Monday 22 December 2014

Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken


***The following synopsis and summary contain spoilers for The Darkest Minds.***


In the sequel to the Darkest Minds, Ruby is now back with the Children's League, fulfilling her promise to them; if she stays, they will let Liam go. Ruby has undergone training is being sent out on missions for the Children's League. But as Ruby gets more involved with the Children's League, she realizes that the organization is taking a turn for the worse. People like Rob, are trying to change the purpose of the League. They have stopped caring about the Psi kids, and are even beginning to get rid of them, permanently.

One of the agents with the League who isn't against Psi kids, Cole Stewart, Liam's brother, entrusts Ruby with the mission of finding a flash drive that contains valuable information about IAAN, information that could just turn the Children's League around. But the flash drive has fallen into the hands of Liam Stewart. Ruby takes off from the Children's League once again, with other Psi kids from the League, to find Liam and the flash drive.

Rate: 5 stars

This book is a great sequel to The Darkest Minds, although I do prefer the first book, but Never Fade is still excellent. And just as action packed as The Darkest Minds. We get to see the same favourite characters, and a few new ones. We are introduced to the new characters right away, Vida and Jude, who are equally amazing characters compared to those of the first book. Alexandra Bracken has been able to create some of my favourite characters, they are all unique and quirky, and you will fall in love with them as you read the books.

SPOILERS AHEAD.

At first, I wasn't so sure of Vida. She comes across as a headstrong and rude character at first, but as the story goes on, we see her true colours. Yes, she is headstrong, and occasionally rude, but she is also a funny character to read about. She becomes better friends with Ruby throughout the story, and we see that she does care, and that she is not a just tough and uncaring person.

Then there is Jude. Jude comes across as caring and naïve. He was always cared about the other characters, no matter how they treated them. Although, I was really sad when, SPOILER ALERT (if you haven't read Never Fade, don't continue reading!), he died because of the bombing of L.A. I wish Alexandra Bracken would have kept him alive a bit longer.

Although, I was extremely glad that Chubs showed up in Never Fade, I wasn't sure if he was going to recover from the bullet wound. When he first showed up at Liam's house, and called out to Liam, I thought for a minute that Liam was with Chubs. But it turned out that Chubs thought Liam was still with Ruby.

While Chubs was in Never Fade, I was disappointed that Zu did not show up. She was mentioned, but we never actually got to she her. Hopefully we will get to see her in the next book, In The Afterlight.

I was actually quite surprised when Ruby, Chubs, Jude and Vida found Liam at the fake East River, half dead. I'm glad that Ruby found Liam, but their relationship has been quite different since Ruby erased Liam's memories of her. Although I am glad that he did remember some little things, and even more when Ruby restored some of his memory accidentally. Even after Ruby restored part of Liam's memory he was still different.

Oh, and let's talk about Cole being a RED. I did not see that coming. How is that going to play out in the next book? Will there be others like him, people a bit older who have powers?

And of course, Clancy had to show up in Never Fade. He is just as manipulative as ever, though. But I'm glad that he doesn't have as much control or influence on Ruby now that she can completely control her powers. And I can't believe that he survived the bombing! I wish Ruby would have killed him, he is to manipulative and he can cause to much trouble. And why would he want to destroy his mother's research on IAAN? But luckily, Ruby did manage to get her hands on some of the papers that contained that information. Alexandra Bracken once again leaves us hanging at the end of the book when Ruby steps forward with the papers. I'm very excited to get my hands on the next book!