Format: Hardcover, 576 pages
Release Date: July 31, 2018
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult / Dystopian
Five years after the destruction of the so-called rehabilitation
camps that imprisoned her and countless other Psi kids,
seventeen-year-old Suzume “Zu” Kimura has assumed the role of
spokesperson for the interim government, fighting for the rights of Psi
kids against a growing tide of misinformation and prejudice. But when
she is accused of committing a horrifying act, she is forced to go on
the run once more in order to stay alive.
Determined
to clear her name, Zu finds herself in an uncomfortable alliance with
Roman and Priyanka, two mysterious Psi who could either help her prove
her innocence or betray her before she gets the chance. But as they
travel in search of safety and answers, and Zu grows closer to the
people she knows she shouldn’t trust, they uncover even darker things
roiling beneath the veneer of the country’s recovery. With her
future—and the future of all Psi—on the line, Zu must use her powerful
voice to fight back against forces that seek to drive the Psi into the
shadows and save the friends who were once her protectors.
The Darkest Legacy, by author Alexandria Bracken, is being sold as a companion novel to go along with the release of The Darkest Minds movie based on the book. It has been four years since In The Afterlife was released. In this world, it has been 5 years since the rehabilitation camps that had imprisoned Zu, Chubs, Ruby, & Liam who made up the group known as the Black Betty gang were destroyed. Now, 17, Zu has assumed a role in the interim President's administration hoping that she can make things better for other Psi.
If you've read the first 3 books, and I hope that you have, President Cruz owes all that she has become to those like Zu, Ruby, Chubs, and Liam. Zu, as well as Chubs, who is a member of the PSI Council, believes in fighting for the rights of the PSI kids against a growing tide of discontent brought up by a man who has used misinformation, and prejudice against the PSI's in order to gain national fame. The tide, which had swung in their favor, and granted them national headlines for how they were treated, is about to swing the other way.
After she is nearly kidnapped, and people die in the process of escaping, she's accused of committing a horrifying act of terrorism. Forced to go on
the run once more in order to stay alive, and determined to clear her name, Zu finds new allies in Roman and Priyanka, two mysterious Psi's who could either help her prove
her innocence or betray her before she gets the chance. *I've compared Priya to Vida. They are both prickly characters, but they are also awesome.* As the trio
travels in search of safety and answers, Zu once again finds herself on the hunt for Ruby or Liam, and looking back at how it all began, and how the foursome separated and went their own ways.
I have an interesting take on why this book was written. Let's be real for a moment. So, The Darkest Minds was sold, and the movie was going to come out, and there were those who had not read the books. What better way to introduce the books, and the characters like Ruby, Liam, Zu, & Chubs than to release a movie? There are times that I've actually read the books after watching the movie, and more times than not, the movies are better than the books. There are some examples, The Girl on the Train, Jurassic Park, Jaws, The Lord of the Rings.
Anyway! How many times have you heard about an author who gives his or her characters as close to a happy ending as they can, and then they come back 5 years later and completely and utterly tear them apart? I'm not spoiling anything! You can tell by the synopsis that there is something really wrong in this world, again, and the Psi are targeted. Is it any secret that both Ruby and Liam have roles to play? Is it any wonder that Zu becomes the leader who ends up taking Ruby's place and really ends up shining?
I am glad that the author dove into Lu's abilities as a Yellow. They are really impressive. As are Roman's, and Priyanka's, and Roman's sister Lana. The
problem I have with rating this book is that didn't really feel like a standalone,
which apparently it's supposed to be. It was a weirdly self-contained story that didn't really
feel complete. It felt as thought the story needed another book because of how the author left the story. I don't honestly think we need to have Ruby or Liam in another spin-off, or novella. They've earned their reprieve, so let them walk away.
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