"Open Minds" Review

Date Published: November 1, 2011

Add it on Goodreads

Buy it on Amazon or B&N

Number of Pages: 326

First Thoughts:

This definitely was a great start to the series, the complexity of the world and how it was created was fun and interesting. To me this story seemed to offer so much, though it didn’t feel long in the sense that I wish it was over it did feel long in the sense that so much happened…so much was revealed about this world. Though this isn’t a world I’d want to live in by any means, it is a world that was created with thought and care. The overall feel of the story is satisfaction and the knowledge that there’s more to come.

Plot:

This book held all of the necessary elements to make a good plot, it was also paced in just the right way as to allow the story to flow smoothly and quickly. This plot was fast-paced, filled with plenty of action and had just enough slower moments to allow the reader to take a breather and absorb all that’s going on. The sub-plots in this story were kept to a minimum thus allowing the main plot to take focus and allow us to explore the most important issue in the story. But there were a few sub-plots that intertwined with the story and made the main plot that more outstanding; it gave the main plot a certain boost per say, we were allowed to better understand the world and what was going on.

Characters:

The characters were very interesting in this book, they were all necessary to help the story feel more realistic and true to its world. Most of the characters were three dimensional and added another layer to the story but there were a few characters I wish were “painted” a little better, I felt that those characters that lacked a certain element were a little secluded to the overall conflict of the story. The main characters were all fortunately “painted” colorfully and they each had distinct characteristics that helped the reader identify them.

Transformation of the Character:

I felt that most of the characters transformed little in this story, like perhaps they need more pushing to allow them to transform into a different them. But the main character did do a little transforming, though I wouldn’t consider it in any way an enormous transformation I would say it was a big transformation to the character itself. She used to be so fragile and a dull gray color but something in the story sparked her transformation and allowed her mind to open up to even more possibilities and emotions she wasn’t even prepared for. So overall I think the transformations in this book fit perfectly for this particular story and I can’t wait to see these characters grow even more.

Description:

The description was really good in this story; I felt the author did a great job painting the world where I was able to capture each scene and character and better understand the environment these characters were in. It was the perfect amount for the story, there wasn’t too much to overwhelm the reader and too little to leave the reader grasping for a picture, it was the perfect amount to leave the reader satisfied. As for the type of description I wouldn’t consider it lyrical but it had its own style of its own. It was effective and smooth at the same time, I would have liked a more poetic feel to the scenery description, I felt that a lot of the places these scenes took place were so full of energy and back-stories, though the author described the scenery I felt it could have perhaps been described in a better way. But overall the description was enjoyable.

Style:

I liked this authors sense of style, the way she intertwined all of the elements into this story to make the overall product. I liked that she kept to one point of view, we were able to really digest what she was feeling and get the knowledge of her instead of the overall story, it helped let us narrow down to certain issues rather than trying to grasp all the concepts of this complex world.

Quote of the book:

“I wonder if I try to kiss you if you’ll knock me out again. It depends. How good a kisser are you? My heart thudded erratically.”

Goodreads Summary:

When everyone reads minds, a secret is a dangerous thing to keep.

Sixteen-year-old Kira Moore is a zero, someone who can’t read thoughts or be read by others. Zeros are outcasts who can’t be trusted, leaving her no chance with Raf, a regular mindreader and the best friend she secretly loves. When she accidentally controls Raf’s mind and nearly kills him, Kira tries to hide her frightening new ability from her family and an increasingly suspicious Raf. But lies tangle around her, and she’s dragged deep into a hidden world of mindjackers, where having to mind control everyone she loves is just the beginning of the deadly choices before her.

Last Thoughts:

I would recommend this to any paranormal reader and to anyone who just enjoys a good fun read. I wouldn’t recommend this if you don’t like the concept of reading minds or anything particularly paranormal reading. I did overall enjoy this book and can’t wait to continue to read their story. I found that I enjoyed that though the things they did and their issues are not possible in our world they in a way correspond with similar issues we are facing in society today. So if you think about it this author is very clever to add a lot of symbolism in this story. This first story in the series is a great start and will leave you learning for more by the end of the last page.

My Rating: