From the beginning of this series, Zu has been one of my favorite characters. Maybe even my only favorite. Although the rest of them have ‘favorite' potential, but none are quite as dynamic as sweet Suzume.
In Darkest Legacy, Zu is all grown up and finally using her voice not only as the rest of do on a daily basis, but in hopes of changing minds and finally making progress. When the original trilogy ended, things were looking better, but certainly not as hopeful as everyone would have liked. 5 years later, it may look like the world has finally accepted that Psi children are simply children with gifts, but look a little deeper and there's still a large percentage of the population that still look upon them as monsters. And there's still plenty of factions out there that want to study them, use them, and torture them. While Zu (and Chubs and Vida and anyone else working in the government) are living in a bubble, it's not until Zu is dragged into a conspiracy that she realizes nothing really has changed, in spite of all the work she's done, only this time the enemy is bigger and badder than before.
This series is really such a fantastic series, and one that I put off reading for so long until I heard that book 4 was being released. Any time a new book is released in a series that ended years ago, that's usually an indication that the series is a really good one. At least in my estimation, and I certainly wasn't disappointed in this instance. The transition from the trilogy to this new installment was so flawless that it's hard to tell that it's a book that was released years after the original. The Darkest Minds had the same sense of hopelessness and heartbreak that the trilogy carried, each and every character retained the qualities that made them so unique, and the world around them is just as harsh and unforgiving as it's ever been. I'm really hoping that this series continues (again) because there's so much story left to be told and so many aspects that aren't settled. And I know that with this series, there will never truly be a happy ending, but I'd like to at least see these characters finally have some peace. And with the world Bracken created, peace seems like a misnomer for sure.
Bottom line — fantastic continuation of the original trilogy, with a new star in the spotlight (literally. Zu can shine as bright as a star). The Darkest Minds is definitely a book that will appeal to both longtime fans of the series and newcomers alike. Highly recommended and I have my fingers crossed that we'll see a ‘book 5' in the future.
