In the Afterlight
Ruby can’t look back. Fractured by an unbearable loss, she and the kids who survived the government’s attack on Los Angeles travel north to regroup. With them is a prisoner: Clancy Gray, son of the president, and one of the few people Ruby has encountered with abilities like hers. Only Ruby has any power over him, and just one slip could lead to Clancy wreaking havoc on their minds…
-https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16150831-in-the-afterlight
I have finally finished the final book of the Darkest Minds trilogy. I wasn’t disappointed, but there were some things I wished happened.
Things I wasn’t disappointed in was obviously the writing and plot. The plot developed really well and it was super easy to follow along. Most action-y books I read, I sometimes can’t tell what was going on because it just happens so fast. This book I could understand well.
Writing was perfect. It was descriptive and I loved how Alexandra could make it so that this book could leave you gasping. Or, in my case, just jumping out of my bed, make squealing noises and then continue reading like nothing happened. The part when Clancy’s mom shot him, the writing then was eerie somehow and I loved how the author presented it.
Now characters I felt meh about but there were some good character development, Ruby, Vida and Zu especially. Ruby grew from just trying to survive, to saving all the kids in the camps. We got to see a weak side of Vida and ZU TALKED CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? I JUST-AS;LDFJKLFJ. GOOD JOB ZU. That moment actually made me feel super proud.
Back to Ruby though, I wanted to talk about this one line.
It rained the day they brought use to Thurmond. And it rained the day I walked out.
Getting out of that camp really said something. It showed that she beat them. Ruby beat the fears of Thurmond and it shows that she got stronger. Coming back really daunted her yes, but she managed to get out and it was moving to the reader. The thought of wanting to live. I thought this was unique. Most protagonists would be saying, at least I did… whatever they had to do, and Ruby did think that. But she actually wanted to live. She wanted to see the new world she brought on. Thinking of Liam, Zu, the other members of “the gang” (sorry I just really like calling the the gang) and the thought of Cole’s death helped her pull through, but it was mainly her wanted to prove to herself she can not escape, but walk out.
In this book, you have a lot of Cole and Ruby time. Despite this, I still couldn’t really connect with Cole and I felt nothing that particular when he died. Oh he’s dead now? was what I felt. Maybe it’s just me, but I wouldn’t say Cole is my favorite character. I can say what his personality is like and that he had a “tragic back story” but it just didn’t really click.
I was also disappointed about how there wasn’t much Liam doing stuff. Well, yes he did lots of “stuff” but he didn’t really play a big part of going into Thurmond. He was kind of there doing whatever and then making other people mad. Liam wasn’t part of the main thing, and I wish he was.
If I think about it, the whole gang (Vida, Chubs and Zu) wasn’t really part of it either. I was hoping for them to all defeat Thurmond/the government together. It was kind of made up in the end when they were driving off in the sunset at the end I guess.
Overall, the book was a good way to end this series. The parts I was disappointed about was made up with others I thought were moving. I was kind of hoping for an epilogue with Ruby with her green dress meeting up with Liam on Virginia beach but…yeah it just didn’t end up that way.
4.5/5