Disclaimer: None, I got this book on my own!



Rating: 5/5



Publication Date: December 18th, 2012



Genre: YA Dystopian



Recommended Age: 16+ (abuse, violence, children death, children torture, possible rape)



Pages: 488



Author Website


Amazon Link


Synopsis: When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something frightening enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that got her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government “rehabilitation camp.” She might have survived the mysterious disease that had killed most of America’s children, but she and the others emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they could not control.

Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones. When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. She is on the run, desperate to find the only safe haven left for kids like her—East River. She joins a group of kids who have escaped their own camp. Liam, their brave leader, is falling hard for Ruby. But no matter how much she aches for him, Ruby can’t risk getting close. Not after what happened to her parents. When they arrive at East River, nothing is as it seems, least of all its mysterious leader. But there are other forces at work, people who will stop at nothing to use Ruby in their fight against the government. Ruby will be faced with a terrible choice, one that may mean giving up her only chance at having a life worth living.



So I read this book for two reasons. 1) I like dystopians. And 2) There was a movie coming out and the cardinal sin of bookstagram is to watch the movie before reading the book… and I’ve committed too many of them. I don’t want them to revoke my bookstagram card… seriously they do that. It’s awful. Anyways, I really really liked this book (Sydney if you’re reading this then consider my tongue stuck out at you). The book was amazing. I loved the plot and the pacing. I loved the characters and how well I could “hear” and distinguish one from another. I loved how the writing was and I felt that Bracken did well with the world building. It was informative, but not so much so that it drug the book down. My favorite part was that the book just had this dark and foreboding atmosphere, like any good dystopian book would.



My only complaint is that the reader doesn’t really get to experience the Reds a lot in the book. I feel like we got to know all the other colors but them. Hopefully that’ll be rectified in the other novels.



Verdict: A book that surpasses The Hunger Games and Divergent.