J.C. Buchanan

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Title: The Darkest Minds (The Darkest Minds, #1)

Author: Alexandra Bracken

Published By: Disney Hyperion (2012)

Synopsis: When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something frightening enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that got her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government “rehabilitation camp.” She might have survived the mysterious disease that had killed most of America’s children, but she and the others emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they could not control.
Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones. When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. She is on the run, desperate to find the only safe haven left for kids like her—East River. She joins a group of kids who have 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 having a life worth living. (Taken from Goodreads)

Review:

Before I begin this review, I have to voice a strong negative and warn about the amount of swearing and language in this book. There was mild profanity—maybe once a chapter and more than that towards the end, with the f-word being used once or twice, which is a huge issue for me. Because it bothered me, I thought others would like to know as well. Also because of this, this story has me confused in the sense that I’m not sure whether I liked it or not.

The plotline was intense—full of action and adventure, memorable characters, well plotted twists, and a well structured story. It had me on the edge of my seat! There was enough time in the camps to hate it, enough time with the League to suspect it, enough time with Liam and the others to know them: though I can’t say it wasn’t a bit drawn out, for the most part, every page was fascinating. The romance that enters the story was sweet and mostly clean, easy to cheer for and love. Another plus for me was that the romance, though more prominent towards the end, never became more than a subplot. Conflicts in this story were written and displayed very well, and the premise was written in a way that seemed plausible and realistic.

Characters in this story were very, very well done. Ruby was written in such a great way: she is such a great girl and you can’t help root for her. Granted, she has her struggles, but she works to overcome them. She’s humble and honest, she’s trustworthy and loyal, she’s very empathetic; she’s loving, caring, sweet. She knows right from wrong very distincitvely;  she’s very cautious and careful. She’s mature, much unlike most YA female leads, and in no way naive. In all ways she fit wonderfully into this story and was a great lead for a story such as this one.

Liam was a great associate lead, compassionate, humble, full of love for others. Combined, you could not find two other YA leads so mature, kind, truthful, wholesome and humble. I’ve never seen anything like it before in secular YA, and I soaked it all in. As well, the love that develops between Liam and Ruby also remained clean and positive, and it was sweet with a level of innocence.

On the other hand I felt the other characters were hard to really know. As for Chubs, I never really understood him, and though I understand his role in the story, I hardly liked him as a character. Zu, though portrayed as the sweet girl everyone loves, was not a character I could not connect to no matter how I tried. There was so little development for her, and though I can understand her role in the story and its importance, as a character herself I really never got to know her.

Another positive element of this book to me are the themes: themes of loyalty, protection, humility—love, honesty, doing the right thing; friendship and family. The list goes on and on and I loved the amazing depths this book went to. Scenes from before the camps were hauntingly well done and the way they continued to develop as the story progressed was amazing.

However the negatives of this book have me question whether or not I liked it at all. The swearing was enough to lower my rating and it definitely lowered my appreciation. I felt it wasn’t necessary and didn’t belong in a book like this, that otherwise was full of such positive elements. The language brought the positive feel of the book down to a negative feel. I was incredibly disappointed by this aspect, especially because I had been enjoying the book so much. A wonderful novel can be destroyed by some unnecessary language, and I feel that unfortunately that is what happened in the case of The Darkest Minds.

Overall:

In closure, the plotline, characters, and themes of this book were truly amazing and unexpected from the YA genre, which both surprised and excited me. I would have given this book a lot higher rating had it not been for the amount of mild profanity, which is disappointing because had there been no swearing, this would have likely gone on to be one of my favorite books and I’d be highly recommending it; as it is, I can not knowingly recommend this to anyone.

Negative Content:

Many swear words are mentioned, especially as the book goes on.

Rating: 3.0

Recommended to: Because of the profanity I do not recommend this to anyone.

 

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Title: Freakling (Psi Chronicles, #1)

Author: Lana Krumwiede

Published By: Candlewick Press (2012)

Synopsis: In twelve-year-old Taemon’s city, everyone has a power called psi—the ability to move and manipulate objects with their minds. When Taemon loses his psi in a traumatic accident, he must hide his lack of power by any means possible. But a humiliating incident at a sports tournament exposes his disability, and Taemon is exiled to the powerless colony.
The “dud farm” is not what Taemon expected, though: people are kind and open, and they actually seem to enjoy using their hands to work and play and even comfort their children. Taemon adjusts to his new life quickly, making friends and finding unconditional acceptance.
But gradually he discovers that for all its openness, there are mysteries at the colony, too—dangerous secrets that would give unchecked power to psi wielders if discovered.
When Taemon unwittingly leaks one of these secrets, will he have the courage to repair the damage—even if it means returning to the city and facing the very people who exiled him? (Taken from Goodreads)

Review:

A uniquely plotted dystopian with great writing and great characters, Freakling was an enjoyable read, full of action, clever plot twists, and a believable world/setting.

