2025 Reading Challenge discussion

This thread is to discuss In The Afterlight, the third book in the The Darkest Minds Series by Alexandra Bracken.

Pages: 535 pages

Length: 1 Month (September)

Participants: Eirelyn, Michelle.

Everyone reads at their own pace during a Buddy Read. Because participants can be at different parts of the book at different times, it is extremely important to mark spoilers so that the book is not ruined for someone who is not as far along as others!!!

Mark spoilers by placing {spoiler} before the text and {/spoiler} after the text but use the < and > instead of the { and }.


Happy Buddy Reading!

Curious what will happen in this next part!

Me too! I just borrowed a book for another buddy read, so I'll probably start this one in about a week. :D

I started this earlier in the week. I'm through chapter 9 and honestly a little bit (view spoiler)[bored. I don't feel like a whole lot has happened so far, and I'm kind of annoyed at how Ruby basically just has this single-minded focus to complete the mission.

I'm glad they finally found Zu, but it's like she, Liam, & Chubs have been cast aside in favor of this kind of thrown together plot where Ruby only thinks about the mission and nothing else. She is so different than she was in book 1, and I liked her so much better back then... (hide spoiler)]

I just finished ch. 13, and I don't (view spoiler)[feel like much has happened since my last post. I find myself kind of scanning a lot of the prose and mostly just focusing on the dialogue. Because the prose is a lot of the same stuff over and over again: Ruby keeping secrets from Liam, Ruby not wanting to keep secrets from Liam, Ruby upset that she keeps secrets from Liam, Ruby beating herself up over every mistake she has made... It's like her thoughts are on repeat, and I'm just getting kind of tired of reading them. (hide spoiler)]

One thing it does seem like (view spoiler)[is slowly moving along, finally, is their plan to go into the camps. Vida & Chubs just left, and Ruby has been talking to Nico about his possible plan to "Trojan Horse" his way into Thurmond to break into their system. When I read this, I had the thought of, "Finally something interesting!" So hopefully this plan will be put into action, but I have a feeling it won't happen for quite a while (end of this book at the earliest, maybe even the next book), and that Ruby will fight it the whole way. (hide spoiler)]

Also, it's been really kind of (view spoiler)[boring just watching Ruby at the Ranch. She hasn't really gone to do anything at all. I can't believe I have read 279 pages (more than halfway through!) at this point and hardly anything has even happened. I really hope the second half ramps up significantly, and I hope the final book is way better than this one. This has definitely been my least favorite book of the series so far. (hide spoiler)]

I'm through ch. 16 now, and (view spoiler)[finally! Something has happened! I liked reading about them rescuing the kids at Oasis, but it was a really short section. I assume they're saving the big, detailed rescue mission for when they eventually go into Thurmond. (hide spoiler)]

Also, I really don't understand why (view spoiler)[Ruby is so upset with Liam. Honestly. She has been lying to him and keeping things from him for such a long time. She'll make plans with Cole for missions without even talking to Liam (or anyone else, for that matter)... And then he does the same thing, and suddenly she's done with him? Really? What a hypocrite. She & Cole just made themselves the leaders of this whole outfit, and Liam's right -- they don't consult anyone else or even consider that the others might have good ideas. And Liam is totally right about needing to change people's minds. If they rescue everyone at the camps, but the whole country still believes as it has all along, nothing will ever get better for them or the kids they've rescued. I don't get why Ruby is so blind to that fact.

It really kind of sucks that Ruby has been acting this way because I am not liking her much in this novel at all. Which makes it pretty tedious to read everything from her POV. (hide spoiler)]

I plan to finish the book I'm reading now before wednesday and will probably start this one afterwards :). I'm curious to read your thoughts, but I'm keeping in, so I can read them when I've actually read the chapters :p.

I just finished!

And wow, I didn't realize until I got to the Acknowledgements at the end that (view spoiler)[this was originally intended to be the final book in what was only supposed to be a trilogy!!! I'm so glad the author decided to write another novel for the series. I mean, this one got a lot better towards the end, when Ruby ended up back at Thurmond & finally did something interesting, but I felt almost bored through about the first two-thirds of this book! (hide spoiler)]

I'll have to think about it for a bit & then write a review soon. :D

I'm currently at chapter 7, so I'll post my thoughts after chapter 9 as well (so I can read yours as well :)).

Yay. :D

I read until chapter 10 yesterday and I totally agree with you.

(view spoiler)[ In the beginning I found it exciting and I was glad they found Zu, but after they've been underground, nothing really has happened. It seems to repeat itself as well with the whole Clancy thing. I would be interested to read how they slowly build the place back up or something, but it is indeed only about Ruby's 'plan' and everything else doesn't seem important anymore? I'm also confused about the whole Liam - Ruby - Cole relationship. Ruby seems to think she loves Liam, but she is in an awful close relationship with Cole and less to Liam. Or so it seems... Not too happy about this. (hide spoiler)]

I'm halfway through chapter 18 now. (view spoiler)[ I feel like nothing really happened for two things; they did the hit on oasis for which the children's league took credit and Zhu started to talk again. However, I felt the hit on oasis did go so smooth and was quite short, so it still feels like the book is taking forever. The moment Zhu started to talk again was quite a good moment though. I had been waiting for that moment for quite some time and I was happy that it finally happened! I am slowly going through this book, mostly because it doesn't grab my attention as the other books did.. I hope the ending will be better so I'll have more motivation for the next book. Anyway, I'll try to finish the book before the end of the month anyway. (hide spoiler)]

I read your thoughts now and (view spoiler)[ we're kind on of the same page here. I also feel like this is my least favorite (or at least so far, I don't know about the last book obviously). I also feel like Ruby is becoming more self-centered. It might be that she wants to protect Liam this way, but she indeed only pushes him away and then she is frustrated and sad that he goes to do his own thing. What do you expect? Just wait for you there, doing nothing? That's not the way the world works. (hide spoiler)]

I finished the book today on the train. The ending went by really quick! (view spoiler)[ Finally something has happened! It indeed really felt like the ending of a series; family and friends are together, Ruby is recovering... I did find it heroic what she did to go back into Thurmond. However, I also find it a bit self-centered still. She doesn't want to listen to reason from others, but she has very strict rules for others. If they do not what she says, she will get mad 'because she doesn't want them to get hurt.' Well guess what, the others don't want her to get hurt either. I guess that's the theme of the book though.

Back to the ending; I'm curious what will happen with the plans.. I guess we'll read about that in the next book. I feel sad for Clancy, but am also glad that he will not play a big part in the next books due to the operation he underwent.

What I am wondering about is what happened with Sam? Are they still in contact? Did she get to her parents or is she one of the left-over children? (hide spoiler)]