Borderline

Hive Mind #4

by Janet Edwards

Being a telepath means your greatest strength can also be your greatest weakness.

Eighteen-year-old Amber is the youngest of the five telepaths who protect the hundred million citizens of one of the great hive cities of twenty-sixth century Earth. Her job is hunting down criminals before they commit their crimes, but this time she must face multiple challenges.

While preparing to celebrate the New Year festival of family, Amber’s team have to deal with a case where the stakes grow increasingly personal. The help of Amber’s borderline telepath counsellor, Buzz, becomes crucial.

(Cover depicts Buzz.)

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult, Mental Health, Futuristic

464 pages, Hardcover

First published December 6, 2019

About the author

Latest release:- Adversary, the fifth book in the Hive Mind series. 

Please visit Janet's website to get more information, and sign up for her newsletter if you'd like to be kept informed of future releases.

SET IN THE HIVE FUTURE
PERILOUS: Hive Mind A Prequel Novella  
TELEPATH
DEFENDER
HURRICANE
BORDERLINE
ADVERSARY

SET IN THE 25th CENTURY PORTAL FUTURE 
SCAVENGER ALLIANCE 
SCAVENGER BLOOD

SET IN THE 28th CENTURY PORTAL FUTURE
Set in 2781
HERA 2781: A Drago Short Story
HESTIA 2781: A Drago Novel
ARRAY 2781: A Drago Novel
SOL 2781: A Drago novel

Set in 2788, the year before the Earth Girl Trilogy
EARTH 2788: The Earth Girl Short Stories
EARTH AND FIRE: An Earth Girl Novella 1
EARTH AND AIR: An Earth Girl Novella 2
FRONTIER:  An Epsilon Sector Novella

Set in 2789, the Main Earth Girl Trilogy
EARTH GIRL
EARTH STAR
EARTH FLIGHT

Set in 2789 directly after the Earth Girl Trilogy
EARTH PRIME: The Earth Girl Aftermath Stories 1

SET IN THE GAME FUTURE
REAPER

EARTH GIRL:-
◾Voted an American Library Association YALSA Teens' Top Ten title for 2014.
◾A Tayshas 2014 choice.
◾Kirkus starred review for a book of exceptional merit.
◾A Kirkus best book of 2013.
◾Booklist starred review for being outstanding in its genre.
◾Booklist Editors’ Choice: Books for Youth, 2013.
◾An Amazon.co.uk best Young Adult book of 2012.
◾A Kobobooks.com best Young Adult book of 2012.

Reviews

[Momo]

I really enjoyed seeing the growth of Amber in this title.

While still always one to put the Hive above herself, it was good to see her finally take a stand for something she feels strongly about. While being self aware of her importance she doesn't take advantage of this.

Getting to meet Keith and Mara was an interesting experience and I felt myself understand at least some of Keith's behavior (while still kinda hating him).

The ending of this book, (like all other in the series) opens the door for a very exciting next novel and I already can't wait for it to be written and released.

[Dylan]

This keeps being my favourite series by Janet Edwards by far because with each book the world building deepens and we find out more about the stunningly complex ingeniously interdependent weird society that is Hive England and the multilateral hive world surrounding it. I am particularly amazed by how well the leaders of Hive England have thought out this society. Lottery is not perfect, but very close to it and if they had more telepaths the already very low crime rate could be literally zero.

We get more character development and more shades of grey with the unique narrative device of a first person pov protagonist that is as close to a omniscient narrator as you can be in this world being used in more creative ways with each book. This allows for a lot of rather elegant stealth exposition and also lets us get into the mindset of every character with very short bits that capture their essence.



What I have really loved with each book is also the expanding stakes and scope. The first book already starts big with an agent from another hive intent on kidnapping Amber. The second book gets smaller ins cope but has a victim Amber knows, the third puts the entire unit at a disadvantage by having to solve a case outside of the cave, surrounded by sea farm people without imprints and finding out that place is intended as a safeguard seed population in case Hive England gets destroyed. Plus the wild bee is the most evil character in the entire series and I still hate them more than anyone else.

This book now goes completely bonkers with the unit having to navigate the messy fields of inter-telepath conflict, Amber having to read people she'd really rather not and finding out some horrifying things, internal hive politics and even international law/diplomacy. This case is not that hard to figure out on its own, but with everything else complicating things Amber and Lucas have to keep a lot of plated spinning lest they all fall down and break.

Amber has to really step up here and fight for the hive, her unit and everything else that is at stake, No one else is gonna do it, so she has to. And she finds even more skeletons in the closet of this hive, adding to her increasing fundamental questioning of whether "the hive knows best".

