Darkest Legacy

“The world was never as simple as you wanted to believe it was.” 4.5 STARS CW: gore, violence (including gun violence), graphic injury, human trafficking, loss of a loved one Turns out that I wasn’t ready to let the TDM series go any more than Alex Bracken was, and I’m SO PLEASED to say that TDL really delivered. So often, a series addition that comes after the main series is finished can be weaker or less interesting, but that wasn’t the case this time. TDL actually might even be better than all of the books save for Never Fade, which is no small feat in my eyes. For one, it was so nice to see Zu front and center, because we really get the full force of her. She’s angry and clever and fed up with playing by the rules that do nothing but make her and other Psi kids easier to walk all over. The five-year time skip also meant that the rest of the Black Betty crew wasn’t present for most of the story, giving Zu that extra room to breathe and grow and be incredible. Of course, when the BB crew showed up again in different bits of the story, it warmed my heart (guys…Chubs/Vida makes me so soft…what a dynamic…), but this is Zu’s book through and through, and she’s the one making decisions here. Not Ruby, not Liam, not Chubs, not Vida. It’s all Zu, and she makes a couple decisions, especially toward the end, that I thought were incredibly clever, taking what’s been pushed at her and reshaping it to her own brilliant ends. The new supporting characters were interesting too! Roman is another one of those cinnamon roll boys, though with a decidedly darker past than Liam, and I appreciate the emphasis of family in his life. He’s a good egg with a rough shadow, and I love watching characters break away from their pasts like he tries to. And Priyanka, his best friend, is one of my new favorites. I would have LOVED to see more of her and Vida interacting, because I suspect those two could banter for a thousand years, but Vida doesn’t have to be in the picture for Priyanka to be smart and snarky and vibrant. Bonus? Priyanka is sapphic! It’s not stated whether she’s a lesbian or bisexual or what, but she’s confirmed to have been in love with another female character in the book, so there is QWOC rep! And there’s two minor characters, both boys, who are also clearly dating, which is a huge leg up from how queer rep was (mis)handled in the original trilogy. Finally, the other thing I liked is that, while it breaks the “everything will be okay” feeling you get at the end of ItA, TDL really digs into all the obstacles that have been in the way of the Psi kids since the camps were broken down. It’s far from a perfect world, riddled with injustice, but it also makes TDL stronger, because ultimately, it’s about Zu and kids like her taking their fate into their own hands instead of blindly trusting someone else to do right by them. On the flip side, though, there were a couple things (small things mostly) that didn’t work for me. For one, I didn’t go head over heels for Zu’s romantic relationship because it just…didn’t do it for me. Very “it’s not you, it’s me” tbh. This is a complaint I have about so many things, haha. More importantly, though, I feel like the ending was rushed in order to cram it all in. The antagonist reveals and motivations and origins felt like something that needed two books instead of one to feel the full weight of, especially since they’re not exactly light topics, but it burned by a little fast. The antagonist Priyanka and Roman have a personal connection to felt a little flat, which took away some of the oomph in the last 100 pages or so, and I wanted the rest of the antagonists to get what they deserved, though we really didn’t get to see that 100% in action. And the kicker? Clancy Gray is in the wind again. He’s just a loose end, like his father, and I’m genuinely irritated he’s out and dangerous again. Then again, I really can’t stand Clancy (a great example of a villain you love to hate), so maybe I just want him cornered and defeated once and for all. That’s possible. Altogether, though, TDL really impressed me, and I loved finally getting a chance to get into Zu’s head and see how she understands and interacts with the world, especially now that she’s five years out from the end of ItA. It’s maybe not the characterization I completely expected, but it fits so well, and I’m delighted I had the time to read it all in one sitting. 💛

I've never read any previous books in the darkest minds series but the storyline of the darkest legacy sounded really good so I bought it and read it and I'm glad I did the darkest legacy is definitely the best book I've ever read I love the main character Zu she is tough determined and is always the first one to take charge but also suffers from PTSD from the horrible things that happened to her in her life but she has the strength to move beyond that I love strong female characters and Zu is just awesome i also love her two sidekicks Roman and priyanka I didn't trust them at first but as I got further into the book i loved them I loved the characters from the previous books too especially vida Even though I haven't read the previous books their still awesome characters Even though the darkest legacy is technically the 4th book in the series it makes an excellent standalone read and despite people complaining about the ending I loved it it was a really happy and hopeful ending and it wrapped up pretty much everything in the storyline while still leaving things open for a sequel I also think the darkest legacy is way better than any hunger games book the world in the darkest legacy is way more believable and I think the overall storyline writing and characters is better than the hunger games Another reason I like the darkest legacy is because it's very real to me yes it's a science fiction dystopian book but The way the U.S. Government treated the psi kids and the way the U.S. Government became a corrupt pretty much authoritarian state in the book is very plausible and I could definitely see our actual government going this rout in real life Overall I highly recommend the darkest legacy it's an amazing dystopian novel with a strong female lead great characters writing and a great ending I'll definitely be reading the previous books in the series and I'll definitely be watching the darkest minds movie when it's released on blu ray Highly recommended

