Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken - review

Hey!!

I finally picked up Never Fade, the sequel to The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken the other day and I am so glad!! If you saw my Darkest Minds review you will know that I absolutely adored it, and Alexandra Bracken is now one of my favourite authors. If you haven't read The Darkest Minds yet, please please please go and do so, and then read Never Fade, and then come back to this post, as I don't want to spoil anything for you! Bye bye spoilery people!!

SPOILERY SECTION:
Ahhh so many feels in this book!! At the end of The Darkest Minds I cried possibly the most I have ever cried whilst reading a book, my heart was broken into a million tiny pieces. I was desperately hoping that Liam would remember Ruby eventually in Never Fade and thank goodness he did, although I am still heart broken at their relationship state at the moment. But before I go off on tangents, I'll start with the character development in this novel.

I loved how we've continued to see Ruby develop since The Darkest Minds. Her time with the Children's League really highlights how strong she is, and how focused she is on achieving her goal of freeing the children in the camps. Even to the extent that wen Liam remembers her she still refuses to go with him, rather staying with Cole and the others to work towards freeing the camps. That was simultaneously painful and exciting to read, as I really wished she'd be with Liam but it showed such strength in her character that she stayed.

It was super interesting seeing how Liam was affected by Ruby taking his memories of her. When he was acting super strange around her I started to suspect that he vaguely remember her, and I thought it was amazing how she had accidentally put into his mind that story of them meeting at the beach! So beautiful and heart-breaking. In The Darkest Minds Liam was one of my favourite characters EVER, and he has maintained this in Never Fade. He's such a loving person and is primarily focused on those that he cares about. Of course, he also wants to free the camps but will go about it in a way that he wants to, making sure that it isn't compromising his beliefs and ideals.

In regards to the new characters we are introduced to in Never Fade, I absolutely loved them!! Jude and Vida are wonderful, so different from one another! I love how Jude is such a fragile character, but at the same time is desperate to impress Ruby, Veda, and especially Cate. Vida is so kick-butt and intense, and I truly never knew what she was going to come out with next. Her relationship with Chubs was just hilarious!!

And then there is Clancy. I thought we were rid of him, but oh no, he just keeps coming back!! So infuriating, but it was dealt with so well. The whole idea of the fake Slip Kid with Knox was also super interesting, and I was so freaked out when Ruby and Vida had to fight the Red!

I really enjoyed all of the plot twists and turns, and never saw them coming! Jude's death absolutely broke my heart, as Alexandra Bracken always seems to do...

Overall, I LOVED Never Fade, and although The Darkest Minds probably beats it a tiny bit, I will continue to recommend this series to every single one of my friends.

Rating: 4.75/5

Let me know in the comments what your thoughts are on Never Fade, and who is your favourite character in this series?

Love always.

Ari

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken - review

I know, I know, I am SUPER late to this bandwagon. Ever since discovering booktube I have heard so much hype surrounding this series, and now I completely understand why. I was blown away.

NON-SPOILERY REVIEW:
For those of you who are even further behind the times than me, The Darkest Minds is a young adult dystopian novel. It follows the story of Ruby, a teenage girl living in future America. When she younger, an epidemic broke out among children around the ages 8-12, causing them to suddenly drop dead. However, those who did not die as a result of the illness were taken by the government to camps, as they had special powers which were deemed dangerous. Ruby is one of these, and she must endure the hardships of the camp and attempting to understand and control her powers.

Alexandra Bracken's writing flows so well, she immediately pulls the reader into the story. In the style of YA, the novel is easy to read, however has loads of underlying messages and comments about society which I found extremely interesting. For those of you who love dystopian, you will absolutely adore The Darkest Minds!!

Rating: 5/5, SOOOO GOOD

SPOILERY STUFF:
Okay, first of all can I just say Liam. Liam is so freaking beautiful! One of my favourite characters ever, for sure. And possibly one of my favourite books ever. I adored every one of Bracken's characters, especially Ruby, Liam, Chubs and Zu. Each of them were so well fleshed out, and we got just enough backstory of each.

Can I just say, there are literally so many bad guys in this book! First we get all excited that Ruby's escaped the camp. Then, oh no, the Children's League is evil. Then we finally find the slip kid, wooo. Oh wait, no, don't get too excited, he's evil too. Can we trust anyone?!?! By the way, whilst I'm mentioning the slip kid, did anyone else figure out really early that he was the president's son? Even before I got there I was betting that it was either him or the orange that Ruby first saw when she arrived at the camp, if he had managed to escape. Super cool twist anyway!

What I really really really want to talk about is that ending. THAT ENDING. This was one of the most emotional endings I have ever read. I was literally lying in bed just staring at my wall saying "no" over and over again for a good five minutes. First we're all excited because the gang are free and going to achieve what they set out to. Then holy cow, Chubs is shot. Then Ruby presses the panic button and lo and behold she's back in the position she was trying to escape this whole time, except now Liam and Chubs are there too!!! And finally, Ruby wiping Liam's memory. All. The. Feels. I don't know if anyone else saw this coming, but I sure did not. My heart is aching just thinking about it. I haven't got the next two books in this series yet, but if Liam doesn't somehow get his memories back I am going to be so so so upset.

Let me know if you've read this book, and what your thoughts were. Were you as shocked at the ending as I was?

Love always,

Ari