Review: The Darkest Legacy by Alexandra Bracken

One of the trends followed by most YA series is the happy ending – the reward of sacrifices and trials and the goal and aim of protagonists the (literary) world over. However, few writers seem to address the time after the happy ending. Once the boy gets the girl, or the girl saves the world, or the boy overthrows a corrupt government, or the aliens retreat, what happens? Does everything magically go back to ‘normal’? Do the characters ever think fondly back on their hero days as they plod through a humdrum existence of bills, work, and tax? Yes, that sneaky question of ‘what next’ holds less sway than the events that led to it being safe to ask. Until now.

It’s a great risk to extend a series beyond the accepted happy ending. When another narrative is stitched to the end of an existing one, it can either ruin the entire ensemble, or add a much-needed flair and rounding off. Luckily for me, Alexander Bracken’s newest offering in The Darkest Minds series is the latter. The last book in the series (In the After Light) seemed to be the best place to end our relationship with the young men and women that carried us through this post-apocalyptic world of supernatural abilities and corrupt governments. The girl got the boy, the government was reformed, families were reunited, and the kids no longer had to live in fear. I thought this was the end of my time with Bracken’s characters, but I was wrong. The Darkest Legacy, as the name suggests, takes place after we left the kids to their happy ending – several years later, in fact, and it feels like coming home.

In the opening chapters I was hesitant – was Bracken trying to hard to bring back to life a successful franchise through one of the series’ more minor characters? Was she flogging a dead horse? Luckily, and somewhat surprisingly, the answer is a resounding no. Narrated through a fresh perspective, The Darkest Legacy takes us beyond the happy ending into a world in which nothing comes easily, and all freedoms must be earned. When attacks on Psi children and new, restrictive measures to control the newly redeemed supernatural populace are introduced, Zu and her colleagues refuse to allow their hard work to be reduced to a public relations stunt. Reluctant to go back to war, they sadly have no other choice as plots incriminating Zu explode across the media, putting the young woman back on the run, and desperate to clear her name, and finally bring about lasting change.

Bracken has a talent for emotions and the myriad ways they can be displayed. Hers are books that leave you feeling as enraged or butterfly-tummied as the characters; her writing is enticing and immersive, allowing you to become part of the world she has crafted. In addition, to see real, lasting growth in characters we met in their youth is as rewarding as it is addictive. Any questions we may have had are comprehensively answered, through a more mature perspective, which is in itself a pleasing turn of events. Sometimes, experiencing the upended world through the eyes of preteens can be infuriating and shallow – at last, we get to see the experience this upheaval with maturity, through adult eyes.

This book has many appealing features – excellent writing, likeable characters, budding relationships, intrigue, and a dash of wit and violence. Unfortunately, The Darkest Legacy can’t successfully be read as a stand-alone novel, as its roots are too deeply entrenched in the rest of the series, but don’t let that stop you. Read all four; I insist.

The Darkest Legacy y Alexandra Bracken is published by Quercus Books, an imprint of Hodder & Stoughton, and is available in South Africa from Pan Macmillan Publishers.