Summary... As always, this book summary will contain some spoilers! Colours photo credit: "Pinterest". In “The Darkest Minds”, for unknown reasons, all of the children in the U. S. are either dead or have powers (they are classified based on the type of powers they have e.g. red for fire, orange for mind control, yellow for electricity, blue for moving objects with mind, and green for geniuses). Most of the kids in the U. S. are in camps…parents are told that the camps are supposed to rehabilitate their children but it doesn’t seem like anyone is really trying to figure out what happened and how to fix it. The kids who aren’t in camps are in hiding or on the run from skip tracers (adults who capture and turn children in to the camps for reward money). The main character is Ruby. She is taken to a camp called Thurmond after she accidentally erases her parent’s memories of herself (she is an orange). When Ruby arrives at the camp, she tells the officers that she is green since it appears that the officers are scared of oranges. Eventually all of the yellows, oranges, and reds are taken from the camp. After a bad reaction to “white noise” (a horrible sound that the officers use to control the kids), a Doctor named Cate (who is actually an undercover member of the Children’s League) tells Ruby that she is in danger since the officers will be doing more testing and will figure out that she is an orange. With the help of Cate, Ruby (along with a fellow orange named Martin) escapes from Thurmond. But, when Ruby finds out that the Children’s League doesn't actually help kids (like Cate said it did), Ruby runs away. Ruby finds 3 other kids (Chubs and Liam who are blue and Zu who is yellow) who have escaped from a different camp who are traveling in a car named “Black Betty” looking for a supposed safe haven for kids called East River (run by an orange called the “Slip Kid”). After a run in with a skip tracer in which Ruby has to use her powers, Liam, Chubs, and Zu discover that Ruby is an orange (and not green). After lots of close calls with skip tracers and the Children’s League, the 4 friends finally find the East River which is run by the President’s son Clancy a. k. a. the Slip Kid. Ruby starts to learn how to control her powers (which she previously tried to suppress) with the help of Clancy and Liam and Ruby start to fall in love. Eventually, Zu leaves the East River with her cousin (who also escaped from camp and found her way to the Slip Kid) to go and find their family. Unfortunately, Liam, Chubs, and Ruby discover that Clancy is not as nice as he initially seemed to be…he controls people with his powers. Shortly after, the East River is destroyed by the Government and Clancy escapes. Before they leave, Chubs uses Clancy’s computer to contact his parents as well as find the address of their friend’s Dad (he died during the escape from camp but gave Liam and Chubs a letter to deliver to his family). While Chubs is delivering the letter (which ends up being an awful letter), he is shot by the Father. In the end, Ruby ends up pushing a help device from the Children’s League (that she held onto just in case) in order to save Chub’s life. Since Ruby and Liam had to go to the League in order to save Chubs, Ruby does something drastic in order to help Liam. Review... This book is awesome…except for the end! I was so heartbroken at the end of the book that I am finding it hard to get motivated to read the rest of the series. I still have hope that things will get better for Ruby and Liam though :) I would definitely recommend this book to others; especially if you tend to enjoy dystopic fiction such as “The Hunger Games” and fantasy novels such as “Harry Potter”. This book is best suited for a male or female teen to adult audience who likes action/ adventure/ fantasy/ dystopic novels…with a little bit of romance! I can’t wait to find out what happens in the rest of the series (including the additional "Darkest Minds" novellas) and to see the movie (I finished reading the book after the movie left theaters and it is not out on DVD yet). Have you seen the movie? Let me know how it was in the comments down below! Photo credit: "IMDb". I gave this book a 4/ 5 butterflies rating because it was super engaging and exciting to read (even though it was a relatively long book, I read it really fast because I just had to know what happened to the characters)! Happy reading :) Book Rating: 4/ 5
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Reading Order: Book #1 - "To All the Boys I've Loved Before" Book #2 - "P. S. I Still Love You" Book #3 - "Always and Forever, Lara Jean" Summary... Please note that the following summaries will contain spoilers! "To All the Boys I've Loved Before": Lara Jean writes letters to all of the boys whom she has loved (2 boys at her school, 1 boy from camp, 1 boy that moved away, and Josh – who is Lara Jean’s current love/ Lara Jean’s older sister Margot’s ex-boyfriend). When Lara Jean’s letters mysteriously get mailed out, Lara Jean and Peter (one of the recipients of a letter) decide to make a relationship contract and start a fake relationship; so that Lara Jean can save face in front of Josh and so that Peter can make his ex-girlfriend Genevieve jealous. As Lara Jean and Peter continue to fake date, Lara Jean realizes that Peter is the person she actually wants to be with (even after Josh confesses his feelings for Lara Jean). During a school ski trip, Lara Jean and Peter decide to date for real while they are in a hot tub. But, things go wrong when Genevieve spreads a rumour that Lara Jean and Peter did it in the hot tub and Margot (who has been away at College) finds out about Lara Jean’s boy drama. In the end, Lara Jean finds out who sent out her letters and decides to write her first “real” love