My one confusion which lowered my rating was the themes. A main theme of this book is the religion the characters have. The religion in this book is entirely fictional, not directly related to anything in the real world, and tied directly to the fictional setting. However, there were things in this religion such as “the Sabbath” “the temple” “priests”, etc, and I could not figure out if it was intentionally meaning to relate to anything or if it was just a part of the world. The themes portrayed through this were positive, but because I couldn’t quite figure out what the author was trying to do, it lowered my appreciation for the book. More or less, it was written in as just an aspect of the plotline and it didn’t seem to me to be intentionally against or for any specific religion.

As for the rest of the book? I was very impressed. The plotline was well constructed and written, with scenes that were all contributing the plot. Twists in the plot were hinted early on in a clever, foreshadowing type way, but not too much that it could be figured out what was going to happen. Everything ties into the story almost perfectly, and every loose end leading up to the ending turns out to be a crucial aspect to the storyline.

The setting was done very well; from the expressions the characters use to the way things are described, the author perfectly painted this world. Psi is elaborated with detail, written in a very realistic way. This type of thing is hard to pull off, but I think the author did a great job.

I loved the characters, too. While some of them fell a bit flat—and others plain-out unlikable—there were few important characters, so nobody got lost in the flow and everyone had their moment and importance to the story. The villains of the story were very easy to dislike and the heroes easy to love. The only character I didn’t get was Moke. We never got a chance to get to know him, so I didn’t connect with Taemon in that way. Besides that, though, most every other character was done very well.

Despite the few confusions I have about this story, really, it was a very well done book. It was a dystopian without the dystopian feel and it was clean—something I always appreciate.

Negative Content:

None.

Rating: 4.0

Recommended to: Anyone looking for a good dystopian.

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Title: The Map to Everywhere

Authors: Carrie Ryan & John Parke Davis

Published By: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (2014)

Synopsis: To Master Thief Fin, an orphan from the murky pirate world of the Khaznot Quay, the Map is the key to finding his mother. To suburban schoolgirl Marrill, it’s her only way home after getting stranded on the Pirate Stream, the magical waterway that connects every world in creation. With the help of a bumbling wizard and his crew, they must scour the many worlds of the Pirate Stream to gather the pieces of the Map to Everywhere–but they aren’t the only ones looking. A sinister figure is hot on their tail, and if they can’t beat his ghostly ship to find the Map, it could mean the destruction of everything they hold dear!
Heart-pounding escapades and a colorful cast of characters will have readers setting sail through this wholly original and unforgettable tale. (Taken from Goodreads)

Review:

This was a great read, full of not only action but also beautiful themes. The Map to Everywhere was well worth the time spent reading.

The plotline in this book was tense, and adventure coursed through every word; however, the writing wasn’t the strongest. Though it was interesting, it lacked in some sections, feeling drawn out and expanded for no real reason, as if the authors were adding in drama just for the sake of adding in drama. Every scene contributes to the plot, that’s for sure—but even so, the scenes were longer than needed, and filled with many details that I think could have been reduced and simplified, overall creating simpler, more meaningful scenes. Ignoring these few writing flaws, however, the plotline itself was very intriguing and was very well structured.

More than the plot, though, for me it was the characters that drove this story. I just loved them so much! The authors did an incredible job of working each character in with their own flaws and fears, to make them seem realistic while still being present in a fantasty world. I loved Fin and was absolutely captivated by the concept of his being forgotten—whatever it’s called—and thought it was amazing. It was a way to connect better to sweet Fin, giving him a strange thing to overcome but in a way that developed his character further. Marrill: Marrill was amazing as well. Her passion and kindness for others was astounding and I loved getting to know her and her sweet nature. Her and Fin’s friendship touched me with its sweetness and geniunity, and it was awesome to watch their friendship take shape. Ardent was a wise old figure that I also enjoyed getting to know, more for amusement than anything else. Coll was a potential unexplored; though he was always there, I felt we never really got to know him and that had we gotten more of his life, there’s other crazy things about him too.

On the downside, I felt some of the plot was forced and there wasn’t enough reaction from some of the characters in the precarious situations. They perform some heroic action and it doesn’t even seem to phase them. I could just be missing something, but those were the only places I maybe didn’t connect with the characters as well as I did in the rest of the book.

I also hated the ending, but we don’t need to discuss that now. I’m just generally not a fan of last-minute cliffhangers. It leaves me with a distaste for the whole book. The book was just tied up so nicely and sweetly and now you’ve ruined the whole thing for me by adding a silly epilogue that completely goes against everything they’ve worked for. Not that cliffhangers are all necessarily a bad thing, but in this case, to me it made the book feel like it had all been for naught.

Overall:

I really did enjoy this book. Despite the downsides, this really was a pageturner and I and loved getting to know the characters, and I loved all the great and positive themes about friendship. The epilogue ruined the book for me, so I don’t think I’ll read the second book, but still, The Map to Everywhere was a fun read while it lasted.

Negative Content:

None.

Rating: 4.0

Recommended to: Anyone looking for a fun adventure!