I keep wondering whether the hive needs to get away from its whole concept of security by obscurity. Because if anyone who finds out about nosies being fake ever broadcasts this to the whole hive, the whole system could collapse. Hopefully the hive leadership actually has a contingency plan for this scenario. In the worst case they might have to get bck to being a surveillance statewith cctvs everywhere again ...

[Dichotomy Girl]

Original Review 1/6/2020

Was I the only one screaming at Amber at the end for promising Keith an unknown future favor? It's going to be bad!

Popsugar Challenge 2020: A Book with the same title as a movie or TV Show but is unrelated to it

[Jason]

Absolutely Perfect

I truly love this series and I can’t wait for the next book. I wish the next book was here already. I read hundreds of books a year and this is always a series to look forward to.

1. Unique setting with a very wonderful cast
2. Amber is one of the true leaders of the hive but still is human and has emotional attachments to her people.
3. The supporting cast is great and the villains are quite interesting.

4. We get to find out some interesting tidbits about more of the hive and the inner workings.

This is book 4 of the series and I can’t wait for book 5

[Books In Brogan]

Another amazing book by Janet Edwards this one is the 4th in her Hive Mind series.  While this book it's a little longer then her others it never drags on plus we get to learn a lot more of the hive world and the history of the hives.   I can't go into much more because "Spoilers" but you will not want to miss this book.
This review was originally posted on Books In Brogan

[James]

She has done it again. Just as good as the last three and really sets up the start of a lot of interesting plot points for the future.

[Sarah]

5 out of 5 stars!

This was amazing! So many things happened, and I'm still kinda shooketh because of some things. I literally cannot wait for the next book.... but it'll take some time, I'm sure of that^^

The whole Game plot was nice and all, but can we talk about all the shit that was going down?? I mean: Tobias and Keith. What the fuck!? xD
I'm so excited for the next book, but I'm kinda scared... I mean, I have such a bad feeling about the truce between Keith and Amber. He said he did what he did because of Olivia, but do I believe this? No, not that much. Yes, there may be some truth in his words, but do I believe him completely? Nope! And he swore that he wouldn't harm anyone precious to her, but do I think he cares about this? Nope, he doesn't...
But: I need mire Mira, she was so sweet! <3

[Blue]

I really like this world and I want more from it, but at the same time I want this series to finish because I want Earth Girl to continue.

[Elisa]

I really enjoy this series. It is a lot of action, a lot of review of the action. Talking about why people can feel certain ways or lose their ability to behave as society wants them too, and a little bit of teen angst. LOL
Just when you get tired of the analyzation and talking, they start hunting someone, or calamity falls and things happen.
Good stuff! Great worldbuilding.

[William Saeednia-Rankin]

One Word Review: Fantastic!

Short Review: An excellent addition to this character-driven mystery/detective series set in a fascinating future world. Strongly recommended. If you haven’t read Telepath, you should. If you have - you’ll love this book!

Longer Review (avoiding spoilers): This book is so good it is going on my fiercely guarded “favorites” shelf. Janet Edwards does here what she has done in her previous books - creating believable, relatable characters, putting them in awful but fascinating predicaments, keeping the stakes high- yet injecting humour to stop things getting too dark, and adding a seasoning of brilliantly written action scenes while at the same time subtly getting you to question the place of the individual in society.

She has done this so well in every book in the series that I was already thinking of her as my favorite living author...but here she turns it up to 11! Really - if you haven’t read the previous books - give Telepath a try.

There is a central investigation that provides the backbone of the plot - this is intriguing in itself and it goes without saying that the plot thickens nicely as the investigation proceeds. Previous novels have reminded me of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in the way things are set up carefully and then revealed with a twist. This time I was reminded of Agatha Christie's Poirot stories in some of the characters we meet and especially in how the denouement is presented, a scene I enjoyed immensely.

There are many other sub-plots, both personal for Amber, and some very challenging moments for her team. A brilliant part of this series is the careful world-building which feels very much like a deepening mystery - a very carefully handled overarching plot, which Ms Edwards is managing to hint at just enough to get the interest going without detracting from the immediate story. Very well handled and very intriguing! This is becoming more and more a fascinating setting

As I’ve said before - while I really enjoy the detective aspect of the stories, it’s the way that Ms Edwards handles characters that keeps bringing me back. The way both Amber and Lucas have to deal with insecurities and trauma is very, very real. The wonderful thing is how they support each other to get through it. These are the sort of well written characters that you want to keep visiting, in fact I put off finishing it because I was enjoying it so much.

I just don’t want this story to end.

Addition after 2nd Reading: Everything I said in my last reading of this fantastic book is still true.I loved the characters, the setting, the mystery and the moments of warm humour.On this second reading I was more aware of broader plot growing in the background. Given the title of the next book I am absolutely on the edge of my seat to see how this is going to play out.

