Book Review: Open Minds by Susan Kaye Quinn

Open Minds
Susan Kaye Quinn
Young Adult Science Fiction
Published: 2011

Open Minds has an interesting premise: over time, people have evolved to communicate telepathically, an attribute that's triggered during puberty. But sometimes the ability isn't triggered, like for Kari, who's known as a zero. She's an outcast who will live the rest of her life as an inferior part of society. The differences are already starting in school where she's required to wear a hearing aid to understand the teacher's murmured instructions; they speak low as not to disrupt the telepathic communication occuring for the rest of the class.

One day Kari gets so frustrated by her lack of telepathy, she fumes at her friend Raf to stop pestering her. And he does. He completely stops and slumps to the floor. Kari is terrified at whatever she's done to him. He's fine, and she moves on, but not before classmate Simon notices. He knows something is going on with Kari because he has the same power. It turns out Kari isn't a zero after all, but her ability isn't reading minds, she can control them.

What's cool about Open Minds is the mix of new technology, slang and a unique world setting, but there are enough familiar aspects to ground the story in reality. Once the story gets going, the pacing is fast, and constantly moving. Some of the plot turns surprised me, and it reminded me at times of Ilsa Bick's Ashes.

You can get the ebook at a great price now: B&N Link here

The second book in the series, Closed Hearts, comes out this week May 23. Stay tuned for a post all about the continuing story!