Review: In the Afterlight by Alexandra Bracken

In the Afterlight by Alexandra Bracken

The Darkest Minds #3

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Publication Date: October 28th, 2014

Rating: 5 Stars

Source: Purchase

Format: Audiobook

Pages: 535

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Summary (from Goodreads):

Ruby can't look back. Fractured by an unbearable loss, she and the kids who survived the government's attack on Los Angeles travel north to regroup. With them is a prisoner: Clancy Gray, son of the president, and one of the few people Ruby has encountered with abilities like hers. Only Ruby has any power over him, and just one slip could lead to Clancy wreaking havoc on their minds. 

They are armed only with a volatile secret: proof of a government conspiracy to cover up the real cause of IAAN, the disease that has killed most of America's children and left Ruby and others like her with powers the government will kill to keep contained. But internal strife may destroy their only chance to free the "rehabilitation camps" housing thousands of other Psi kids.

Meanwhile, reunited with Liam, the boy she would-and did-sacrifice everything for to keep alive, Ruby must face the painful repercussions of having tampered with his memories of her. She turns to Cole, his older brother, to provide the intense training she knows she will need to take down Gray and the government. But Cole has demons of his own, and one fatal mistake may be the spark that sets the world on fire.

In the Afterlight is an amazing ending to an amazing series. I can't even explain to you how much I love this series. This book has action, heartbreak, SUCH amazing characters and friendships, just everything!

Ruby has grown so much since the first book when she was scared of her own shadow. She continues to grow through this entire series to become someone so strong and willing to sacrifice everything for  those she cares about.

Liam is still super sweet. Ruby and Liam's relationship in this book is frustratingly complicated. They're still dealing with the repercussions of Ruby stealing Liam's memories and they don't seem to agree on anything, but their relationship is still so wonderful and cute.

Cole is infuriatingly bossy in this book. But he's also trying to make hard decisions for a group and keep them all safe. He seems to be unnecessarily mean to Liam throughout the book, but I think he just desperately needs Liam to stay safe.

I don't want to go on about all of the major characters in this book because I would be talking forever, but I kinda wanted to give my two cents on Cate. I have never liked her. Not in my first read of this series and still not in my reread. I appreciate that she cares so much about the kids and everything she does is to try and help them, but I really don't think she always goes about it in the best way.

I tried to talk about what I mean by this, but it just turned into a huge rant so I deleted it and you'll just have to read it and see what I mean. It is something that happens in the beginning of the book.

The rest of the characters are also amazing. Chubs is his same sassy self. Vida is still full of attitude, but you get to see a different side to her in this book. Clancy is still horrible.

The group's goal in this book is to escape from the destroyed remnants of Los Angeles and meet back up with Cate and the rest of her group at the ranch and then to come up with a plan for a camp hit to free the kids at Thurmond.

Okay. This is seriously a horrible review, but I just can't string words together to do this book or series justice. I've seriously been sitting on this review for weeks because I don't know what to say. I love it so much. At least my reviews for the first two books were coherent (as far as I remember).

This book is exciting. It has romance. It has action. It will make you cry (at least it made me cry). If you listen to the audio, I'm positive it'll make you cry. Ooh boy, I was listening to this while I was at work and I'm just so glad that the sad parts came while I was on my lunch break because I was just crying my eyes out in my car in the parking lot.

Overall, I can't think of a single book I would recommend more than I recommend this series. It's so amazing and I think about it on a daily basis because I love it so much. If you like dystopia/mild sci-fi, kids with powers, charming southern love interests, road trips, good books, you should definitely read this series!

Have you read this series? Have I convinced you that you need to read it? Do you love it so much?