hehe i think this book may be my favorite book in the entire series but I just binged this entire huge book in two days which says A LOT but here i am, at the end of my the darkest minds journey. I actually wasn't expecting to read this so soon, but I ended up reading it for a buddy read. And now I can't imagine not having read this series. The series in retrospective may seem a little... cliche. Especially the first book. But this whole series spun it into something like I've never read before. My official ranking of this amazing series (All of them are 5 star ratings, though) 1. The Darkest Legacy Did I really just put this extra fourth book that wasn't really necessary at the top of my rankings? (i can't tell you the number of authors who've i've seen doing that) Yes, yes I did. But yeah, now that my love letter to this series in general is over, my actual review: in case you couldn't tell before, i'm absolutely in love with The Darkest Legacy. It's so good. So unique. In the Afterlight left the series off with a lot of threads untied. But The Darkest Legacy tied them all up and gave us an amazing book. I'd say read this if you loved the original trilogy. It lives up to the original trilogy (even a little better, if you ask me) and completes the adventure perfectly. characters - Zu- Zu's the main character of this book. We've never had a POV from her, only spent, I'd say, about half of the original series with her as a main character, and all that stuff. And honestly? I loved her POV so. much. She's a character I can get behind, maybe even one I like more than Ruby. She's interesting, and funny, and smart. Wow, I've been sleeping on Zu for so long. Priyanka- woah, is that a INDIAN GIRL as a main character whose whole story doesn't revolve around her being indian? Alexandra Bracken has done it again. I aspire in life to be like Priyanka, really. She's hilarious, and crazy smart (and tall, but we aren't going to mention that). BROWN GIRL POWER
2. In the Afterlight and Never Fade
3. The Darkest Minds
Roman- love him. Does he seem a little bit like Liam Stewart 2.0? Yes... but I also I just really like him (and I like how good he is at shooting a gun, you know, book boyfriend things). I don't even know why. He seems like someone I'd be friends with or marry, honestly.
Did Priyanka and Roman and Zu make it onto my all time favorite The Darkest Minds characters? (this list previously includes Vida, Jude, Nico, Clancy, and Cole) Yes, yes they did.
None of the other characters were really all that important for me to mention here, and none of our main characters from the original trilogy were really all that prevalent in this book, not that I'm sad about it. It was refreshing to be away from them and meet this amazing new characters (even though the old crew will always have a place in my heart from the trilogy, this new trio is freaking amazing)
The OG characters matured so well. They stuck to their old personalities but at the same time grew a lot in the five year gap, something I really appreciated.
plot -
I LOVED the plot. It was... dare I say, more exciting than the trilogy. The plot never stopped for anyone. You'd think that most of this book would be infodumping to make up for the five year time gap, but think again. There were so many plot twists that would have made me gasp had I not been spoiled by the wiki (I just wanted to see their ages, man). Thoroughly enjoyed the plot on this book and definitely lives up and is even better than the original trilogy's plots!
Honestly I'd give this book 5 stars purely judging on how good the plot was and how fast I read it
world-building -
The world-building was, of course, amazing. It was even better than the original trilogy, in my opinion. You know what? My official statement: everything in this book was better than the original trilogy (except Nico, Jude, and Cole whom we did not see for obvious reasons but still nothing can replace them).
We got so much more of the world-building in this book. We still went on a road trip (it was more like a police chase but you get the idea), but it was so different with our new characters. It was enjoyable and the author did such a good job of squeezing in the information about what had happened to the world in five years.
And can I say the time gap and the flashbacks put in the book were genius? I couldn't tell you the number of times I've read a book with HORRIBLE flashbacks and a bad time gap fixing but this book did both perfectly. Ugh my love for this book > my love for my heart and well-being (i just like getting too attached to the characters and getting my heart broken every single time they die, you know?)
writing style -
As usual, Alexandra Bracken's writing is phenomenal. If anything, I think she improved even more in this book. It's stunningly written and so descriptive. The flashbacks she added were so well done, and overall her writing just flows smoothly and is written beautifully. I can't think of more adjectives to describe her writing or else they'd be here. She's quickly becoming one of my favorite writers (maybe me reading Lore will fill that in? it is a greek mythology retelling and i've lately been living in percy jackson world and it's a YA... do i need to go on?)
I'm just hyping Bracken up here, but I don't care. GO READ THIS SERIES. GO READ HER OTHER BOOKS. Just go read something of her's. I don't care, just go.
representation -
Oh, the representation. Where do I start? It was amazing. Makes up for the lack of representation in the previous books.
We've got Zu, who's Japanese/East Asian, as THE MAIN CHARACTER.
We've got Roman and Lana, who are Russian (i kid you not). Oh, and Lana's a lesbian.
Priyanka, my dream character in a book. She's indian/south asian. She's a lesbian.
Do I need to go on? No, I don't think so. So filled with representation, my dreams are fulfilled just by Priyanka.
romance -
Adored the romance between Roman and Zu. Adored it. It was so cute and innocent and ugh first love!
I love them together. I love them growing together on the run together, just like Ruby and Liam. And Priyanka totally being their #1 shipper? YES. (not to mention Liam teasing Zu about it, which is the icing on the cake). It was so well done, and I also adored how the romance wasn't the main thing about the book. They are totally one of those couples that I can see will never break up after the series is over.
relationships -
I feel like I've never really understood just how big of parent figures our original gang was for Zu. Zu's relationship with each of them, Chubs, Liam, Ruby, and Vida, is so different, unique, and beautiful. She thinks and talks about them so much, and how they drifted apart, especially her and Liam and Ruby, but she stayed close with Chubs and Vida.
All five of them moved apart definitely, Vida and Chubs and Zu on one side while Ruby and Liam on the other, but it's so realistic that it broke my heart.
Also, I was dying to Zu to find her own group of friends for once. And she did. Priyanka and Roman were perfect best friends for Zu, and I can see the three of them being their own group and staying together for the rest of their lives.
The older gang had changed so much, and Zu's opinion of them as well. Her relationship with Chubs really stood out to me honestly, because we did not see much of them in the last book. Or her relationship with anyone, really.
In short, the relationships that she had with those five (seven including Priyanka and Roman) really touched my heart.
other -
Can I just say how much the tyrannical man running for president gave me nostalgia? I just love how this dystopian, apocalyptic future is exactly like how the US is today *angelic smile*. I'm being sarcastic, in case you didn't know. Truly, I got a major sense of deja vu while reading about the politics.
I do want to mention, though, that there is a trigger warning for a few things. Sexual assault, gore, violence, child trafficking/human trafficking, abuse, murder. Most of these aren't too prevalent or too big in the book, but they are there.
I did not feel this book was tropey at all. It created this crazy situations and took the story to this crazy level and something completely different than what I was expecting. The book was very unexpected for me, personally. I had the greatest time reading the book. It's so unique, I can't put it into words.
overall review -
Overall, I loved this book. It lives up to the original trilogy, and it's definitely a must read for any fan of the original trilogy because it is such a perfect addition.
All I really want right now is for there to be a sequel about this book, really. Loved everything about it.
Maybe the reason why my heart doesn't hurt anymore from this series ending is probably
a) my heart has numbed from reading too many books and i can't feel anything anymore
b) i haven't accepted it. denial IS the first stage of grief, after all.
it's probably a mixture of both. oh well, no time to mourn! off to read the lunar chronicles, something i have been putting off for a very long time now :D
five stars! no, scratch that, give it a million, thanks. there should totally be a 5+ star on goodreads.
