Series Review: The Darkest Minds

Tags

Alexandra Bracken, In the Afterlight, Never Fade, The Darkest Minds

Author: Alexandra Bracken

Series: The Darkest Minds

Rating: 5 stars

Genre: Dystopian

Synopsis (book 1): 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 government ′rehabilitation camp′. Ruby might have survived the mysterious disease that killed most of America′s children, but she and the others had 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. Now on the run, she is desperate to find East River, the only safe haven left for kids like her, and she joins a group of other runaways who have escaped their own camps. Liam, their brave leader, is falling for Ruby, but she 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 Liam. But there are also 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 – and one that may mean giving up her only chance at having a life worth living.

How I got these books: Christmas presents

The Short Version:

Holy WOW! Absolutely amazing.

The Challenge: A Summary

Tags

A Court of Thorns and Roses, Alexandra Bracken, All Fall Down, Ally Carter, Amie Kaufman, Ballad, Cooper Bartholemew is Dead, Cynthia Hand, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Derek Landy, Half Wild, Harry Potter, In the Afterlight, J.K. Rowling, Justine Larbalestier, Laini Taylor, Lauren Oliver, Leslye Walton, Maggie Stiefvater, Meagan Spooner, Megan Miranda, Melinda Salisbury, Never Fade, Rachel Hawkins, Razorhurst, Rebecca James, Rebel Belle, Red Queen, Richelle Mead, Ruby Circle, Sally Green, Sarah J. Maas, Shadow Kiss, Skulduggery Pleasant, Sophie Jordan, Soulprint, The Darkest Minds, The Last Time We Say Goodbye, The Sin Eater's Daughter, The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender, These Broken Stars, Uninvited, Vampire Academy, Vanishing Girls, Victoria Aveyard

As some of you may recall, I gave myself a challenge at the beginning of February. I was to limit myself to reading only books that I already owned/had out from the library. I was not to buy any new books in this time, with the exception of new releases.

So, how did I go?

Well, silly me forgot to take into account the fact that it was my birthday in February. Which means that I got birthday money to spend on ALL THE BOOKS!!!

So, here are the books I bought with my birthday money:

And here are the books I was ‘allowed’ to buy during the challenge period:

And here are all the other books I bought because they were there, or because they were cheap, or because books.

And here’s a picture of them all together:

Total number of books bought: 16.

That’s like, one book every 4 days.

Better yet, for every one book I was allowed to buy, I bought three others.

Reading wise, I faired a little better, reading 6 of the books I bought, as well as several others:

And due to the fact that I read a few ebooks/library books/Netgalley books, here is a full pic of all the books I read:

Total books read: 18.

So, while I did technically read more books than I bought, I made a very, very small dent in my to-read pile. Also, some of these books didn’t make it to the to-read pile before they got read (namely, the ebooks/Netgalley books), so they were, if anything, counter-productive.

In conclusion:

This Week’s Adventures

Tags

Alexandra Bracken, Lisa Gail Green, Never Fade, Soul Crossed

In which I talk about things that happened this week.

At Uni

As some of you may be aware, I started back at uni on Monday. One week in and I am completely exhausted.

For my first computer programming workshop, I made this:

Which was really exciting, but the rest of the week was pretty boring.

Exhausting, but boring.

And I also go a taste of just how busy I’m going to be for the next 5 weeks. Out of the house by 6:30 every morning, getting home at 7pm most nights only to have to leave again for tutoring which means my day doesn’t really finish until 9pm.

So, if you’re wondering why I haven’t replied to any comments or commented on anyone else’s blog lately, you now know why. I’m still trying to figure out when would be a good time to designate to blog reading, but I haven’t got one yet.

Books Read

On the train, I read Soul Crossed, by Lisa Gail Green.

At home I’ve been reading Never Fade, by Alexandra Bracken. If it wasn’t for the fact that I have to be up at 5:30am every morning, I so would have finished it (and possibly the sequel) by now.

On This Blog

Monday: I farewelled my spare time
Tuesday: I listed my favourite book heroines
Wednesday: I reviewed Soul Crossed
Thursday: I gave a more detailed guide to my rating system
Friday: I took a break and posted nothing

Wow, I posted an awful lot for someone who said she wasn’t going to be around as often…don’t get used to this people.

