#80 in Middle grade
The Darkest Minds
- 544
- Pages
- about 10 h
- Reading time
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Our view
“The Darkest Minds” builds its dystopia on a harsh, simple idea: children who survive a deadly disease are locked up for their new powers. Ruby breaks out of a brutal government camp at sixteen and joins other runaway children, in the first volume of a series. These are books some readers grow deeply attached to and return to again and again.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something alarming 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 killed most of America's children, but she and the others emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they cannot control.Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones.But when the truth about Ruby's abilities--the truth she's hidden from everyone, even the camp authorities--comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. On the run, she joins a group of kids who escaped their own camp: Zu, a young girl haunted by her past; Chubs, a standoffish brainiac; and Liam, their fearless leader, who 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.While they journey to find the one safe haven left for kids like them--East River--they must evade their determined pursuers, including an organization that will stop at nothing to use Ruby in their fight against the government. But as they get closer to grasping the things they've dreamed of, Ruby will be faced with a terrible choice, one that may mean giving up her only chance at a life worth living.
Reading order · The Darkest Minds
Full order & progress →- The Darkest MindsThis book
7.97.9 / 10 - Never Fade
7.87.8 / 10 - In the AfterlightIn the Afterlight–Not ranked yet
- The Darkest LegacyThe Darkest Legacy–Not ranked yet
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.9 across 286 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 66% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Middle grade average of 8.0. That is how 7.9 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 8.0 | 40 | 14% |
| Hardcover | 7.9 | 246 | 86% |
Frequently asked
What age is The Darkest Minds for?
The Darkest Minds sits on the Middle grade shelf in the sources we use, which by convention means roughly ages 8–12. This is a guide from the book’s category, not a publisher’s age rating. It has 544 pages — longer than 90% of the ranked books in Middle grade.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Middle grade — with scores between 7.7 and 8.1, closest to this book.
