The Darkest Legacy by Alexandra Bracken *SPOILERS AT THE END*

Did I love the way In the Afterlight ended? Yes. 

Did the Darkest Legacy come in and make me love it too? Fuck yes. 

Did my first attempt at a review at a review get deleted? Yes, and I am mad about it. 

This book was fantastic. It fights against blind hope and trust and really hits home with the message that you must be active in society to keep those in power from abusing that power. 

You can see a lot of this book as a reaction to America’s political climate at the moment. Alex Bracken was clearly working through her own reaction to the election, but the book does not read as a straight allegory and it does not bludgeon the reader with TRUMPPPP, it is just something that is present in the conflicts in the book. 

The plot is wonderful. It is action packed and fast. We jump from one life-threatening situation to the next and every time the pace and stakes and danger is ratcheted up the perfect amount to keep you hooked. By the end, I felt like I had read multiple books, not because it was disjointed, it was a very cohesive experience, but because you go through so much on the book. It is 500+ pages and every one is used well. Also, there are plenty of emotional punches and downtime to catch your breath. 

The character arcs are so on point. Getting to go on this journey with Zu was amazing. We really get to see the ways in which she forms her new opinions and how exactly she decides to use her power and influence to shape the word into a better place for everyone (though I loved the name The Darkest Legacy so much I kind of wanted her to run with that title). We got to see what’s up with our old friends the Black Betty Gang + Vida (with sprinkles of Cate, Nico, Mia, Sam, and Lucas) and we got to meet new people to love, Roman and Priya. With old friends, we got to see how Chubbs, Vida, Liam, and Ruby’s relationship with Zu and each other has grown and changed how they are able to have differences of opinions and still deeply love each other. They are all still overprotective and collaborative and wonderful. 

New friends! At first, I could tell that we were going to be shipping Roman and Zu but I wanted it to be Priya and Zu. Minor spoiler my instinct to ship Priya with a lady was not incorrectly placed. Roman was interesting and sympathetic and different from Alex Bracken’s other love interests, but I still loved him. The ways their relationships change over the book was so much fun. The web of lies at the beginning was fascinating to unravel. I was a ball of nerves while Zu was figuring out what their deal was. The deception was real and simultaneously fun and anxiety-inducing. Every character’s motivation made so much sense and was so clear in their actions. Though I was screaming “BE NICE TO ZU” at everyone. 

The end was so good. We got a resolution and a nod to what will be happening with our heroes after the book ends but there was not a magical fix to every problem. We were exposed to a corrupt system and shown many ways in which we might have a road to fix it, so the book ends with us seeing the road each person has chosen. I loved it. It was the perfect balance of hopeful and realistic. And the hope was earned, it was not something to blindly trust. We were shown the way these characters are going to deal with the corruption and it makes sense.

I gave this book 5 stars on Goodreads and finished it on September 20, 2018.