Alexandra Bracken is an author of young adult fantasy novels that range from time travel to psychic abilities in teenagers. The author has written so far three series, including Darkest Minds, Passenger, and the latest one, Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding, whose first book was written in 2017.
If you enjoy young adult dystopian books (Darkest Minds), time-travel books (Passenger), or middle-grade paranormal stories (The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding), you will have fun reading the Alexandra Bracken books in order, which are all listed below.
New Alexandra Bracken Book
The Last Life of Prince Alastor (The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding #2), 2019
Darkest Minds Series
- The Darkest Minds (Darkest Minds #1), 2012
- In Time (Darkest Minds #1.5), 2013
- Liam’s Story (Darkest Minds #1.6), 2016
- Never Fade (Darkest Minds #2), 2013
- Sparks Rise (Darkest Minds #2.5), 2014
- In The Afterlight (Darkest Minds #3), 2014
- The Darkest Legacy (Darkest Minds #4), 2018
Passenger Series
Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding
Standalone Alexandra Bracken Books
- Brightly Woven, 2010
- Star Wars: A New Hope The Princess, the Scoundrel, and the Farm Boy, 2015
The Darkest Minds Books Synopsis
The Darkest Minds
In the first book, we meet Ruby, a 10-year old girl who wakes up on her birthday and realizes that her life has irrevocably changed. Something change so bad that her parents are now afraid of her and have called the cops to take her away. She is sent to Thurmond, a government organization called a rehabilitation camp.
Once she realizes what is going on in that camp, at the age of 16, Ruby runs away and joins a group of kids who also escaped their camp, and now they’re all heading toward East River, which is said to be a free area for all kids to be in. Sadly, East River is not what they expected, and now Ruby has to make a hard decision on her fight for freedom. Shall she choose love or fight?
Never Fade
Ruby is now in the Children’s League, using her abilities every day to fight for what is everyone’s birthright: freedom. Other children call her their leader, but that won’t last for long. Ruby has learned a terrible secret and now she has to leave the compound behind. Now she has to find Liam, her once boyfriend, who now won’t even recognize her. He has a flash drive that could potentially save them all. Or at least shine a light on the truth. But can she find Liam without betraying her camp?
In The Afterlight
Ruby is now reunited with Liam, and they’re on the run with other children. Among them, there is also Clancy Gray, son of the president, who is their prisoner. He is one of the few Ruby has met so far who has the same strong abilities she has. They also have the secret about the real cause of the virus that killed so many children and turned the others into what Ruby calls monsters. As Ruby has once tampered with Liam’s memories of her, now she has to live with the result. Liam’s brother, Cole, can teach them to fight to take down Cole and the corrupt government.
The Darkest Legacy
The last book of the series takes place five years after the rehabilitation camps have been destroyed. Suzume “Zu” Kimura, one of Ruby’s old friends, is now the spokesperson for the interim government who is fighting for the rights of all the Psi children. When she is accused of committing a crime, Zu has to go into hiding but only until she can clear her name. She joins forces with two Psi, Roman and Priyanka, whom she is not sure whether to be afraid of or trust. The more they work together the closer they become, so when evil forces are trying to bring them all down. Zu has no choice but to speak out once again to protect the future of her friends and people who once protected her.
Alexandra Bracken Biography
Alexandra Bracken was born in 1987 in Phoenix, Arizona. It was the third grade that gave Alexandra a passion for writing when her teacher asked the class to do creative writing units.
She knew then that writing was what she wanted to do when she would grow up.
She attended Chaparral High School from where she graduated in 2005. After that, she enrolled at The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia from where she graduated in 2009 with a magna cum laude earning a degree in History and English.
At some point, she moved to New York City where she lived for several years. She worked in the children publishing industry as an editorial assistant, followed by working in marketing.
While in college, she wrote her first book which was never published. When she finished that book, at the age of 19, she started writing a second novel, Brightly Woven, as a birthday gift for a friend. This would be Alexandra’s debut novel, to be published in 2010.
This book was followed by what would become the first in a new young adult futuristic dystopian novel with the title The Darkest Minds.
The books focus on Ruby, a teenage girl who discovers that she possesses special abilities. She was imprisoned in a so-called rehabilitation facility from which she breaks out with the help of new friends, a rag-tag group.
The book’s original title was Black is the Color, however, in 2011 it was changed to The Darkest Minds.
While initially, the book should have been part of a trilogy, Alexandra Bracken has in the meantime also written several short stories and is also publishing a new 4th book in the Darkest Minds series with the title The Darkest Legacy. Currently the series has four main books, and from the author’s notes, it seems that the series is concluded.
Ruby’s story was featured in a movie by 20th Century Fox released September 2018 starring Amandla Stenberg as Rubi Daly, Harris Dickinson, Mandy Moore, and several other actors, including Golden Brook’s as Ruby’s mother.
In 2016, Alexandra Bracken started yet another series of books, with the title of the series and first book Passenger, with the main theme being time travel. An atmospheric novel featuring two main characters, violin virtuoso Etta Spencer and her African-American love interest, Nicholas.
Etta discovers that she is a time traveler when she finds herself miles away from home and from her own time as well. Soon Etta realizes that she comes from a family of time travelers since her mother, Rose, is one too.
The Passenger series has a second book that came out with the title Wayfarer in 2017.
Also in 2017, Alex Bracken came out with yet a new novel, this time in a new fantasy series for teens and middle-grade kids with the first book about Prosper Redding released by Disney Hyperion Books. The story centers around a 12-year-old boy named Prosperity Oceanus Redding (indeed, that’s his name), coming from the Redding family of Redhood, Massachusets.
Everyone in the Redding family is lucky, wealthy and famous except Prosper. While he feels quite crappy for not inheriting any of the family fortunes when he makes a horrible discovery he realizes that things are not quite as they seem. Because Prosper is, indeed, about to find the main skeletons in the proverbial closet.
A second book in the Prosper Redding series is being published early 2018 under the title The Last Life of Prince Alastor.
In addition to her three series, Alexandra Bracken has also written a Star Wars story with the title Star Wars: A New Hope The Princess, the Scoundrel, and the Farm Boy, which takes a deeper look into the lives and forces that drive the three main protagonists, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and Han Solo.
Since most of her books are rich in history, the author dedicated a lot of time to do proper research, especially for her Traveler series, which goes back into the past.
There is much more to come from Alexandra Bracken, whose books keep growing and growing into an ever-bigger list. Besides her new middle-grade series, she is also working on yet another standalone novel, while writing more in her Passenger series.
Praise for Alexandra Bracken
A riveting emotional read that kept me on the edge (Melissa Marr)
Riveting, romantic … Fans of Outlander will see so much of Claire in Etta (Victoria Aveyard)
Passenger grabs you by the heart from its opening notes and doesn’t let go until its knockout, blockbuster finale. (Sarah J. Maas)
References
Books Reading Order » Fantasy Authors »
I hope you make more books in the Darkest Mind Series. You left me hanging after the book The Darkest Legacy.