In the Afterlight (The Darkest Minds, #3)

by Alexandra Bracken

Paperback, 2015

Status

Available

Call number

YA B Bra

Publication

Hyperion (Disney)

Pages

535

Description

When the Children's League disbands, Ruby becomes a leader and forms an unlikely alliance with Liam's brother, Cole, but competing ideals threaten the mission to uncover the cause of IANN and free psi children from the camps.

Description

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.

They are armed only with a volatile secret: proof of a government conspiracy to cover up the real cause of IAAN, the disease that has killed most of America's children and left Ruby and others like her with powers the government will kill to keep contained. But internal strife may destroy their only chance to free the "rehabilitation camps" housing thousands of other Psi kids.

Meanwhile, reunited with Liam, the boy she would-and did-sacrifice everything for to keep alive, Ruby must face the painful repercussions of having tampered with his memories of her. She turns to Cole, his older brother, to provide the intense training she knows she will need to take down Gray and the government. But Cole has demons of his own, and one fatal mistake may be the spark that sets the world on fire.

Collection

Barcode

4132

Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

2014-09-16

Physical description

535 p.; 8.25 inches

ISBN

1423159349 / 9781423159346

User reviews

LibraryThing member margaraawr
Pointless Edit:

I've reread The Darkest Minds a lot of times already. Gaaaah. I need this now. Now.. NOW! More RUBIAM PLEASE?
LibraryThing member margaraawr
Pointless Edit:

I've reread The Darkest Minds a lot of times already. Gaaaah. I need this now. Now.. NOW! More RUBIAM PLEASE?
LibraryThing member brandileigh2003
3.5

I wanted to read this one because i adored the first one and Liam was pretty amazing. It took me a bit to get back into the story since it has been awhile. I read the notes on recaptains which helped.

It starts off with the action level pretty high and already new betrayals for characters I
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came to care about and have already been through so much. I remember the characters pretty quickly and got into their adventures. I knew that it was going to be more challenges for them because it is a fairly long book, so prepared my heart. I was glad at the reappearance of some characters and a little frustrated at others because they weren't taking things seriously and felt like they were getting into more danger.

The romance between Ruby and Liam is still a little rocky from where she erased his memories, and they have to face it. But there are other times they are so close you wouldn't remember. They are there for each other in the hard times when it comes down to it, they are fighting against so many other things they don't have the time they need and want. But I did love their scenes together and working towards what they had before and to a future full of possibilities together.

The suspense built a lot but there were times when I was a little frustrated at the back and forth with the planning. I understand they were being thorough and had to be in order for any operation to have a chance at success.

Once the second half of the book got going though after the planning and reminders section was over, I didn't want to put it down. Because I knew it was racing to a conclusion and I hoped I would like where the characters end up.

I did like the ending and thought that it was good for the series and characters.

Bottom Line: Long but worthwhile.
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LibraryThing member bell7
Ruby is still reeling from the attack on the Children's League at the end of Never Fade, when she, Cole, Liam, and friends travel to a safe house to start planning a final offensive. Despite her guild over Jude's death and debilitating stress and headaches leaving her drained, Ruby is determined to
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take out Thurmond - the camp where she was taken after a childhood "disease" left her with the ability to manipulate others' minds - and expose what the camps are doing to children in the U.S. Meanwhile, her friends are also working on learning about the cure for the disease that either killed or changed all children once they hit puberty. Is the cure what they really need, or is Clancy - the other "Orange" who can manipulate minds - right that it's just another form of control?

To my mind, the end makes the story in many ways. The last book, the final chapter, the ending words need to leave me with just the right feeling or I feel somehow bereft no matter how good the story was up to that moment. In this case, the end delivers. It makes up for the deficiencies, such as the slow starting plot and the frustration I felt with Ruby and Cole that they just couldn't see some obvious problems until... well. I don't want to give anything away. But if you enjoyed The Darkest Minds, this is about a perfect ending to the trilogy and the last 100 pages make up for a lot. It's an adrenaline ride and while I may have been annoyed with Ruby at times, I really love the characters and enjoyed seeing how their stories were completed.
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LibraryThing member fatimareadsbooks
I read this book 2 months ago. The reason I didn’t immediately review it is because I was just too emotional after the trilogy ended. Although I had some issues with the first book, the second and third book did not disappoint—despite many people’s opinion that the third book wasn’t up to
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standards. Maybe it’s the fact that I marathoned the trilogy whereas most of the others had to wait a year for the final book. It happened to me before; reading the books in a series and loving them, waiting one or more years for the concluding book to be released, being carried away by my very high expectations, then feeling extremely let down with the last book. That doesn’t happen to every series or trilogy, but it’s just a theory and—oh gosh, I just realized I was rambling.

Back to the book review. You see, it was really hard letting go of the characters. In the Afterlight gave me a book hangover.

book hang•o•ver
/bo͝ok ˈhaNGˌōvər/

noun

1. When you’ve finished a book and you suddenly return to the real world, but the real world feels incomplete or surreal because you’re still living in the world of the book.
2. The inability to function at work/school because you were up all night binge-reading.
“I have a really bad book hangover, I could barely concentrate at school.”

I didn’t even notice I was getting attached to Ruby and Cole and Liam and Vida. So when the book ended, I was in a state of denial for a whole week.

Let’s discuss the main elements of the book:

1. Ruby. Oh god, Ruby’s level of kickass-ness is reaching new levels! And I know I’ve said this in my previous review, but I love the whole ‘don’t-bullshit-me-I’m-gonna-kick-your-ass’ vibe she’s got going on. Only rarely in my life has a book actually made me feel every emotion the main character is feeling. When Ruby broke down, I broke down. When Ruby was excited, I was excited. When Ruby was furious, I was furious. You get what I’m saying, right?

