the darkest minds trilogy – Amy Leigh Reads

Series DNF’s

November 5, 2020November 6, 2020by amyleighreads3 Comments

I don’t really DNF a lot of books or series, simply because I am a bit of a completionist so when I start something I am just compelled to finish it. However, there are a couple series that I read the first or second book and I was just so ambivalent towards or I didn’t like enough that I won’t be finishing them off with no qualms, which I thought I would list for you today.

Wayfarers Series by Becky Chambers

51BhQZOH9zL 29475447._SY475_ 32802595._SY475_ 54727327._SY475_

Simon Snow Series by Rainbow Rowell

81yxWqchlgL 44017627 52190991

Shatter Me Series by Tahereh Mafi

PicMonkey Collage

The Darkest Minds Series by Alexandra Bracken

darkest-minds-giveaway-feature

Book Lists

My Least Favourite Books of 2018

December 28, 2018December 29, 2018by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment

I feel like I had a pretty good reading year. I haven’t rated anything under a 3/5 stars which I think is pretty solid. This is kind of like a part 2 because I did my 10 Lowest Rated Books of 2018 so far a few months back so I’ll try not to double up on those books but feel free to check that one out as well as my feeling haven’t changed on those books either.

So with that being said my lowest rated/least favourite books of 2018 are:

A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J Maas – I think this is mostly my fault, I went into this book thinking it was going be as in depth and plot driven as the other books in the series and being a novella I just didn’t get any of that… It was a little uneventful and there wasn’t as much action or adventure that I was yearning for. So it was a bit average and boring to me. ⭐️3/5 stars

The first three books in the Shatter Me Series by Tahereh Mafi – I had pretty high PicMonkey Collage hopes for this series, when Restore Me came out earlier this year everyone was scrambling to pick it up and were hyping the series up but when I read them it wasn’t as good as what I thought. The premise of the books is really intriguing but the execution didn’t surpass my expectations. Shatter Me ⭐️3/5, Unravel Me ⭐️3/5 and Ignite Me ⭐️3/5

The Darkest Minds Series by Alexandra Bracken – Another series that was super hyped when the movie adaptation came out earlier this year as well as a new paperback set… Again I felt like the premise of the books was super interesting but as I was getting into them I was just bored. I gave the first book a 4/5 as I liked the introduction of the characters and there was a few action sequences that kept my interest piqued but as an overall series it didn’t do it for me. The Darkest Minds ⭐️4/5, Never Fade ⭐️3/5 and In the Afterlight ⭐️3/5

Fire Study by Maria V Snyder – I loved the first two books in the Study Series soo much that I went into Fire Study with those same expectations and unfortunately it didn’t work out for me. There wasn’t anything inherently wrong with this book it just was really hard to finish. There was everything there that would otherwise keep me entertained but the pace of the book was a little slow and I had to kind of force myself to finish it which kind of spoiled the book for me. ⭐️3/5 stars

Edgedancer by Brandon Sanderson – I liked Lift as a character but after the immensely intricate, convoluted and expansive world of the previous books in the Stormlight Archives I found Edgedancer to be a little too confined and slow paced. I am an epic fantasy lover so I relished reading The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance and I wasn’t as equally thrilled at the end of Edgedancer as I was with those book. ⭐️3/5 stars

Wrap Ups

November Wrap Up

November 30, 2018January 2, 2019by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment

I had a pretty good reading month for November. I completed nearly all the books on my TBR so I am happy about that! I had a little bit of an up and down month though, there were a few books that I really loved and a few that I really struggled to finish. I had to kind of push myself to read which makes me want to not read at all, so it was a bit of a pain. I have reviews on all the books I read in the month of November so feel free to click on the titles to check them out!

