By Someone Who Will Not Get a Grade
Ruby Daly is one of the psi kids, or those with special powers. Their powers have been classified by color— green, blue, yellow red, and orange. These are the kids who survived IAAN— Idiopathic Adolescent Acute Neurodegeneration— and were left to the control of the government. These officials, called PSFs (Psi Special Forces) run "rehabilitation camps" for these children so that they might be made whole again, or so the concerned parents and family members of these children believe. Except they seem to have missed that these camps are more like concentration camps that ones for rehabilitation. One of the camps, called Thurmond, has been home for Ruby for six years.
A doctor for the camp and secret activist for the Children's League (those who fight for the psi kids), Cate Connor, known as Doctor Begbie, discovers that Ruby is one of the few kids with the powers classified under orange, so she helps her escape from Thurmond. This is because oranges are the ones with the most dangerous powers. After Ruby gets out of the camp, she soon realizes that Cate and her partner Rob are only using her and it's essential that she leaves them, so she runs away. During her flight, she hides in a black van that she later finds is already occupied by three other escaped psi kids— Liam, Chubs, and Suzume. They accept her as one of the group and together make their way to the mysterious safe haven for psi kids known as East River, which is run by the equally mysterious Slip Kid.
They eventually arrive at East River and, to their surprise, discover that the Slip Kid is none other than Clancy Gray, the president's son and first-ever publicly acknowledged psi kid. It is called to attention that Clancy is also an orange, meaning that he can control others through his mind. He decided to train Ruby so she can use her own powers to her advantage.
While at East River, PSFs storm the place and Ruby, Chubs, Liam, and Zu are forced to leave. The first place they think to go, in their close escape, is to the house of an old friend's father, where they plan to deliver the letter. While there, Chubs is badly wounded, and, in desperation, Ruby pushed a panic button that was given to her by Cate. Her call is answered and Chubs is rushed to seek medical attention. Things are under control until the Children's League tries to take them into custody so they can use them for missions.
In a final attempt to help her friends, Ruby Daly takes away all of Liam's memories of her and strikes a deal with the League— Liam will walk free if Ruby stays and fights for the cause. She decided to put Liam first and agrees, dooming herself to the will of the League instead.
Alexandra Bracken has built a world filled with excitement and danger at every turn, with everything from ruthless skip tracers to vicious tribes of psi kids. There's plenty of action and romance and comedy for absolutely anyone to enjoy, and the characters are witty and written to a tee. I thoroughly enjoyed every twist and turn and found myself completely attached to Bracken's characters. Some parts would have me laughing for minutes at a time! This is quite unlike any other dystopian novel you've ever read, so prepare yourself. Whether you're fourteen or forty, The Darkest Minds will not disappoint!
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