letter. "P. S. I Still Love You": Things are going well between Peter and Lara Jean until someone posts a video of them kissing in the hot tub (while on the ski trip). Lara Jean reconnects with John; who received his love letter late because he had changed addresses. When Lara Jean finds out that her friends’ old childhood treehouse is going to be torn down, the old gang (including Peter, John, and Genevieve) get together at the treehouse to open their time capsule. At the meeting, the group decides to play a game of assassin with the winner getting a wish from anyone else in the group. Lara Jean becomes angry because Peter and Genevieve seem to be spending lots of time together during the game and because Lara Jean finds out that Genevieve was the one that posted the video (which is eventually taken down after Lara Jean’s Dad finds out). In the end, Lara Jean finds out why Genevieve and Peter have been spending so much time together and Lara Jean wins the game of assassin…she wishes that things will go back to normal between her and Peter. "Always and Forever, Lara Jean": Lara Jean and Peter are finishing up high school and are thinking about College; Peter got into a local school and Lara Jean got into one that is fairly close by. But, after Lara Jean and her best friend Chris check out another campus that Lara Jean got into (that is further away), Lara Jean decides to attend the school that is further away even though it means that she will not be able to spend as much time with Peter and her family. During a week at the beach post-graduation, Lara Jean and Peter almost sleep together but Peter decides against it. Also post-graduation, it is revealed that Lara Jean’s Father will be sending her and her 2 sisters to Korea for the summer…which means that Lara Jean will be away from Peter for most of the summer. Lara Jean’s Dad decides to propose to their neighbour Trina (despite Margot’s initial hesitation). After Peter’s Mom talks to Lara Jean about breaking up with Peter (so that Peter can focus on College and his scholarship), Lara Jean drunk breaks up with Peter at Trina’s bachelorette party. But at Lara Jean’s Father’s wedding, Lara Jean and Peter decide to make a new relationship contract. Featured in this picture are "Kitty's favourite Snickerdoodles"! They were so yummy :) You can find the recipe as well as other recipes from Lara Jean's Christmas Cookie Bonanza at the back of some versions of "To All the Boys I've Loved Before". Review... Jenny Han is one of my favourite authors right now! I really enjoyed these books and would definitely recommend all 3 of these books to others. The first book was my favourite because I enjoyed reading about Lara Jean and Peter’s fake turned real relationship. These books were super engaging, the character of Lara Jean was so loveable, and the books were easy to read. I think these books are best suited for a female teen to adult audience who enjoys romance novels. If you liked these books, I would recommend that you check out the movie (not as good as the book but still good) and Jenny Han’s summer series (you can find reviews of these books down below). Movie photo credit: "IMDb". I thoroughly enjoyed the whole trilogy so I gave it a 4.5/ 5 butterflies rating! Book Rating: 4.5 /5
Summary... Note that this summary will contain spoilers! Elle is best friends with Lee but she has a crush on Lee’s older brother Noah Flynn. It is understood that, despite her feelings, Elle will never go out with Noah since he is Lee’s brother. Elle and Noah initially seem to get on each other’s nerves; for example, Elle is furious when she finds out that Flynn is the reason that she hasn’t had a boyfriend yet despite the fact that she is in high school (because he told all of the boys that they would get beaten up if they dated Elle). At a school fundraiser, Lee and Elle decide to run the kissing booth. No one thought that Flynn would come to the kissing booth, but he does and he ends up kissing Elle! The two discover that they both have feeling for each other so they start a romance. Elle and Noah decide to hide their romance from Lee but when Lee accidentally finds out about the secret romance, it damages Lee and Elle’s perfect friendship as well as Noah and Elle’s new romance. But things turn around for Elle after a romantic gesture at the school prom! Review... I really enjoyed the book – even though it was a relatively long book, it was a fairly easy read and it was really engaging. I thought that Noah and Elle were super cute together and I wanted to keep on reading to see how their relationship developed and to see if they would get caught by Lee. I think that this book is best suited for a female teen/ young adult audience who enjoyed romantic comedies. If you like books by Jenny Han (e.g. “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before”), I think that you would also enjoy Beth Reekles because they have similar vibes and styles. Also, I know it’s a cliché, but (even though the movie was good) I thought that the book was better than the movie because the book went into more detail…so even if you have already seen and enjoyed the movie, I would still recommend reading the book. Side note: I also read the sequel (novella) “The Beach House” by Beth Reekles…it takes place during the summer after the events of “The Kissing Booth” when Noah, Lee, and Elle go to a beach house. I thought that, even though it wasn’t as exciting as “The Kissing Booth”, it was still pretty cute – if you liked “The Kissing Booth”, I would definitely check out the sequel as well. "The Kissing Booth" was such a good read so I gave it a 4.5/ 5 butterflies rating. Book Rating: 4.5/ 5
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February 2024
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