2. Characters. The characters in this book have gone through a massive character development arc. It was the best character development arc in the history of best character development arcs. I loved seeing all the relationships develop, although Ruby and Liam’s did get very frustrating at times. My favourite characters are Cole and Vida, solely because of the amount of times they made me laugh out loud. Also, Chubs & Vida’s banter is so adorable and hilarious. If you’ve read the book, you can understand why I can’t let go of the characters because, honestly, they’re the best characters I’ve read about in a book.

3. Plot. I felt like the book kinda dragged on in the beginning due to the fact that they mostly stayed in the same places for long periods of time. However, the ending totally made up for it. I was left on my bed just staring at the ceiling with tears running down my eyes. I’m satisfied because all my questions were answered and the author did a pretty good job of wrapping everything up. There were still a few loose ends that I want to talk about, but unfortunately I can’t because it’s a major spoiler. All in all, the plot of this book was very solid and actually had a purpose. It really left me emotionally drained.

As a conclusion, I’d like to say (or type) that this book was a very stressful and emotional roller coaster. Alexandra did a good job of wrapping everything up and answering most of my questions. This book made me cry, laugh, and punch things in anger. I’ve stayed up late on many school nights to finish the trilogy. It’s definitely one my favourites, so I say you go out right now and buy it! I’d recommend it to anyone who’s read (and loved) other Alexandra Bracken books or anyone who enjoys dystopian YA.
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LibraryThing member bookstogetlostin
Sadly everything has come to an end. If you have read my other reviews you know how much I love this series and Ruby's character. This doesn't change. She still is very realistic and I love how she is not defined by her relationship with Liam. And guess what? She even maintains friendships with
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other guys!

But not only Ruby is a very complex and understandable character, the others are too. The thing I noticed the most is, how... childlike the children are. Your usual twelve year old doesn't jump head first into battle and kills everything in sight. And not everything has to be handled violently.
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LibraryThing member schatzi
This is the most boring book that I have read all year. By far.

I have been trying to power my way through this book for over three months and only managed to make it to about halfway through before I said f*ck it and skimmed the rest of it.

I really enjoyed the other two books (and the two novellas)
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that came before this snoozefest, but this book seriously has killed most of my love for the series.

I'm so over it that I don't even care about writing a proper review. Blech.
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LibraryThing member lkmuir
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. Only Ruby can keep their highly dangerous prisoner in check. But with Clancy Gray, there's no guarantee you're fully in control, and everything comes
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with a price.

When the Children's League disbands, Ruby rises up as a leader and forms an unlikely allegiance with Liam's brother, Cole, who has a volatile secret of his own. There are still thousands of other Psi kids suffering in government "rehabilitation camps" all over the country. Freeing them--revealing the governments unspeakable abuses in the process--is the mission Ruby has claimed since her own escape from Thurmond, the worst camp in the country.

But not everyone is supportive of the plan Ruby and Cole craft to free the camps. As tensions rise, competing ideals threaten the mission to uncover the cause of IANN, the disease that killed most of America's children and left Ruby and others with powers the government will kill to keep contained. With the fate of a generation in their hands, there is no room for error. One wrong move could be the spark that sets the world on fire.
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LibraryThing member PerpetualRevision
The overall premise (of kids developing super powers due to what amounts to biological weapons) is pretty far fetched. And the main character, Ruby, draws on far more knowledge and experience than she should've had access to, given her age and the circumstances she grew up in. But I nevertheless
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enjoyed the characters and their interactions enough to see the series through to the end.
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LibraryThing member Audriana0202
What a great ending to a fantastic trilogy! Just as I was finishing up this one, I found out there will be a fourth one! I can't wait for it to be released!!! This has been one of my favorite trilogies/series.
LibraryThing member Linnnnie
Such a good series! I am very pleased with how it all ends. Well done!
LibraryThing member MrNattania72
I enjoyed the series, the concept was pretty good, but I felt that the characters were barely living by the time we got the end of the series. I have the last book but not sure if I can get myself to started reading it. I felt as if this dragged on for a while, kinda bummed - I loved the first two
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books.
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LibraryThing member Leila.Khouane
before picking up the next book, because I'm in a weird reading mood where I fly so fast through book, I need to express my feelings about this one

3.25STARS

I'm very dissapointed by the end, the whole book from beggining to end had one story line going and that was preparing for that last big
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impossible attack, with very repetetive arguments and scenes btw (drived me crazy FYI)and easy to predict like I didnt bat and eye at the revelation at the, it was bound to happen, i knew it, and then when we finally.... FINALLY get to that big event the book was suddenly blue skies and sushine, like what the F?! what just happened...

doesnt mean the author did not do a good job, on the very contrary I wouldn't have lasted till the end if it was that bad. I'm just dissapointed that's all. there still so many things that were unaswered or were just too rushed

note this is just an unedited rant to express my feeling and justufy my rating, have a nice day.
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LibraryThing member thinktink93
I felt like things were tied up a little too neatly and it didn't feel as authentic for the Darkest Minds universe (after everything that has happened to them in the last 7-10 years).

Four stars only for the ending/last chapter or two.

I loved everything up until that point though. (And I don't hate
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the ending, it just didn't do it for me as much as the rest of the book.)
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LibraryThing member Anniik
This was a good conclusion to the series. This is the longest of the books, and it does a lot. A lot of this book is planning for battles, or fighting battles, but it continues to be a strong and interesting book that keeps the reader emotionally connected to the characters. There were a few
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character deaths I could have done without (one in particular) but all in all I was happy with how this series concluded.
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Rating

(159 ratings; 4.1)

Call number

YA B Bra
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