Review: Closed Hearts by Susan Kaye Quinn
Closed Hearts by Susan Kaye Quinn
Closed Hearts is Book 2 in Quinn’s Mindjack Trilogy. I read and reviewed Open Minds, Book 1, a few months ago as my book that starts with the letter O in the latest round of alphabet reading. Being the second book in the series, I can’t guarantee that it will be spoiler free for those of you who haven’t read Open Minds. I’ll keep the review under the cut, but here’s the synopsis and you can read my review of Open Minds here.
When you control minds, only your heart can be used against you.
Eight months ago, Kira Moore revealed to the mindreading world that mindjackers like herself were hidden in their midst. Now she wonders if telling the truth was the right choice after all. As wild rumors spread, a powerful anti-jacker politician capitalizes on mindreaders’ fears and strips jackers of their rights. While some jackers flee to Jackertown—a slum rife with jackworkers who trade mind control favors for cash—Kira and her family hide from the readers who fear her and jackers who hate her. But when a jacker Clan member makes Kira’s boyfriend Raf collapse in her arms, Kira is forced to save the people she loves by facing the thing she fears most: FBI agent Kestrel and his experimental torture chamber for jackers.
Sound good to you? Read the review after the cut, just click the link below. 🙂
Closed Hearts picks up eight months after Kira has brought the existence of mindjackers to light. Not everyone is happy about this; members of the mindreading community fear the mindjackers, and the mindjackers that had managed to blend in with society before Kira’s revelation are angry that their cover has been blown. It’s not safe for Kira to be seen, so she’s changed her appearance and keeps a low profile, working at a restaurant. She’s not able to live a quiet existence for long. When she and Raf are kidnapped, Kira is thrust into another situation in which Kestrel is the enemy, but is he the only one? She made it out of the jacker camp in the desert, will she be able to get out of this new facility?
Everything I enjoyed about Open Minds was present again in Closed Hearts. Kira continues to be a complex character torn between protecting her family (and Raf) and taking on the dangerous cause of mindjacker rights and freeing those who have been captured just for who they are. I like how she struggles with difficult decisions; it’s nice to see a character that is not an “ask questions later” type of person. The scene where she’s chasing Kestrel is a great example of this. Raf just melts my heart. To stay by Kira’s side and love her in spite of the risks just shows how wonderful of a person he is. I loved the first scene of the two of them together. With Simon gone *sniff* but not forgotten, Closed Hearts introduces us to Julian. I am suspicious of, but can’t help but like, him, and boy do I want to know more of his back story. There are a handful of new secondary characters that I though were well written, and I was happy to see some from Open Minds because I got to learn more about them.
Quinn definitely ramped up the action and the danger in Closed Hearts. The plot moved at a good, and often gripping pace. There was something on every page that urged me to read more and more and none of it was disappointing, although one twist (and there are a few) absolutely gutted me. I won’t tell you what it is, but you’ll know when you get there. It has been a long time since I’ve felt like that without seeing it ahead of time.
I enjoyed Open Minds so much that I gave it five stars when I reviewed it. Closed Hearts is just so much more, that I wish my rating system was higher, but since it isn’t, I’m happy to give the second book in the Mindjack Trilogy five stars. I can’t wait to see what happens in Book 3!
Well done!
The Paisley Reader 