Rating: 5/5
Summary: Sam didn’t think things could get worse at Thurmond rehabilitation camp. Then the Reds arrive. Everyone assumed the kids with firepower had been killed years ago. Instead they were taken away, brainwashed, and returned as terrifyingly effective guards. To her horror, Sam recognizes one of them: Lucas, the one spark of light in Sam’s dark childhood. Lucas has a deadly secret–he beat the brutal training that turned his fellow Reds into mindless drones. When Sam defends herself against an attack by a vile PSF guard and faces a harrowing punishment, Lucas must risk his everything to save her.
Anyone who knows my reading history probably knows I am obsessed with Alexandra Bracken’s books. I happened to stumble upon her debut novel The Darkest Minds when it was assigned to my book club. I read it and immediately fell in love with the characters (LIAM!!!) , the plot, .. the everything. As soon as Alex announced Sparks Rise, I added it to my to-read list and bought it as soon as it was available. Let’s be real. I love Alex’s writing style so much, I would read anything she announced no matter what the plot was. However, I especially loved her In Time novella, so I had very high expectations coming into Sparks Rise.
The first thing that really caught my attention was the fact that the novella was about Sam. When I first read the summary, I couldn’t even place Sam. After going through my e-books of both The Darkest Minds and Never Fade, I realized that Sam was the girl who’s memory Ruby had previously erased at Thurgood when she was still baffled by what her powers really meant. I was especially excited for the look into the life Ruby led before she met Liam, Chubs, and Zu.
The thing I liked most about the novella is that both characters had very developed personalities. All too often, when writers write novellas or different characters within their world’s setting, the characters seem to bleed together and mimic each other to the point where it feels like the characters are just remakes of the MCs. Fortunately, Alex avoided that completely. Both characters were completely their own. Sam was the strong girl who hated playing the princess and preferred to be the knight in her fairytale games. Lucas was the soft and sensitive one who wasn’t afraid to cry when he was scared. Normally, I hate MCs who tend to cry repeatedly, but Alex has this way of conveying her characters that make me love them, no matter how I would normally feel about the person.
The plot is quick paced and constantly had my attention until the end… where it ends in quite the unconventional way. In fact, halfway through reading, it felt more like a novel than any other novella I had ever read. Sparks Rise is a great lead in to get readers excited for the third and final novel in the trilogy and I am so so excited to see how Sam and Lucas’ story continues to develop throughout In The Afterlight. I highly recommend the series and this novella to all YA readers. Seriously. Read it. Love it. THEN SOMEONE TALK TO ME ABOUT IT!!!
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Book 
Honestly, this story was so good that after reading this I think my heart went numb. It still is. I NEED THAT LAST BOOK NOW!!!!!!!!
I know!!! The ending definitely shocked me. That one chapter look at In The Afterlight was not enough at all! The only good thing about the ending of the novella is that it means the characters will probably be somewhat of a focus point in the third book! I am so excited to read it, but so, so nervous.
I don’t want it to be the last book in the series. 😦 I’m too attached.
~TAYLOR~
Me too but I hope at the end more than anything Ruby is reunited with her parents again. I wonder what happened to them after the incident? Also one thing that scares me is that Thurmond reminds me a lot of Auschwitz.