Customer Reviews

Open Minds (Book One of the Mindjack Trilogy)

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

An interesting take on being unique in society, author Susan Kaye Quinn introduces Kira to the reader. Kira doesn't quite fit in. One might expect her to be an outsider due to the way she dresses, speaks, or conform to societal rules, but that is not the case. Instead, Kira cannot read minds or have her own mind read in a society where just about everyone else connects with their minds.

However, Kira might just have an ability that could be better than simply having her mind read. Kira can "mindjack," an ability that enables her to tell people what to do and what to believe. Not being naturally controlling, Kira hasn't deliberately used her power on anyone and isn't even sure if she likes the ability yet. When another character comes into Kira's life and begins to clarify things, Kira must make her decision.

This book is very different, the author took the world's definition of normalcy and turned it on its head. Kira, as a character, was fun to get to know. She could be overly cautious and not believe in herself enough at times, but she could also be clever and sweet. The two other characters who walked the line between secondary and primary characters had a lot of impact in the novel. There is a bit of a love triangle that the author handles well, also gives the reader another subplot to look forward to. The book was well-written and hard to put down, recommended to young adult/teen readers.

In a world where everyone who's normal has the ability to read minds being special isn't exactly what Kira was hoping for. As the world around her booms and brightens with the loud cacophony of thoughts Kira's world is silent, the only noise she hears are the thoughts in her own mind. That is until her best friend Raf attempts to kiss her and immediately ends up falling to the ground completely knocked out. From that point forward Kira's life changes forever. She learns from a fellow student that she's a mindjacker, and a powerful one at that. Having the ability to enter and control the thoughts of those around her is the last thing she'd thought she'd be doing during high school, but it may lead to more problems than simply knocking her best friend unconscious.

In a growing pool of young adult fiction Open Minds by Susan Kaye Quinn stands out as a novel with a fantastic premise, excellent characters and an incredibly well executed plot. Being a fan of dystopian and sci-fi in young adult books this was exactly the type of book I was hoping to fall in love with and absolutely did. Quinn took the idea of human evolution and took it one step further by adding an element of involvement from the government. It wasn't that they were simply involved in the aftermath of the evolution, but the initial development by introducing toxins into the water supply that eventually triggered the first changes to mind reading by all. This was certainly a unique concept, especially since the entire population was affected by it and I'm now interested to see where the idea goes from here in the next two books in the series.

Now everyone who knows my reading preferences know that I am not a huge fan of the typical love triangle and at first I thought I was going to be annoyed by Kira's love intersts, but I absolutely wasn't. Obvious to anyone who reads Open Minds there's a huge development at the end of the story that changes everything making the love triangle completely different than those other more typical situations. Between the two I'd certainly say I was much more on the side of Raf, her childhood friend, than Simon, the "bad boy", but as the story went on I did feel more sympathetic towards Simon and his situation. In many ways I could understand Kira's desire to be with Simon because of their shared abilities, but at first the way she shunned Raf was a bit irritating since he was always so supportive of her "zero" status. In the end the conflict was perfect and the way all of their relationships progressed were extremely believable.

Open Minds by Susan Kaye Quinn is a brilliant addition to the ever increasing pool of dystopian/sci-fi young adult fiction. There's something for readers of all types in this fantastic new YA novel, from action to romance to science and more. As many of my readers know, I don't read many self-published books primarily because I find the stories underdeveloped and poorly edited. To be honest I'm completely shocked Quinn's Mindjacker series hasn't been picked up by a major publisher, because it certainly doesn't fall into either of my dis-qualifiers. This is a novel that's been extremely well thought out, written beautifully, and it's obviously been edited professionally. YA readers who love authors like Ally Condie, Veronica Roth, Lauren Oliver and others would be missing out if they failed to pick up Open Minds by Susan Kaye Quinn. Join Kira on her journey to save her fellow mindjackers and potentially change the landscape of her world forever.

My original review was posted at There's A Book.