Our Dark Duet by Victoria Schwab – ⭐️4/5 stars

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken – ⭐️4/5 stars

Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J Maas – ⭐️5/5 stars

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi – ⭐️3/5 stars

Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi – ⭐️3.5/5 stars

Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken – ⭐️3/5 stars

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera – ⭐️4.5/5 stars

In the Afterlight by Alexandra Bracken – ⭐️3.5/5 stars

Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi – ⭐️3/5 stars

Two Dark Reigns by Kendare Blake – ⭐️4/5 stars

Happy Reading📚

Reviews

In the Afterlight Review

November 23, 2018December 13, 2018by amyleighreads2 Comments

Book_3_Cover Kind of just meh.

I’ve finally come to the conclusion of this series and I’m a little disappointed to be quite honest. I didn’t really enjoy it as much as I thought I would.

Ruby and the remaining few who survived the attack at Los Angeles travel north to the ranch to meet up with Cate and regroup. With Clancy in tow under Ruby’s control for now, she unites with Cole to somehow try to save all the kids that are still under lock and key in the camps.

I found Ruby to be very unlikeable in this last book. Every decision she made and every time she sided with Cole over Liam just grated my nerves. Every time Liam, Vida or Chubs would confront her about keeping secrets and making plans with Cole without their input she would always deflect and say they wouldn’t be able to understand. I get that her heart is in the right place and she does genuinely want to save the children but she just really rubbed me the wrong way throughout the course of the storyline.

I did like how we have the meeting between Vida and Zu and how Vida is jealous that Ruby has kind of forgotten about Jude. I did say in the last book that I thought Jude kind of felt like a replacement Zu to me. But I like that we gradually see them grow closer and how Vida helps Zu gain the confidence to speak again. That was a touching moment.

All of the maneuvering and scheming at the ranch was kind of slow paced to me. It wasn’t as engaging and exciting as I expected it to be. I wanted more action and adventure and a grand scheme that is slowly orchestrated with several layers and manipulations involved. It kind of just felt like they didn’t know what they were doing half the time and a lot kind of happened outside of the ranch that we don’t get to see. It’s a lot of reactions and emotional turmoil and it was a little boring.

I did like that the ending wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows that there is still progress to be made in the world but for now they were safe and together. I’m happy that Ruby gave Clancy the chance to live a normal life especially after everything that he’s been through.

⭐️3/5 a bit too slow paced and not enough flair, kind of average for me

Reviews

Never Fade Review

November 20, 2018December 13, 2018by amyleighreads2 Comments

*Not really any spoilers*

Book_2_Cover It was just kind of ok.

Never Fade starts about 6 months after The Darkest Minds ends. Ruby has now been trained by the Children’s League and is used regularly by them to extract/torture information out of their enemies they capture.

We are given a lot of information about the league and how they operate pretty much straight out of the gate and I found myself kind of struggling to remain interested. The first half of the book was kind of boring for me and I really had to kind of force myself to keep reading, hoping that things were going to pick up.

We are introduced to some new and I think pretty integral characters to the series, mostly children who have either escaped from the camps or avoided detection and was found by the league. Vida I liked, I thought she was a good contrast to Ruby as she is so blunt and kind of overly aggressive and direct. Jude was just kind of like another Zu. He is younger than Ruby and she kind of takes him under her wing and dotes on him as she did Zu. Again, I liked these characters but I didn’t really spend enough time with them to form a bond or really care about them.

I think I just went into this book a little bit biased, as I didn’t quite like the choices Ruby made at the end of The Darkest Minds and how she has come to be in this situation now. I didn’t like that she ended up at the Children’s League and how she manipulated Liam and kind of just abandoned Chubs. We literally don’t hear about him for the first half of the book and when he finally reappears its then explained how she checked what happened after the hospital. I didn’t really feel any kind of progression from Ruby as a character for most of this book. I thought she still seemed very naïve and passive and made a lot of choices that just kind of bugged me. She second-guesses herself constantly and I just want her to assert herself and be the strong, powerful, confident character I know she can be. I see the potential there but its just lacking a bit for me at the moment.

I will still be continuing on the series as I am curious as to how it ends and I want to see some form of conclusion for Ruby, Liam and Chubs. I want to know where Alexander Bracken will take the plot from here and I still have hope that In the Afterlight will be the stand out novel of the series for me.

⭐️3/5 stars not great, not terrible just ok