I don't usually read YA. Well, scratch that. There are very few YA books that I actually like. Harry Potter, the Hunger Games, or the Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix come to mind. So I should rephrase this to : I read YA, but the book needs to be exceptional for me to like it. Fortunately, Open Minds by Susan Kaye Quinn is one such book.
This is the first book in a trilogy and it's perma-free on Amazon, so I admit that I was rather reticent about downloading and reading it. I've been less than impressed with the quality of some free books on amazon in the past.
But the moment I opened this book, I was hooked! I kept turning the pages and I couldn't put it down. Susan Kaye Quinn created an interesting and compelling world where reading other people's minds is considered the norm, and where people who can't mind-read, or zeros, are outcasts, relegated to the most menial jobs. Because you wouldn't trust someone whose mind you can't read. And they wouldn't be able to operate most of the machinery anyway, since everything, from phones to cars and kitchen appliances, runs on mindware. I must admit that the worldbuilding in this book is impressive, and the consequences of common mindreading are well-thought of.
Kira is not a typical teenage protagonist either. Sure, she dreams of fitting in and having friends again, and agonizes about the fact that the boy she likes will never go out with a zero. She has the normal hopes and dreams of a teenage girl. And when she discovers that she can not only read minds, but also control them, her first reaction is to pretend that it never happened, to try and hide it, to pass for a normal reader and just fit in. That's what Kira wants most of all, to fit in. But that option proves impossible, and she discovers that there are a lot more jackers than she thought. She also discovers that the harsh reality for a jacker is either to live your life in hiding, work for the FBI, or be sent to a concentration camp.
I liked the fact that when the s*** hits the fan, Kira doesn't lose time mopping around and waiting for a knight in shining armor to rescue her. She takes the matters in her own hands instead. She does what she thinks is right, even if that means risking her life to free other jackers from a secure FBI facility, or exposing the existence of the jackers and the horrible way they are treated by the government to the media.
I am very interested to see how she deals with the fallout from that bombshell in the next book, Closed Hearts, btw.
My only gripe with this book would be how quickly Kira changes from being scared of her powers and reticent to use them to using them left and right without remorse. But you can argue that she is placed in a situation where her survival depends on those powers.
I would also have liked to see a bit more of a learning curve, because it seems like Kira went from a zero to a super-jacker in the space of a couple months and without any particular efforts.
But all in all, Open Minds is a fast-paced and interesting book. It's also very well written and formatted. I would never have guessed it was self-published. So if you want to pick up a though provoking and intelligent book for your teen (or for yourself) to read, head over to Amazon and download the free copy.
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See full series- Kindle Price:$19.96By placing your order, you're purchasing a license to the content and you agree to the Kindle Store Terms of Use.
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There are 7 books in this series.
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Popular Highlights in this book
I clasped my hands together, trying to stop the quivering and summon my inner ninja.Highlighted by 427 Kindle readers- “When you touch for longer, you feel what they feel, like you’re joined together into one person. You can explore their emotions. If they like what you’re doing, it can be very… intimate. If they don’t like it, well, you feel that too.”Highlighted by 329 Kindle readers
- The next time I infiltrated a jacker prison, I was definitely bringing a dart gun.Highlighted by 278 Kindle readers
- If I didn’t change, boyfriends would be like college—an experience other people would have while I figured out my life as a zero.Highlighted by 267 Kindle readers
About the author
Definitely worth reading
Open Minds is a captivating story that I would recommend to every person interested in the dystopian genre. The interesting concept developed by Susan Kaye Quinn, a world based on telepathy, in which words are useless, fascinated me and made me interested since the first moment I read the description. The plot wakes up your curiosity and imagination, making you wonder how people and technology will evolve in the future.The first half of the book was a bit slow, without much action or dynamism, but it had what it needed to keep me interested. At some point, however, the situation changes drastically, and the story receives a significant dose of adrenaline and basically you can not leave the book from your hands. I felt there were some points in which the story loses its credibility, the problems are solved too easily, yet it wasn't hard to get over them. I also liked the author's writing style, simple and to the point, with no unnecessary details, sometimes slightly sarcastic and funny.The evolution of the protagonist is well defined, but her relations with other characters are pretty weak. From a shy and lonely girl, but with big aspirations, Kira manages to overcome her limits and to discover her inner courage in order to protect herself and the ones she loves. The relationship between Kira and Raf wasn't emphasized because it did not have a major influence on the story, but I found it lovely and I hope that will be developed in the next volume. From her friendship with Raf, the protagonist learns something important, the fact that we can find sympathy and support very close to us and that trust is one of the basic components of a relationship.I do not quite like it when people bring up in the discussion historical moments that we would rather forget (those who read the story will know what I am talking about). This is why I rated this book four stars instead of five.Overall, Open Minds was a fantastic read that did not disappoint my expectations and surely made me interested in the following books.
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2014
- Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2016
Top reviews from other countries
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SKReviewed in Germany on March 11, 2014
Mutige und tatkräftige Heldin, die Überraschen kann
- Rosemary HughesReviewed in Australia on March 26, 2017
The world has evolved, but human bigotry hasn't
