Title: The Darkest Minds (The Darkest Minds #1)
Author: Alexandra Bracken
Published: December, 2012 by Disney Hyperion
Pages: 488
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

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.

Final Thoughts:
Coming highly recommended by one of my friends who can be quite critical with her reviews, I went and picked this one up from my library straight away. However, it didn’t click with me. It was by no means a bad book. I liked the characters, found them realistic given their circumstances, but I couldn’t connect with them. I just didn’t care about the outcome. Not even halfway through on the night before it was due back at the library, I went to renew my loan but found it had been reserved, therefore leaving me with two options—give up, or power through like a madman. I powered through. I’m not sure if the deadline soured my views or not, but I knew while reading it that I just wanted it to be over.

Stacking The Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

Titles link back to Goodreads
• Geek Girl by Holly Smale (library)
• Shattered by Teri Terry (purchased)
• Tape by Steven Camden (purchased)
• Until I Die by Amy Plum (purchased)
• The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet by Bernie Su & Kate Rorick (thanks to Publisher)
• The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken (library)
• The Distance Between Us by Kasie West (library)
• The Thousand Dollar Tan Line by Rob Thomas & Jennifer Graham (library)
• Soulmates by Holly Bourne (library)

I went to the library Thursday night looking to pick up the copy of The Darkest Minds that my friend, Brittany, had told me to read, but ended up walking out of there with an armful. Hopefully, I actually get time to read them before they’re all due back. That’s always my problem, I see everything I want and snatch them up, then they just sit in a stack beside my desk for the month while I go on reading other books that I’ve ordered online.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster for sending me a copy of the Lizzie Bennet book. It wasn’t what I was expecting in the mail this week, but it was a nice suprise. I’m going to give it to Joey to do a guest review for me though. He’s actually read Pride and Prejudice so he’ll probably enjoy a lot more than I would.

Lastly, as of about an hour ago, I bought these last three books: Shattered, Tape and If I Die. I even walked a 5km round trip up and down hills to get them. There were big red banners posted in the windows of my local Mary Ryan’s bookstore/cafe announcing a 50% off pre-refurbishment sale that I’d noticed earlier and had me intrigued to check out the normally to-expensive-for-me store. There was more there I could have gotten, I even had them stacked in the crook of my elbow, but I convinced myself to do the right thing and leave them there (as much as it didn’t feel like it). I rewarded myself afterwards with a trip to the anime and manga store (and just browsed!)

Here’s what Joey and I have been reading this week:
Johnson, Mo Boofheads – Aussie YA coming of age story that Joey found.
Perkins, Stephanie Lola and the Boy Next Door – AWESOME! Bring on Isla.
Rowell, Rainbow Attachments – Fun, heartwarming, loved it.

So, what books have you gotten lately? Which books would you recommend I read first? Let me know in the comments.