Saturday 18 February 2017

Never Fade- Alexandra Bracken BOOK TALK

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Never Fade is the second book in The Darkest Minds trilogy and, yes, it did sort of suffer the second book slump. It was still a great book but it didn't work for me personally simply because it had my biggest pet peeve that took a good 300+ pages to resolve itself. And that was 300+ pages too many. I didn't have too much time to read and it was such a struggle to find the motivation to pick this up. Once I did pick it up, however, it was still a good book and, overall, one I enjoyed.
We're introduced to new characters and the protagonist goes down a dark path in this book but I think this book is mainly a long set up for the finale.
The Darkest Minds BOOK TALK



 
SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD
I have mixed feelings about this book. I found it really difficult to find the motivation to pick up this book simply because I didn't want to deal with all the emotional trauma and drama that was inevitable to come. But, somehow, I managed to pick it up and once I started, it wasn't so bad.
Ruby went down quite a dark path in this book and it was a lot less entertaining because this book was a lot less light-hearted than the previous road-trip style story. Everything/everyone felt so disconnected in this book and it didn't sit right with me.
We also met new characters in this book- characters that I wasn't really in the mood for but got anyway!

Jude was cute but I felt like he was bit of a Zu replacement for this book. Through the book I grew a nice love for Jude and so, obviously, he goes and dies in the end! Of course!
I had mixed feelings on Vida. At first, I hated her. She was bitchy, cold and someone that I would definitely not get along with. As the book went on though, I slowly began to like her more and more and now I have a solid respect and love for her. She's not everyone's cup of tea but I think she has spunk and I liked that.
I didn't particularly like the Children's League (and not just because they were essentially manipulating kids as becoming weapons). I was bored staying at their hideout and their missions didn't interest me in the slightest. So, I was happy when Ruby decided to run off to find Liam- and the memory stick but... mainly Liam.
Contrary to all the horrible stuff we've previously heard about Cole, I loved him. He was cool, sassy and added that little bit of humour when everyone was either business or depressed. So thank you for that, Cole.
But thank God we found Chubs! I don't care how overly convenient and coincidental that we somehow stumbled into him, I was just so glad he was back! Chubs is my favourite character (as I've said a million times before) and I really needed his comedy and entertainment to help push me through the book. If it wasn't for Chubs, I don't know what I would've done.
Finding Liam, however, didn't give me the joy that it had with Chubs. Because my number one pet peeve came into play. It feels like everything you've previously read has been for nothing because the character doesn't even remember- it was all for nothing. And this book really put me off Liam. He was whiny and in a perpetual mood swing. I can kind of understand it- it's not his fault- but it annoyed me to no end.
I was happy when he got his memories back but it feels different- he's not the same lovable guy he used to be and I find it harder to relate to him and like him now. He's always so moody and miserable.
It is so freaking obvious that Vida and Chubs will get together- thou protests too much. Their bantering relationship is one of the only things that kept  me sane through reading this.
The other thing being Clancy. Yes, he's an evil little bastard but he's one of those villains that you just love to hate! He's so sassy and reminds me a bit of Warner from the Shatter Me trilogy- but without all the redeeming qualities of course.
That research sounds interesting and I wonder how that will play into the next book.
I got a bit annoyed at Liam. He got mad at Ruby for wanting to stay with an organisation that now wants to expose the truth about the disease and save the kids in the camps! Why do you view that as a bad thing Liam? What the hell were you planning to do to help? I think Liam and Ruby really need to sit down and have an adult, respectful heart-to-heart chat otherwise they'll end up tearing each other's heads off (before I tear my own off, of course).

Overall, this was an okay book but I'm really hoping it steps up for the finale.
Thanks for reading! Feel free to comment your thoughts. Stay amazing!
Chloe

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