Kogiopsis's Reviews > In the Afterlight

It feels like every time I turn around, Alexandra Bracken has risen to new levels of excellence in her works. From the beginning I've been a fan of her work, but looking back, this trilogy completely blows Brightly Woven out of the water.

The Darkest Minds, as a series, is quite simply the best YA dystopia I've ever read. Its setting is terrifying but plausible; its characters are flawed but heroic; and this conclusion was one of the most satisfying ends to a series I have ever read. I don't even know how to start explaining how marvelous it was - how Bracken seamlessly interwove character development and relationship resolution with necessary plot elements, how beautifully it mirrored the first book, how I love Ruby Daly's growth arc beyond words.

The element that distinguishes this the most from other YA dystopian novels I've read is the way trauma experienced by characters is woven into them. All of the kids in this series have gone through hell, and they've all found different ways to survive and move forward. The depictions of PTSD and anxiety attacks in this book were painful to read, but at the same time one of its strongest aspects. Their roads to recovery aren't linear, and importantly, they hurt each other along the way and must learn to repair that damage even as they struggle to heal. It's a level of emotional complexity that is beautifully rendered and in many ways unique.

Obviously, because this is the third book, I have to talk some spoilers so... those of you who haven't read the series yet, get on that. The rest of you can read on.

(view spoiler)[Bracken is spectacularly good at heart-dropping moments in this series. Liam's letter to himself about Ruby just about ripped my heart in two. You love her, you love her, you love her. God. Liam in general was spectacular in this book - "I can find us the one real shot we have doing some lasting good in a world that's already too violent" really struck me like. This kid has gone through so much, struggled with so much, and yet he is so essentially committed to being good.

And speaking of Stewarts who are committed to things - Cole's death totally blindsided me; I kept expecting him to appear out of nowhere and end up okay. And yet... looking back, and having read one of Bracken's Tumblr posts about why she made that writing decision, I see how it fits? It also works well with the two characters he's in foil relationships with, namely Liam and Clancy - Cole differs from Liam in that he doesn't feel like he can form bonds with people again because he's too different and dangerous, and from Clancy because what Clancy sees as power he sees as a curse. Like Clancy then, his arc ends because of his abilities - but where Ruby uses her Orange talents to give Clancy the gift of peace, Cole burns the way he always expected to.

There's a much longer essay here about this, but I can't really articulate it just yet. But - dang did that trio work well in this series.

Speaking of Ruby using her abilities as a gift, I about cried when she gave Lilian Gray back her memories. Not just because of what she did, but because of what it means for Ruby herself. The first book felt so hopeless, like all the people whose minds she had erased herself from were never going to be part of her life again, but this - she's grown, she's developed, she has moved past the fear and now she can mend all of her bridges. that was beautifully satisfying.

Unnerving as it was, I found myself agreeing with Clancy early in this book. "They want to strip you of yourself - your ability to protect and enforce your right to make decisions about your life. Your own body. Mark my words: in the end, it won't be a choice. They'll decide this for you."
For someone who has, in the past, used his Orange abilities to violate Ruby's boundaries and take away her agency, he makes a good argument. I was immensely pleased to see Chubs take it up at the end as well: "I finally have the right to choose what I want for myself but, if I make the wrong choice, I'll still be punished for it?" and "By locking someone up for making a choice about their body that they have every right to make, what you're essentially saying is that, no, you don't trust us. Not to make good choices, not to treat others well."

Fundamentally this series is a story about fear of the unknown, about potential danger that can't be controlled. The point that Clancy and then Chubs make is one that applies outside of the fictional world: that that fear hurts people in unconscionable ways, and that people deserve better. We can't just shut away everything we don't understand, and we certainly can't use that lack of understanding to tell others what choices they can make about their lives and their bodies.

We are better than that. We must be.(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]