Review: The Rising Dark: A Darkest Minds Collection (The Darkest Minds, #0.5) by Alexandra Bracken

Goodreads rating: 4.21/5

My rating: 3.5/5

WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE SERIES

The Rising Dark is a collection of Liam's, Vida's and Clancy's short stories. Liam's story begins with how he joined the League with his brother, which he later escapes, while Vida's is about how she survives living on the streets with her sister and her discovery of her powers which leads to her meeting Cate. Clancy's story is a collection of his memories in rewind from adulthood to childhood which demonstrates his never-ending attempts to overpower everyone against him and even the ones that want to help him.

I got this for myself as an Eid gift, even after banning myself from buying any books because I didn't want to miss out on the big discount. To my surprise, I received the book on my Kindle without being charged for it which I'm glad for because if I had known that this book would be as short as it is, I probably would not have wanted to buy it.

I think I was too excited to read this, especially Liam's story since he's one of my favourite characters, but I have to say, I was quite disappointed. I guess with how much detail about their past already exists in the series, it didn't leave Bracken with much to write about. However, I wish she had extended a little further than she did on each character. I was hoping to read about how Liam was eventually captured after escaping the League, how he met Chubs and created his plan to escape the institute they were being held at along with Zu. As for Vida, it was refreshing to read about the root of all her pain that had made her the cold and seemingly heartless character that we meet in the series. In her short story, she's 12 years old and is still soft-hearted. I would have appreciated reading more about her growth and how she had become the fierce fighter that she turned out to be. Regarding Clancy, I never liked his character so I guess you can say Bracken did a good job of developing a villain that everyone would hate. Despite his painful past, I still couldn't empathize with him and the person he had become. If I understood his short story correctly, it was a show of all the memories that Ruby had erased after the operation that neutered his powers. Nico is featured in his story but I still don't understand why he cared for him so much.

Overall, I would say that fans of the Darkest Minds wouldn't be missing out on much by not reading this but if you all are curious enough to know more about the characters' past then go ahead, just don't expect too much from it to avoid being disappointed like I was.