The Darkest Minds

Set in a dystopian future, The Darkest Minds is a sci-fi novel by Alexandra Bracken. The book is the first part of a series titled Through the Dark. It tells a story of a divergent girl named Ruby who survived a deadly disease that killed most children in America but also gave her superpowers.

The Darkest Minds was first published in 2012 through Hyperion Books—part of the Disney conglomerate. It spent almost two months on the Bestseller list of the New York Times, with its peak position being third place at one point.

Due to its immediate impact on the young adult market, 20th Century Fox bought the rights to The Darkest Minds in the hope of filming a movie adaptation. The feature film was produced by Shawn Levy, coming out to moderate box office success in 2018.

A detailed review of Alexandra Bracken’s The Darkest Minds novel

Born in Phoenix, Arizona, Alexandra Bracken graduated in History and English from The College of William and Mary in Virginia. While attending W&M, Bracken started writing her first novel, Brightly Woven, which granted her numerous positive reviews on sites like Good Reads.

Bracken’s breakout novel, The Darkest Minds, came out in 2012. As mentioned, it’s the first part of a series that she would go on to develop and write in the following years. The Darkest Minds series fits the young adult genre with a strong emphasis on suspense and action. Critics compare its themes with The Hunger Games, as well as Marvel’s hit-comics The X-Men.

In short, The Darkest Minds follows Ruby, a teenage girl with superpowers that she acquired as a result of a new virus—IAAN—which killed millions of children in the United States. Alongside others who survived, Ruby escapes from government imprisonment, seeking the Slip Kid, a person who shelters young people and teaches them how to control their new abilities.

Government oppression and the strength of the youth

In The Darkest Minds, the adults are scared of their children because of their superpowers. After the virus strikes, the government starts rounding up young people in concentration camps, all while spreading propaganda and disinformation about them. At these scary camps, the kids are divided by their abilities, intelligence, and other factors, working in sweatshops. All this is reminiscent of actual world atrocities, which is just one of many commentaries on our reality.

Of course, the kids don’t hold back. Ruby, among others, manages to escape and teams up with a rag-tag group in search of a safe haven near East River. That safety is offered to them by a mysterious individual known as the Slip Kid. A person who knows how to control their newly acquired powers and is looking to gather young people for the sake of their future. The strength of youth and the importance of optimism is a constant theme throughout The Darkest Minds series.

Main characters of the Darkest Minds

What makes The Darkest Minds such an enjoyable book isn’t just its story, themes, and world-building. It’s also the characters that Alexandra Bracken has come up with. Therefore, let’s check each of them briefly so that you know who’ll you encounter if you decide to read the book.

The chain of events starts with Ruby Day erasing her parents’ memories on her tenth birthday, after which she is sent to Thurmond—the concentration camp—from which she escapes with other teenage inmates.

Liam Stewart

Liam Stewart is Ruby’s traveling companion who has romantic feelings for her. He is somewhat cocky, but also brave, and cares deeply about the main protagonist.

Chubs (Charles Meriwether)

Nicknamed Chubs, Charles Meriwether is another traveling companion of Ruby. He is a smart and caring kid but is shown to be wary of strangers at first, spouting sarcastic observations at times.

Zu (Suzume Kimura)

Among Ruby’s traveling group is also Suzume, nicknamed Zu. She is a selective mute, which is a result of past traumatic experiences that she went through during imprisonment.

Clancy Gray

Known as the Slip Kid, Clancy Gray is the president’s son, who was among some of the first kids sent to the Thurmond concentration camp.

Cate (Catherine) Connor

Although an adult, Cate Connor is a doctor that helps Ruby escape the camp, covering for her in various situations at the beginning of the book.

Jude McAllister

A bonafide optimist, Jude McAllister is one of the members of the Children’s League, an organization that helps kids break out from imprisonment.

Dr. Julian Fineman

Julian Fineman is a member of the DFA—a group of people looking to make the cure for the IAAN mandatory for everyone, including those under the age of 18.

Agent James Bell

James Bell is one of the bounty hunters that are chasing kids with mind control powers.

The Darkest Minds novel series

As mentioned, The Darkest Minds is just the first book of the science fiction series called Through the Dark. Here’s a brief description of all books in the series.

The Darkest Minds

The first book in the series, The Darkest Minds, follows Ruby on her escape from imprisonment and her search for the Slip Kid.

Never Fade

The second novel, Never Fade, tells the story of Ruby becoming the leader of the free kids and her attempt to find out the secret about the virus that wiped out millions of America’s children.

In Time

In Time is a short story that takes place between the first two books, serving as a tie-in to bridge the gap between the events.

Through the Dark

Through the Dark presents a collection of stories that take place in The Darkest Minds universe. It includes the mentioned In Time story, as well as Sparks Rise and Beyond the Night.

The Darkest Minds—the movie

Adapted for the big screen by Chad Hodge, produced by Shawn and Dan Levine, and directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson, The Darkest Minds movie saw its release date in 2018 with a runtime of 1h 45m. You can check out the trailer for the movie, as well as some critic and audience reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.

With great performances from Amandla Stenberg, Harris Dickinson, Mandy Moore, Gwendoline Christie, and the supporting cast comprised of Patrick Gibson, Bradley Whitford, Miya Cech, and Skylan Brooks, the movie managed to capture Bracken’s vision to some extent. Of course, some changes were necessary due to the movie format.

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FAQ

If you like The Darkest Minds, what else should you read?

Those who like The Darkest Minds may also enjoy The Hunger Games series, The Maze Runner series, or the Divergent series, which are all in the young adult dystopian fiction genre.