discussion: The Darkest Minds w/ Adaline @ Not Gary Cooper

I did my first ever buddy read with, the sweetest girl ever, Adaline (Not Gary Cooper). She's such a cool chick bookaholics, I highly recommend checking out her blog. Anyhoo, we both read The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken ... back in October. I made discussion questions back then but we both got caught up with school, personal stuff and our bl- we never finished them. But today is the day! We finally finished our discussion and we now hope you enjoy our little chat.

Note: Our discussion does including minor spoilers so read at your own risk! Also I just wanna point out that Adaline's answers are on point so just excuse my meme-ish answers. Hope I give you a good laugh though!

1. First off, what color would you be?

ADALINE: Kids in the TDM world are sorted in base camps by colors; which correlate to their abilities. Red- pyrokinesis; Orange- mind control; Yellow- power over electricity; Blue- teleknesis; Green- super intelligence. 

I'd probably wind up being a green, only because I spend so much time shoving facts and schoolwork into my head-- but I do think being a yellow and having power over electricity like Zu did, would be amazing.

ANNA: Blue! I feel like the Blue abilities would fit me best. 

2. Favorite character (so far)?

ADALINE: I'm definitely a huge fan of Chubs and Zu. Zu reminded me a lot of Eleven??? But that could just be because I'm so freaking obsessed with Stranger Things. And I related to Chubs a lot, because I feel like in his situation I'd be exactly the same. Closed off, kind of bitter, and lugging a book with me everywhere I went. (Except it'd probably be The Foxhole Court instead of Watership Down, but still.) 

ANNA: Oh definitely Zu. She's a rebellious little girl yet a sweetheart. 

3. If you were an adult in this world, how would your story play out?

ADALINE: The first answer that popped into my head was, "Dead, tbh."
In all seriousness though, I feel like I'd be that ever skeptical adult not really believing the government/what others were saying. I'd probably wind up making my own conclusions, and trying to help the kids I came across as best I could.

ANNA: Haha I'm pretty sure I would be a 50/50 parent. Like, let's say, the PSI comes knocking on my door and wants to take my kid away. I could see myself saying:

"NO NO ... WILL! YOU CAN'T TAKE MY WILL. NOT MY WILL!! WILL SWEETIE W I L L!!
or
 "oh yeah you can take that mutant kid. just take a left and down the hallway ,, third door."

I'm going with me as a "NOT MY WILL!!" parent.

4. Any favorite quotes? 

ADALINE: “I think maybe the most frustrating feeling in the world is to have something to say but not know how to put it into words. To have lived through something but not be able to get it out of you before it festers.”

ANNA: “The Darkest Minds tend to hide behind the most unlikely faces." 

5. Rudy and Liam's relationship ... thoughts?

ADALINE: I wasn't majorly shipping it, and the insta-love aspect had it's cringey moments​, but I liked their kind of mutual respect for each other, and how their relationship progressed as the book unfolded. I do think Liam may have suffered from a little bit of being too perfect? I feel like most people when placed in an apocalypse style setting wouldn't be half as open or caring as he was. It felt a little odd at times. 

​

But overall, not too bad.

ANNA: 

6. Do you have any fancast ideas for the main characters?

ADALINE: I don't have any fancasts, but so far I like what I've seen for the casting they've done for the adaptation. I especially commend them on ensuring that they have a diverse cast. It's a nice change from the usual adaptations. As for edits/art, I'm just really in love with this one:

ANNA: I do! Here are some links to my favorite edits, fancasts and memes ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) 
(each letter is one link)

T H E  D A R ( << i love this tumblr so much) K E S ( << that link has offensive language) T  M I N D S (<< i couldn't find anymore memes rip)

7. Thoughts on the movie adaptation?

ADALINE: I think it'll make a really good movie, but as always with adaptations, I just hope they don't butcher it. I feel like it'll be made into something akin to The 5th Wave movie, which wasn't actually too bad?? (I was grinding my teeth at it only because I love the book so much)

ANNA: I am loving the casting for this movie adaptation! I have high hopes. Exciting stuff!

8. Do you have any possible theories in the next book, Never Fade?

ADALINE: Certainly Ruby and a certain character have to meet up again, because there is no way I can accept that ending. I think Ruby will definitely find her way out of her current situation. I don't know?? Perhaps she makes her own camp + hunts down kids to protect them? I want to see more of her powers, that's for sure, because I really enjoyed that element of TDM.

ANNA: Not really. I just hope that the black betty crew™ find each other again. 

9. Are you planning on continuing this series?  

ADALINE: At this time, I can't see myself picking up the next book for a while. The Darkest Minds was one I kind of slugged through, with regards to the writing style, so if I do pick it up, it'll probably be later in the year when I'm not trying to get ahead of my reading goal.

ANNA: Most likely!  

10. Finally, were you satisfied with this book?

ADALINE: I'd say yes! It wasn't an all time favorite, but I gave it 3 out of 5 stars, and I definitely liked a lot of the aspects that appeared throughout the story. ^-^

ANNA: I was! I found The Darkest Minds to be a somewhat cliché dystopia but also found myself enjoying it. 4.5/5 stars!

I'm starting to realize that me and Adaline both slyly mention Stranger Things here haha.

 Thanks for reading our discussion fellow booknerd! You can check out Adaline's post here and, I must ask, have you read 'The Darkest Minds'? Could you relate to any of our answers? Let's chat!

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