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A review by saskiacb
The Rising Dark by Alexandra Bracken
4.0
I'm very lost for words especially with that ending...but I am extremely grateful for these three individual short stories.
"The first real memory I have is of my brother."
Liam's story provides us with a brief look into his time with the League and his rocky relationship with his older brother Cole. I believe he must be around 16, nearly 17, and he's just Liam through and through; he has his integrity, soft heart and a face that gives everything he's thinking and feeling away. We are invited to a *slightly* closer look at Cole who we still don't know that much about. My position of Cole is that I love him, but he is very much a closed-book and his motivations are never quite clear. In my opinion, I may be projecting onto him because of my own personal experiences, but I think he feels guilt and shame over being abused and having an abusive father and not being able to protect his family from harm. Maybe he felt threatened by Harry who could do what Cole couldn't? i.e., look after Liam and their mother. Furthermore, when he sees something in the league that offers him the chance to do something that seems good, he grabs it with both hands and fixates on it. At 12 he developed his powers so he is also struggling with that, with fear of the unknown...Cole mentions how he just wanted to be a brother to Liam, he wants Liam to join him, he wants his family...WE NEED MORE INFORMATION!
VIDA BAUTISTA!! (we got a surname, and we know she's from Mexico!!) Much like all the kids during and after the outbreak of IAAN, Vida has had a hard life. She has only her 16-year-old sister to keep her company and to look after her. Alex really gave us the reason as to why Vida loves Cate so much and is incredibly protective of her. Cate came for Vida like she said she want. Cate stuck to her word and rescued her from the bad guys (PSFs). Another thing I loooooved is how young kid Vida is so similar to teenage Vida: fiery, witty and Strong As Hell.
Now, Clancy's story was emotional to say the least. The structure of this short story was excellent, from the end of In the Afterlight to when he was possibly four or five years old and being tucked into bed by his mother. We see him post-treatment, during treatment and pre-treatment. Suffice it to say Clancy Gray has had a terrible life. I am in no way excusing his actions, particularly towards Ruby in The Darkest Minds because that will stay with me always. However, he is the example of how treating people like they are less-than-human, like they are below dirt, taking control of someone else's body; being defenceless and weak, abandoning and abusing your kid can turn them into something monsterous. It was painful to read at times, the scenes with Nico broke my heart, but most particularly where the scenes when he was being operated on in Thurmond, when he left and his parents weren't there to greet him and when his father was about to belt him and his mother sedated him. I will always be sympathetic and empathetic to abuse victims no matter what so that is what I do feel for Clancy. He is the person that he was created to be by the experiences he was forced to suffer through, however, I will never condone his behaviour. While I do see his motivations I just....no.
"The first real memory I have is of my brother."
Liam's story provides us with a brief look into his time with the League and his rocky relationship with his older brother Cole. I believe he must be around 16, nearly 17, and he's just Liam through and through; he has his integrity, soft heart and a face that gives everything he's thinking and feeling away. We are invited to a *slightly* closer look at Cole who we still don't know that much about. My position of Cole is that I love him, but he is very much a closed-book and his motivations are never quite clear. In my opinion, I may be projecting onto him because of my own personal experiences, but I think he feels guilt and shame over being abused and having an abusive father and not being able to protect his family from harm. Maybe he felt threatened by Harry who could do what Cole couldn't? i.e., look after Liam and their mother. Furthermore, when he sees something in the league that offers him the chance to do something that seems good, he grabs it with both hands and fixates on it. At 12 he developed his powers so he is also struggling with that, with fear of the unknown...Cole mentions how he just wanted to be a brother to Liam, he wants Liam to join him, he wants his family...WE NEED MORE INFORMATION!
VIDA BAUTISTA!! (we got a surname, and we know she's from Mexico!!) Much like all the kids during and after the outbreak of IAAN, Vida has had a hard life. She has only her 16-year-old sister to keep her company and to look after her. Alex really gave us the reason as to why Vida loves Cate so much and is incredibly protective of her. Cate came for Vida like she said she want. Cate stuck to her word and rescued her from the bad guys (PSFs). Another thing I loooooved is how young kid Vida is so similar to teenage Vida: fiery, witty and Strong As Hell.
Now, Clancy's story was emotional to say the least. The structure of this short story was excellent, from the end of In the Afterlight to when he was possibly four or five years old and being tucked into bed by his mother. We see him post-treatment, during treatment and pre-treatment. Suffice it to say Clancy Gray has had a terrible life. I am in no way excusing his actions, particularly towards Ruby in The Darkest Minds because that will stay with me always. However, he is the example of how treating people like they are less-than-human, like they are below dirt, taking control of someone else's body; being defenceless and weak, abandoning and abusing your kid can turn them into something monsterous. It was painful to read at times, the scenes with Nico broke my heart, but most particularly where the scenes when he was being operated on in Thurmond, when he left and his parents weren't there to greet him and when his father was about to belt him and his mother sedated him. I will always be sympathetic and empathetic to abuse victims no matter what so that is what I do feel for Clancy. He is the person that he was created to be by the experiences he was forced to suffer through, however, I will never condone his behaviour. While I do see his motivations I just....no.