she knows what she really is: a monster. When Ruby is entrusted with an explosive secret, she must embark on her most dangerous mission yet: leaving the Children’s League behind. Crucial information about the disease that killed most of America’s children—and turned Ruby and the others who lived into feared and hated outcasts—has survived every attempt to destroy it. But the truth is only saved in one place: a flashdrive in the hands of Liam Stewart, the boy Ruby once believed was her future—and who now wouldn’t recognize her. As Ruby sets out across a desperate, lawless country to find Liam—and answers about the catastrophe that has ripped both her life and America apart—she is torn between old friends and the promise she made to serve the League. Ruby will do anything to protect the people she loves. But what if winning the war means losing herself?

"Rob did not like this, that much was clear, but he also had no choice. The door shut so hard behind him, it actually rattled the old glass Coke bottles lining the shelf over it."--Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken


What's on your page 56 this week?

Review: The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

Title:The Darkest Minds
Author: Alexandra Bracken
Source/Format: Purchased, ebook (iBooks edition)
More Details: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Fantasy
Publisher/Publication Date: Disney Hyperion, December 12, 2012

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

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

For a while I had no idea what I wanted to read next but in the end I decided to go with The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken. I know I’ve had it for at least a year so I finally decided to just give it a try. And actually, I was really surprised by how much liked it.

For one thing, the concept was something I could easily get into, with a mysterious disease (IAAN, "Idiopathic Adolescent Acute Neurodegeneration") targeting kids exclusively, and ended up giving some of them strange abilities—it was basically a story about kids trying to survive in a world that was determined—if not obsessively so—to destroy them.Things quickly turned into a wide spread case of paranoia, and those unfortunate enough to develop abilities were sent to camps. That's where the story picked up, and these camps were absolutely terrible to read about. However, they did fit with the concept of the story and I thought that Bracken did a good job of handling it. So I definitely enjoyed the details put into developing the story, setting, and characters.

I found the characters  interesting because of the friendship/relationship dynamics that developed across the span of the story—and I liked seeing how well the secondary characters were developed with as much personality and faults as the main character. I enjoyed seeing how Liam, Zu, Chubs, and Ruby interacted with one another. So, of course, Zu and Ruby's friendship was definitely one of my favorite parts of The Darkest Mind's. Although some of Ruby’s decisions/actions had me scratching my head or just outright confused for the most part she was a pretty good main character. And with everything she went through I could understand why she was so reserved.

So while I had no idea what to expect going into The Darkest Minds, I was really surprised by how much I ended up enjoying it. And I would be interested in checking out more books by Alexandra Bracken.

The Friday 56 (32) The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice where every Friday you pick a book and turn to page 56 or 56%, and select a sentence or a few, as long as it's not a spoiler. For the full rules, visit the the page HERE

Synopsis from Goodreads...

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 Grinch cast one look at me, his top lip peeling back in annoyance, before waving the doctor forward. She blew out a sigh and set her clipboard down on my lap."--The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken



What are you planning to read this weekend?