Have you ever read the darkest minds series? Or have you just watched the movie? Whether or not you have read or not read the books, they are a better option to the movie. The darkest minds series follows the path of Ruby in a world where 98% of kids in America have died from a strange brain disease called IAAN-or known as Idiopathic Adolescent Acute Neurodegeneration. But Ruby is one of the kids apart of the two percent of children to survive. All of these kids are rounded up and put inside of ‘Rehabilitation’ camps that are supposed to fix these remaining kids, because all of these kids have gotten super powers and are sorted into colors based on their powers. There are five colors, Greens, Blues, Yellows, Reds, and Ruby is an Orange. Ruby, though, manages to escape her camp and she meets a group of runaways who have run from their own camps and are trying to find a safe haven for kids called East river. There is Liam, Chubs, and Suzume. They all travel around and finally, they find the East River only to discover that it was all a lie, and the book ends with all of them being separated, until they find each other in the second and third books. This amount of detail is not included in the movie which is only about the first book. The movie cuts events in the book out left and right and changes things. Which is why the movie is not as good or interesting as the books, which were loved by thousands.

One reason why the movie isn’t as good as the book is because of the character named Chubs. His name is pretty ironic in the book, because Chubs is really the skinniest kid in the entire book, but this is not the main problem with his character in the movie. In the books, Chubs is a blue and his abilities are like all the other blues, which are that he has telekinesis, but in the movies they make him a green which is just a normal kid just smarter than the average person. This is a problem because Chub’s abilities play a key role in the story, with him using them to momentarily stop the main antagonist in the books, Clancy Gray. But in the movies Clancy gets hit with a helicopter instead which is a big difference that shows why the books are a better option than the movies when it comes to details.

Another reason for why the books are a better option is because of Sam. In the books there is a character named Sam who Ruby is friends with in their camp. In the book Sam is there for a short time, but she still plays a big role in Ruby’s decisions and choices later in the book, because Ruby becomes scared of her abilities and coming into contact with others because of what she did to Sam. In the books Ruby’s abilities give her the power to see others’ memories, but one night after Sam was punished for standing up for Ruby, she accidentally removes all of Sam’s memories of her. But in the movie, Sam has no role in the plot other than the fact that she stands up for Ruby in the beginning, but then Sam is hauled away and we never see her again in the film. This is yet another reason for why the movie is worse and less detailed than the books.

However, some people might think that the movies are better because of how they spent more time on the special effects. Such as how they made the fire the kids were making or the powers of the yellows look realistic. However, on other terms the special effects looking cool still doesn’t justify how much detail was forgotten. If there were more details from the book put in then maybe it would have done better or would have been seen by more readers. Which brings me right to my third and final reason.

My final reason on why the books are better than the movies is because of the reds. In the books the reds are either described as being unpredictable and dangerous, because they are Pyrokinetics- or people who can control fire with their minds. In the books they can set others on fire with just the blink of an eye from several feet away and they can even set themselves on fire and not get hurt. But in the movie in the singular scene they are included in, the kids are breathing fire like a dragon. This is a big difference to the book, where the reds can control fire with their minds. 

There are many reasons on why the books are far better than the movie.The movie is less liked and less detailed than the books because of Chubs, Sam’s character involvement, and the reds. Without these major things included in the movie, it feels like a knock-off version rather than an adaptation of the book. So maybe when you have the choice between reading the darkest minds book and watching the movie, read the book instead.