Now I have struggled and I mean struggled with Alexandra Bracken's books. I thought The Darkest Minds series was just okay and I disliked the Passenger series altogether. I am pleased to say though, The Darkest Legacy was quite enjoyable from beginning to end. I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery element this book had especially since it kept me on my toes. I was kept guessing until towards the end of the book when I put all the clues together. It all around was to me a better book then the original trilogy. The characters old and new were enjoyable although I loved reading from Zu's perspective because she was one of my favorite characters. Our new cast of characters were all really great as well. The backstory we got for both Roman and Priyanka were just so eye opening and gut wrenching. The people in this world just do not have it easy. I would have to say the one thing I didn't like and I have seen it in other reviews is the writing. Now hear me out. I love Bracken's writing, it is actually why I am still reading her books, but she has a way with being overly descriptive. That's not to say she does it all the time but there are moments throughout the book where it does happen. To conclude this review I am happy to say I actually enjoyed this book and it's time to move on to her next series, Prosper Redding. Also be warned this book does deal with some heavy topics but Bracken handles it very well. Topics like PTSD, Terrorism, Child Abuse, Mental Health, etc.

Mother of a preteen daughter, that loves to read everything. So I am constantly pre-reading books she is interested in to screen for appropriate content. However, this series here was actually so well written, with such well rounded and engaging characters that after reading it with my daughter, I recommended it to my book club. A true must read! Can’t wait to read what happens next.

For those long-time fans of Alexandra Bracken's emotional, action-packed The Darkest Minds series, The Darkest Legacy is a complex and accomplished new installment of a story whose characters and their relationships, their family, are its heart and soul. For those who are new to the series, The Darkest Legacy can stand on its own, or as an entry point into a wider narrative world about teens who are both powerless due to age and circumstance, and powerful due a twist of a fate and their unremitting will to protect each other and survive. The Darkest Legacy picks up five years after the main series, which was told over the course of three full-length novels (The Darkest Minds, Never Fade, and In the Afterlight) and one collection of short stories and novellas (Through the Dark). The youngest of the four main protagonists of the main series, Suzume, who was a child in the earlier novels, is now a sixteen-year-old woman struggling with the complexities and contradictions of revolution and its aftermath. The villains of old may have been defeated (key word: may), but darkness has more than one body, and lives in more than one mind. The way the author expands the horizons of cruelty and human selfishness in this latest volume is, perhaps, a sign of the times in which it was written, but more likely an evolution of the sort of moral grayness and unflinching honesty about the human condition--its virtues and its malice--that characterized the earlier books. In the Darkest Legacy, a grown Zu serves as the mouthpiece for what you might charitably call a public relations campaign, and uncharitably call propaganda. She assures young Psi like herself--children and teens who survived a disease that killed most of their peers, and left those spared with awesome (in the true sense of the word) and at times terrifying psionic powers--that the new U.S. government is on their side...as long as they're willing to make temporary, escalating concessions. Zu does this because her childhood experiences have taught her that revolution is never clean, that triumph is never easy, and she believes on some level that it is better to struggle within the system than to face the loneliness and fear of exile. But at heart, she performs her duties because she believes in her friends, who have their own complex relationship with the government and are, too, trying to forge a better path for the Psi, even if it's more steps back than forward most days. But not all of Zu's friends believe this, and fissure has formed within the tight group of wanderers that is now the only family she knows. When an event Zu is speaking at is attacked and dozens of people are killed, blame soon falls on Zu, who has managed to escape with two mysterious Psi. After five years of trying to acclimate to normal life and society, Zu is once again on the run, with people she can only half-trust, in the hopes of proving her innocence to a country that believes she's only half-human. Our favorite characters from the Darkest Minds appear, and it is like coming home to see them once again on the page. But Zu is the real light of the Darkest Legacy, the little girl grown up, the powerful woman who has come into her own--and will not be silenced again.

This series is an absolute page turner that will have you reading far past your bedtime! The characters are so well developed that they leap off the pages. The storyline is woven in a way that, while very unlikely, is absolutely believable. It's been a long time since I found an author with this much talent and attention to detail! I would love to read more about Zu, Ruby, Liam, Chubs, and the others. I'm left wondering how it all turns out as they work to right the wrongs done to the Psi children.

The characters were good, the plot was alright but overall it was like trying to eat one potato chip. I was left unsatisfied. I enjoyed the first three books and the author might have been better off to stop there or else write a fifth book because dispute liking the main character it felt incomplete, like leaving the door open for more books but six years later, nothing. Oh well maybe I expected too much!

The final book of the darkest minds series is just as amazing as the previous ones. I read the first three books two years ago and some of the characters died and it was really sad that I decided not to read the darkest legacy. But I somehow found my way back to this series and I finally decided to give it a try. I am so glad I did it. This book kept me on the edge until the very last page and I couldn't put it down. It's cleverly written and you get to meet new characters who are just as amazing as the others. I really loved Zu as the protagonist here and you get a wider view of their world. I thought that this book would end in disappointment with some of the main characters dead, but how wrong I was. The ending is so beautiful and it's a fitting ending to a beautiful series. I really really hope there will be another book though because I really want to know what would happen to Clancy. I also read the whole series again because I had forgotten some parts but the time I wasted for it was worth it.