I am having several issues with this book at the moment. I do plan on finishing it eventually though.

So for now, this one is going on hold. It's been a major info dump so far and I really don't have patience for it. Bleh. I was excited too

The full review + more can be found at The Book Bratz

The review with GIFs goes live on 3/10/16!!

When I finally caved
I DNFed it the first time, I was going in expecting the same result.

The first few chapters:
My head was pounding, so much was going on. Important things were being explained. It took me forever to realize she was actually an orange and not a green. *face palm*

The idea of Psi:
This was so freaking cool. I was wondering why I DNFed it originally to be honest. But Psi is was a child in the stages of puberty would develop mental abilities. Idiopathic Adolescent Acute Neurodegeneration or shortened to IAAN. which is the actual term for it. But what ever. They are freaky cool abilities that got children locked in camps that pretty much tormented them with all forms of mental and physical abuse. There are 5 classifications, Green, Orange, Red, Yellows and Blue. Each able to do something different. Oranges, Reds, and Yellows being the most dangerous. Ruby a mind manipulator convinced them she was a green (the most harmless) for almost 6 years. That is when the book starts up. Sounds cool, right?

Initial Impression of Ruby:
When she ran away from Cate and into the Van with Ru, Liam and Chubs. We didn't really know about the organization then, so oooops. I guess she did do the right thing. But she also only had the education of the 4th grader, and she was socially impaired, and not mentally her age. She grew on me quickly though. She changes a lot through out the novel.

Meeting Liam, Chubs and Zu:
In my mind Liam is a total hottie, on a scale of 1 to 10 he is off the chart. Just putting it out there. (I am going to talk about him more when we get to romance.) For the first half of the book I hated Chubs, he irritated me and I wanted him gone. I get safety is an issue, but at this point Ruby is as harmless as a Q-tip. Then the second half he grew on me and the end of the novel had me sobbing. I loved Zu, she is the one who led Ruby to Liam in the first place. Her leaving the camp towards the end broke my heart, I hope she is in the next books. As well as Chubs. *Fingers Crossed*

Clancy:
Just a feeling from the moment we met him. Let's leave it at that.

ROMANCE!:
The romance was a real slow burn. Like I didn't realize it was there until the end. *insert second face palm* But Ruby's ability is what held it back, which I think is what confused me about her ability even more. Because she kissed him with out erasing his memory? But I really really love Liam and can't wait to see where Never Fade is going to take their relationship.

The Ending:
WHAT THE HELL. I WAS DISTRAUGHT ABOUT CHUBS AND NOW THIS. I AM NOT
OKAY. My chest was physically aching in the last pages. Why. Why. Why did she have to do that.

Overall:
I really enjoyed The Darkest Minds, and plan to continue on with the series. (I mean you have to with that kind of ending) The only reason I took a star off is because I feel some things could have been clarified more, and I don't understand Clancy's invasion all that much. (Example: clarification) But other then that I have a lot of love for this series so far!

The full review can be found at The Book Bratz!


Zodiac is something different, unlike anything I have ever read before. Romina created a whole new galaxy based on the 12 constellations, which in themselves is a pretty cool thing. Zodiac is full of action, adventure and nail biting moments that will leave you thinking about Zodiac long after it is over.

The introduction into Zodiac and the planets is a bit rough to understand. Romina throws alot of info at you and it does get a bit confusing. Once you get over the inital hump though it is all smooth sailing. The world building in Zodiac was impressive. Romina created a number of different worlds, as well as cultures and people.

Rho makes my list for top female herione. She is stubborn and quite interesting. Rho is one of those characters that if she was real, I would get a long with her just fine. As much as I loved Mathias, he also frustrated me. A huge part of this book was trust and Mathias had almost no trust in Rho through out a good part of it. I liked Hysan, I am not in love with him. Maybe I will be when I get over the ending of Zodiac. Who knows. I probably won't. Only a year to book two... *cries silently* All the characters though were flawed, and had a sense of realness to them.

I mentioned two boy names above so you can probably guess what that means? Yes, Zodiac does have a love triangle. It isn't crazy though, and is mainly addressed more towards the end of the novel. Both boys are a potential choice for her, but you can easily fall in love with the both of them. I see the appeal for Hysan, but I am partial to Mathias.

Romina broke my heart with the ending to Zodiac. Something major happens and then *poof!* it is over. What?! I cried. I should have known something would happen because I told Rachel and Dana something and then they hinted something would happen. Then they laughed at me.



Overall, I loved Zodiac and I can't wait for the second book to see what else Romina has in store for us.

I need this about now!