Forbidden Mind by Kimberly Kinrade

Title:  Forbidden Mind 

Author:  Kimberly Kinrade

Genre:  Young Adult Paranormal Thriller

Publisher:  Evolved Publishing

Format/Pages:  Kindle

Sam is sure that college, as well as a normal life, is within her reach. After years of being “rented” out to the rich—and greedy—for her paranormal abilities, Sam can almost taste freedom. She can finally leave Rent-a-Kid on her eighteenth birthday. But when her mind-reading ability allows her to connect with Drake, who has been kidnapped and held against his will by the people at Rent-a-Kid, Sam begins to realize that her life is one big lie. And her dreams—college, freedom, and normalcy—are not going to happen. Now Sam must join forces with Drake, whose paranormal abilities are even more powerful than hers, to save their lives.

I adopted this book for Adopt-an-Indie month.  I simply perused the book lists until I found one that looked interesting and I adopted it. I am extremely glad that I did. This book was great! It had interesting characters and an original and well-thought out plot.  While this is a paranormal book, you will not find any vampires, werewolves, angels or zombies in this story. Instead, it is chock full of kids with amazing abilities, the kind you usually only see in an X-Men movie.  The children of Rent-a-Kid live a seemingly idealistic life: a terrific school, a beautiful campus with all the amenities and the chance to go anywhere they want for college. Occasionally, the kids are “rented” out to the rich and powerful to help them become richer and more powerful. They don’t know their parents, believing they were abandoned by them because of their special powers.  All they have to look forward to is the day they turn eighteen; the day they gain their freedom and leave Rent-a-Kid forever. That is where we find Sam, weeks away from her birthday. She is ready to leave, until she catches a glimpse of a boy, strapped down and begging for help. That one glance changes everything for Sam. Suddenly, she begins to learn the truth about the people who have raised her and things begin to…..change. Now Sam must escape the nightmare she suddenly finds herself in. And the only person she can trust is someone she has never even met—technically.

I absolutely loved the originality of this story.  Kinrade was able to create characters that you care about and want to cheer for. I found myself completely engaged in this book and anxious to find out what was going to happen next. The twists and turns in the story are perfectly timed, which adds to the suspense. The characters are believable; they actually act like real teenagers and speak like real teenagers. Kinrade’s writing is well-thought out and convincing. All in all, this is a very good story with an interesting plot and great characters. This a great read and I highly recommend it!  The next two books in the series, Forbidden Fire and Forbidden Life will be available in November and December, as well. Yay! You can get them on Smashwords.

My grade for Forbidden Mind by Kimberly Kinrade: