novelheartbeat's review
5.0
4.5/5
Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.
Broken. My heart is broken.
After the last novella ended, I should have braced myself. Alexandra bracken doesn’t know the meaning of rainbows and sunshine. No Happy Ever Afters. (I’m terrified to read In the Afterlight!)
I never cared much for Sam in The Darkest Minds, only because she didn’t have much of a role. Ruby’s feelings of guilt over what happened between them overshadowed anything else. I was actually kind of thrilled to see how Sam viewed Ruby – that she kind of obsessed over her, because she knew something was off. After Liam’s situation, I have hope!
They’ve done such a good job of making this place hell that I wouldn’t be surprised if the real one turned out to be a much nicer place.
I had forgotten how horrific the camps were. After not seeing one since the beginning of the first book, it had faded away. This story reminded me of that all over again. How terrible the kids were treated, like they were nothing more than animals. I was infuriated and disgusted at the adults for it!
I loved Sam and Lucas! Their bond was beautiful. I love seeing the Red side of things, too. Except for a certain character in Never Fade, we haven’t seen much of the Reds other than mindless drones. If there are two, hopefully there are more!
Spoiler
I WANTED THEM TO GET OUT SO BADLY. It kind of kills me that their plan didn’t work. Please, PLEASE tell me Lucas isn’t completely broken like the other Reds now! He kept himself before, I really hope that’s still the case. I neeeed to know what happened to them in the next book! (I’m STILL waiting to hear if Gabe is still alive!!)booksushi's review
3.0
really enjoyed this novella. was nice to have more history to Sam. im glad we also get to see how someone's mind is after ruby has removed herself from their memory.
windmills's review
5.0
I was just thinking how everything goes all good and happy in this series. Bam! Jude dies :( Bam! Lucas is “dead” inside Nooooooo. Lucas was so sweetttttt. Also I do hope Ruby and Sammy end up meeting again and goes and gets her memory back bc Sammy is like soooo confused and I feel so baaaad for her
alexjxr's review
4.0
whAT THE HELL WAS THAT. YOU JUST GAVE ME HOPE AND THEN-
MISS BRACKEN YOU'RE HURTING ME SO MUCH! THIS IS A NEW LEVEL TO TORTURE.
MISS BRACKEN YOU'RE HURTING ME SO MUCH! THIS IS A NEW LEVEL TO TORTURE.
ac223's review
4.0
This review can also be found at: http://thepaperbackaddict.blogspot.com/
Novellas serve as a small reminder, or a brief look into the world we are waiting to reappear. Sparks Rise was just that. A quick recap of the brutal treatment that the Psi kids receive at the hands of the PSFs. Samantha "Sam/Sammy" is a blue, living in one of the worst rehabilitation centers for the last seven years. Her routine is the same day in and day out, until a group of Reds are brought in to assist the PSFs. They have been completely stripped of anything that makes them themselves, and replaced with a shell of a person who is easily controlled. They are no more than the deadliest of weapons. Sam recognizes one of them, Lucas her best friend from childhood. When Sam is attacked by a nasty PSF, she fights back, willing to die before allowing him to touch her. Lucas wants to help her, but he's worked so hard at keeping his cover to risk it. It takes everything he has to pretend to be one of the mindless Reds that help with security. He knows that helping Sam will blow his cover, but he's also not sure if he can just leave her to their mercy.
***Spoilers***
He is able to stand back, even though it kills him to watch them beat her and lock her in a cage. He is able to talk to her for a moment, and she agrees that he made the right decision. Even if he'd tried to help, neither of them would have made it out alive. Overnight in the cages, Sam is bitten by a snake. While assisting in the medical ward, Lucas finds out the camp that his sister is located in. Shortly after that he sees that Sam is in the infirmary, not in the cages, and without the antivenom she may not make it. One of the nurses is able to help them escape, but they barely make it out of the gates before getting caught. Several weeks later Sam is still suffering the effects of the bite, and her leg will never be completely healed. She finally sees Lucas after all that time, but this time she realizes, that they have finally broken him. The boy she knew is no longer there.
Novellas serve as a small reminder, or a brief look into the world we are waiting to reappear. Sparks Rise was just that. A quick recap of the brutal treatment that the Psi kids receive at the hands of the PSFs. Samantha "Sam/Sammy" is a blue, living in one of the worst rehabilitation centers for the last seven years. Her routine is the same day in and day out, until a group of Reds are brought in to assist the PSFs. They have been completely stripped of anything that makes them themselves, and replaced with a shell of a person who is easily controlled. They are no more than the deadliest of weapons. Sam recognizes one of them, Lucas her best friend from childhood. When Sam is attacked by a nasty PSF, she fights back, willing to die before allowing him to touch her. Lucas wants to help her, but he's worked so hard at keeping his cover to risk it. It takes everything he has to pretend to be one of the mindless Reds that help with security. He knows that helping Sam will blow his cover, but he's also not sure if he can just leave her to their mercy.
***Spoilers***
He is able to stand back, even though it kills him to watch them beat her and lock her in a cage. He is able to talk to her for a moment, and she agrees that he made the right decision. Even if he'd tried to help, neither of them would have made it out alive. Overnight in the cages, Sam is bitten by a snake. While assisting in the medical ward, Lucas finds out the camp that his sister is located in. Shortly after that he sees that Sam is in the infirmary, not in the cages, and without the antivenom she may not make it. One of the nurses is able to help them escape, but they barely make it out of the gates before getting caught. Several weeks later Sam is still suffering the effects of the bite, and her leg will never be completely healed. She finally sees Lucas after all that time, but this time she realizes, that they have finally broken him. The boy she knew is no longer there.
agkrob's review
4.0
This was an interesting novella, it was nice seeing Sam again and I am looking forward to seeing how this ties in to the final book.
ashley_earley's review
5.0
I loved this!!! This story was amazing. I always wondered who the Red (Lucas) was that Sam always seemed to be watching or looking for In The After Light. Now I know and I need more! It was short but very impactful. I feel like I saw more of the captive world in this story. The prison was even more horrible than I imagined.
The ending gave me chills! I would definitely recommend this to whoever has read The Darkest Minds series.
The ending gave me chills! I would definitely recommend this to whoever has read The Darkest Minds series.