Stacking the Shelves: The Yearly Edition

Tags

A Discovery of Witches, A Thousand Pieces of You, Aimee Carter, Alexandra Bracken, Amy Ewing, Amy Zhang, Anna Dressed in Blood, Are You Seeing Me?, Beautiful Darkness, Blood Of Olympus, Blood Promise, Bloodlines, Blue Lily Lily Blue, Boundless, Bram Stoker, Brigid Kemmerer, Captive, Cara Lynn Shultz, Claudia Gray, Corruption, Crown of Midnight, Cynthia Hand, Dangerous Creatures, Darren Groth, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Days of Blood and Starlight, Deborah Harkness, Debra Driza, Demonglass, Disruption, Dracula, E. Lockhart, Endless Knight, Endlessly, Evernight, Falling into Place, Four: A Divergent Collection, Frostbite, Gayle Forman, Half Bad, Hallowed, Heir of Fire, I Was Here, Into the Still Blue, Jennifer L. Armentrout, Jessica Shirvington, Josephine Angelini, Julie Kagawa, Kami Garcia, Kasie West, Kendare Blake, Kiera Cass, Kiersten White, Kresley Cole, Kylie Fornasier, Laini Taylor, Last Sacrifice, Legend, Leigh Bardugo, Let the Sky Fall, Let the Storm Break, Maggie Stiefvater, Margaret Stohl, Marie Lu, Masquerade, Michelle Hodkin, Mind Games, Never Fade, Obsidian, Onyx, Opal, Opposition, Origin, Paranormalcy, Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, Pittacus Lore, Pivot Point, Poison Princess, Rachael Craw, Rachel Hawkins, Raising Demons, Rebel Belle, Renegade, Revenge of Seven, Richelle Mead, Rick Riordan, Rick Yancey, Robert Louis Stevenson, Sacrifice, Sally Green, Sarah J. Maas, School Spirits, Secret, Shadow and Bone, Shadow Kiss, Shannon Messenger, Silver Shadows, Sinner, Sister Assassin, Spark, Spell Bound, Spirit Bound, Split Second, Stacking the Shelves, Supernaturally, Talon, The 5th Wave, The Assassin's Blade, The Dark World, The Darkest Minds, The Eternity Cure, The Fiery Heart, The Forever Song, The Goddess Test, The Golden Lily, The Immortal Rules, The Indigo Spell, The Infinite Sea, The Jewel, The Lost Files: Hidden Enemy, The One, The Retribution of Mara Dyer, The Selection Stories, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, The Young Elites, Throne of Glass, Through the Ever Night, Trial by Fire, Under the Never Sky, Uneartly, Vampire Academy, Veronica Rossi, Veronica Roth, We Were Liars

Stacking the Shelves is a thing where we talk about the books we’ve collected in the past week. These can be bought, delivered, ARCs, ebooks, etc.. Pretty self-explanatory.
Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tygna’s Reviews

This week, in honour of the new year, I’m doing things a little differently.

I’m doing a post on ALL the books I bought this year!

It’s going to be epic.

Also, please note, I have actually been working on this post since October. This thing has taken me 3 MONTHS to create.

Enjoy.

Books Bought:

And here’s what you’re seeing in the picture

Whole series bought:
Unearthly Trilogy, by Cynthia Hand
Obsidian Series, by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Blood of Eden Trilogy, by Julie Kagawa
Pivot Point Duology, by Kasie West
Under the Never Sky Trilogy, by Veronica Rossi
Vampire Academy Series, by Richelle Mead (incl. Movie companion & Ultimate Guide)
Paranormalcy Trilogy*, by Kiersten White
Sister Assassin Duology, by Kiersten White
Disruption Duology, by Jessica Shirvington

Whole series currently available bought:
Bloodlines, by Richelle Mead
The Arcana Chronicles, by Kresley Cole
Let the Sky Fall, by Shannon Messenger
The 5th Wave, by Rick Yancey
Throne of Glass, by Sarah J. Maas

Other:
Secret/Sacrifice, by Brigid Kemmerer
The Selection Stories/The One, by Kiera Cass
The Goddess Test/Captive, by Aimee Carter
Raising Demons/Spell Bound/School Spirits, by Rachel Hawkins
The Dark World, by Cara Lynn Shultz
Four: A Divergent Collection, by Veronica Roth
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson
Sinner, by Maggie Stiefvater
Masquerade, by Kylie Fornasier
Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods/Blood of Olympus, by Rick Riordan
Renegade, by Debra Driza
Legend, by Marie Lu
Dangerous Creatures*/Beautiful Darkness, by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Talon, by Julie Kagawa
Revenge of Seven/Hidden Enemy, by Pittacus Lore

*Not pictures because I forgot that I bought them this year and I didn’t remember until after I put all the books back

Special Mentions (ordered, not received):
Rebel Belle, by Rachel Hawkins
The Retribution of Mara Dyer, by Michelle Hodkin

Books Won:

Now, I didn’t have to pay for all my books last year…rafflecopter was kind enough to allow me to win several books, plus bookish events enabled book winning.

Won from blogs:
Are You Seeing Me?, by Darren Groth (Thank you Notebook Sisters!)
Falling into Place, by Amy Zhang (Thank you Book Nerd Reviews!)
Blue Lily, Lily Blue, by Maggie Stiefvater (Thank you Miss Page Turner’s City of Books)
The Jewel*, by Amy Ewing (Thank you Genie in a book!)
Spark*, by Rachel Craw (Thank you again, Notebook Sisters!!)

*Not received yet

Won at events:
A Thousand Pieces of You, by Claudia Gray (BTCYA)
The Mortal Instruments series, by Cassandra Clare (CoHF Book Launch) (I gave these to my sister…she loves me)

Miscellaneous:

Presents (Birthdays, Christmas, etc.):
We Were Liars, by E. Lockhart
The Young Elites, by Marie Lu
Shadow and Bone, by Leigh Bardugo
The Darkest Minds/Never Fade, by Alexandra Bracken
Trial By Fire, by Josephine Angelini
Days of Blood and Starlight, by Laini Taylor
Dracula and Other Horror Stories, by Bram Stoker

Books I got for free (through various means):
Evernight, by Claudia Gray
A Discovery of Witches, by Deborah Harkness
Anna Dressed in Blood, by Kendare Blake
Daughter of Smoke and Bone, by Laini Taylor
Half Bad, by Sally Green
I Was Here, by Gayle Forman (ARC)

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So…that was all the books I got my hands on 2014.

How was every one else’s year?