This book was freaking amazing and a total thrill to read! I really loved the premise, which caused me to immediately dig into it. Kira is a zero, or thinks she is, in a world full of readers/"normal" people who are able to read each other's thoughts & mentally communicate. She finds out she's not a zero, not a reader, but a mindjacker - & also finds out all the complications of being so. Kira is a badass lead female character and I liked how the story took more realistic turns. Throughout the story I was unceasingly anxious to find out what would happen next. Do yourself a favor & read it! This is seriously one of the best & most original YA books I've read in awhile. Can't wait to get my paws on the next book in the series, Closed Hearts (Mindjack #2), which should be out in 2012!

The last book that affected me so much was The Hunger Games. Open Minds gets more than a 5-Star Rating in my book, and I predict it's going to sky rocket to the top of the charts. No kidding. It's that intriguing, amazing, and compelling.

This first book in the Mindjack Trilogy will entertain and thrill you as you follow the dilemmas and dangers 16-year-old Kira faces. First, she grapples with the fact that she'll never fit in at school or anyplace in society since she never changed into a mind reader like the rest of her peers did during puberty. She's now considered a 'zero,' a low-life, and because the others can't read her mind, few people trust her. I mean, come on, no wonder the poor kid suffers from teen angst.

Just when she's resolved to accept her lot in life, Kira changes in an explosive moment from a zero to a dangerous freak who can control the minds of others, with one major glitch: She has no idea how to control her mind-controlling powers. Good thing Raf, the guy she loves, doesn't realize what hits him when her thoughts almost accidentally kill him. What a way to get a guy!

All kidding aside, this is a powerful story. I became invested in Kira's predicament from the get-go, and she gets in deeper and deeper from there. The concepts and circumstances of her world challenged me throughout. Here it is a week after I read it (twice), and I can't stop thinking about it.

I'll be the first in line to read the second book, Closed Hearts.

I could not put down this book! From the very beginning, Kira's adventures and the world of readers, jackers and zeroes is riveting. If you are a fan of the Hunger Games trilogy this should be your next read! You will get hooked! Eagerly waiting for the 2nd book in the Mindjack Trilogy! '

This book was so good, I atmet at first I got this book cuse it looked good but it is GREAT.
I cant wate of the next book.

Susan plunges readers into a compelling and frightening world where nearly everyone can read minds when they come of age. The very idea makes me shudder. This is easily one of the best books I've read not only this year, but in recent years. I loved it and highly recommend it.

Open Minds was a fantastic book full of all the elements that I love in a good book. The characters were well developed and I believed them. I felt invested in their feelings and choices. I cared what happened to them. (I think I still do.)

There was just enough suspense and action to keep my complete attention. My heart would start to pump a bit faster and my eyes would start reading faster in an attempt to find out what happened. I liked that. But suspense and action were not the whole book, which is why I really liked it. It had those down times where we were able to connect and feel.

Here is a quote that made me smile because I remember learning about sludge in my Natural Resources and Conservation class in college. My friends and I would joke around about something being sludge because that was the worst it could get. "There must be something worse than green sludge on cheese, because I had sunk to a new low."

As far as content goes, this was happily free of swearing and sex. There were some kissing scenes and some sexual references. There was some underage drinking and some violence.

I really, really liked this book. You all should check this book out. I'm eagerly awaiting the second book, Closed Hearts, which is the next book in this trilogy and hopefully it will be out soon.

When I first got a free sample, little did I know I would never get through it before getting the urge to buy this book and get instantly hooked and desperatily wanting for more. Now all that I want are the next two installements of this series. So this is more than a five star book in my opinion.

I love it when an author comes up with an original idea. In this story Kira is a zero. She isn't like most of the world's population who can link minds and talk without speaking. In school she is falling behind because the teachers don't lecture out loud, they link minds. She is looking at a very bleak future.

She has an unfortunate incident when her best friend tries to kiss her and she thinks "Stop!". He does stop and passes out. She then realizes that she is different. She has only wanted to be like everyone else, but this new ability is much worse than being a zero.

Through the course of the story, we learn that Kira is part of a "group" that can get into other peoples heads and tell them what to do. They are called "Jackers". Different groups try to recruit her to their cause, but she wants to be normal and not part of anyone's agenda.

This is a fast paced and interesting story. Susan Kaye Quinn has done a wonderful job! I am definitely interested in seeing what happens to Kira and her family next.

There isn't any content concerns that I would hesitate in recommending this book to anyone who loves a great story.

I received a copy from the author to review.