The Darkest Legacy-The Darkest Minds, Book 4

I know I said I loved the whole series, but I lied. The book was written so well. Such a great read that I couldn't put it down. The truth is, it just didn't align with my ideals for the story/characters and it hurt me. So, I sometimes pretend this book doesn't' exist.

Seeing Xu and the world after they escaped the camps was exciting. I loved seeing how Zu matured over the years.

First and foremost, I'm so happy Alexandra Bracken decided to return to this universe and create another story for fans. Zu was my favorite character in the initial trilogy, so getting a standalone centered around her and told from her perspective was a wonderful experience. Though Zu is a prominent figure in the first three books and part of the core four characters, readers didn't learn as much about her as the other three. Part of this is because she is younger than the others, and the other part is because she does not speak and therefore relate her thoughts and feelings in the same way the other characters were able explicitly do so. However, this book is 576 pages of pure Zu thought. Readers are able to learn so much more about her, her powers, and how she's grown. Plus, we get an inside look into how her relationship with Chubs, Liam, and Ruby has developed following the end of In the Afterlight. Seeing her interact with new characters was also really great, but my heart sang whenever she was with or even thinking of the other core three (Also Vida, of course!). I really loved this story, but I did have to knock off a star because of how rushed the ending was. The book had spent so much time setting up certain things and making them important, only to brush over them in the end. I wish more time had been dedicated to the ending to really flesh out what happened so the story could have felt like it had a more definite end. I heard this was a standalone, but the ending left so many loose threads that I'm not so sure anymore. I don't know if it was initial or not. Other than the ending, this story was great and my love for these characters is now eternal. 4 stars!

From the beginning of this series, Zu has been one of my favorite characters. Maybe even my only favorite. Although the rest of them have ‘favorite’ potential, but none are quite as dynamic as sweet Suzume. In Darkest Legacy, Zu is all grown up and finally using her voice not only as the rest of do on a daily basis, but in hopes of changing minds and finally making progress. When the original trilogy ended, things were looking better, but certainly not as hopeful as everyone would have liked. 5 years later, it may look like the world has finally accepted that Psi children are simply children with gifts, but look a little deeper and there’s still a large percentage of the population that still look upon them as monsters. And there’s still plenty of factions out there that want to study them, use them, and torture them. While Zu (and Chubs and Vida and anyone else working in the government) are living in a bubble, it’s not until Zu is dragged into a conspiracy that she realizes nothing really has changed, in spite of all the work she’s done, only this time the enemy is bigger and badder than before. This series is really such a fantastic series, and one that I put off reading for so long until I heard that book 4 was being released. Any time a new book is released in a series that ended years ago, that’s usually an indication that the series is a really good one. At least in my estimation, and I certainly wasn’t disappointed in this instance. The transition from the trilogy to this new installment was so flawless that it’s hard to tell that it’s a book that was released years after the original. The Darkest Minds had the same sense of hopelessness and heartbreak that the trilogy carried, each and every character retained the qualities that made them so unique, and the world around them is just as harsh and unforgiving as it’s ever been. I’m really hoping that this series continues (again) because there’s so much story left to be told and so many aspects that aren’t settled. And I know that with this series, there will never truly be a happy ending, but I’d like to at least see these characters finally have some peace. And with the world Bracken created, peace seems like a misnomer for sure. Bottom line — fantastic continuation of the original trilogy, with a new star in the spotlight (literally. Zu can shine as bright as a star). The Darkest Minds is definitely a book that will appeal to both longtime fans of the series and newcomers alike. Highly recommended and I have my fingers crossed that we’ll see a ‘book 5’ in the future.

Five years after the unfortunate events in The Darkest Minds trilogy, Zu takes center stage in this new stand-alone spinoff. Zu embarks on a quest to face the antagonistic forces set upon her and her fellow Psis. The title was fitting considering the fact that the book does get darker as it progresses. Immediately, the reader gets thrown into an anxiety inducing event followed by an unforgettable action-packed scene. Bracken's beautifully descriptive writing (albeit wordy sometimes) gripped me till the last page, leaving me wanting more from the story and its characters. Unfortunately, this novel seems to be the last piece from the world of The Darkest Minds. While the pacing had been slow, the payoff was great. If you were a fan of the trilogy, expect to be hit with nostalgia as some beloved characters indeed makes a comeback. I also loved the new characters that Bracken introduced in the novel even if I wasn't entirely a fan of how they connected to the story. It seemed like the mystery in the novel had been dragged out to further the plot. Otherwise, I appreciated the character development especially from the former characters in the original trilogy. All in all, I thought Bracken did a great job in coming up with another book in the world of The Darkest Minds because its been years since the books came out.