After 5th Reading: Five times. Do I recommend this series? Obviously. This is now clearly confirmed as my go to series if I want something to grab me and suck me in. It still does that after five reads.

Once more, I really don't want this story to end. I'm missing these characters already.

Thank you Ms Edwards.

[S.J. Higbee]

Amber is now established as one of the foremost telepaths in this huge hive city, but also increasingly under pressure as one of the other telepaths now needs to take a prolonged leave of absence while requiring urgent medical treatment. Edwards is very adept at communicating the rules for her world, without holding up the pace or indulging in info-dumps. The first-person narration works well, as Amber is at the heart of the story and we learn about the stresses on her, as touching minds full of violence and misery leave aftershocks that can destabilise her if they aren’t dealt with.

There is a strong supporting cast of well developed characters who operate as part of Amber’s team and I also love the shifting dynamic and growing amount of information we learn about the other, rather shadowy telepaths. It’s refreshing to see the stable, happy relationship between Amber and her partner – YA reads are notorious for providing lots of angst around the romance thread, but Edwards doesn’t choose to go down that route. I tucked into this one and the pages flew by as I was pulled along by Amber’s bouncy narrative and the action-packed story that held me right until the final sentence. And there was a doozy of a surprise near the end which I certainly didn’t see coming – I love it when that happens!

This one is very highly recommended for fans of sci fi crime and future worlds. Though this book can be enjoyed as a standalone, my advice would be to read the first three books first as this series is too good to read out of sequence.
9/10

[Tiamat100]

This book was only released a short while ago, and I have already read it four times. It's incredible. Each book features Amber facing new challenges, with the impeccable worldbuilding slowly becoming more and more apparent as moredetails emerge. I love how the books show so much of the characters emotions and secrets while still being surprising. I love the relationship between Amber and Lucas. I love the representation of a diverse cast of characters. With each book I am more intrigued and delighted by Janet Edwards' incredible storytelling. I would recommend this series to everyone.

[Marilyn Fisher]

Amber is back, and growing into her position in a big way. The action is nonstop, and there are twists and turns galore. I enjoyed this book immensely.

[Sasha]

3.5 stars.

I really enjoy these books, I find them deeply engaging, but there are a few issues that I seem to have with every installment.

* Amber does not have strong boundaries regarding what she shares with other people of her insights into minds, and it drives me nuts. There are times when I find it incredibly invasive, unethical, and unprofessional.
* Her team, particularly the leaders, often act unprofessionally to a ridiculous degree. Some of their regular behavior would be completely unacceptable in a normal workplace in today's society.
* The dialogue is occasionally stilted and overly formal and does not sound like something someone would actually say. Sometimes the dialogue also includes repetitive or redundant information.
* Some of the issues dealt with in this installment have already been covered in earlier installments and seem redundant / almost a regression of past growth. For example, Lucas is just as insecure about his relationship as he was before, despite having hashed out the issue several times over the course of the series. I would've expected to see some improvement by this point.
* Not sure I’ll be able to express this properly: none of the characters ever break out of the mold of the author’s personal experiences and expectations. For example, the described family issues and relationships don’t really allow for the incredible breadth and complexity of family relationships that exist in the real world. This concept of breaking off from your family because of level differences doesn’t seem to account for the human connection of family and how important and foundational it can be. Families that can function and treat each other like regular people despite the disparity in status don't seem to exist in this world.
Some of the related scenarios are kind of ridiculous. The parents' sudden deference when their child rates a higher level than them would be as if a child actor’s parents suddenly became too nervous and deferential to continue having a relationship with their child when they achieved fame, which is something I have a hard time believing occurs often, if at all.
* Amber’s habit to speechify always makes me cringe. Always feels unnecessarily self-important and generally superfluous.

Not an issue, but an observation:
* Lucas and Amber have fascinating relationship dynamics, because Lucas must placate Amber no matter what his personal feelings are on any matter. What she wants, and her emotional well-being, is paramount to the hive, so he doesn’t have the agency to upset her that most people do in relationships. Thinking about it, perhaps their power dynamic reflects how the power dynamic between men and women throughout time has played out except in reverse. Women historically have been subject to men and dependent on a man's willingness to support them for survival, but in the case of Amber and Lucas that power is reversed and Lucas is the one who cannot risk upsetting Amber for fear of the consequences.

Anyway, I'll probably continue with these books since I do really enjoy the series despite the flaws.

[Bruce E.]

Of all the books or series of books dealing with socially-engineered societies ("1984", "Brave New World", "Divergent" etc), I find "The Hive Mind" books the most challenging. All the others that I have read have created a clearly bad system. There is usually a leader or an oligarchy that seeks power. In the "Hive Mind" books the socially engineering is driven by an obsession with security. Drugs and blatant fear are not used. Instead a mechanism is set up to put people into jobs that will make them satisfied and yes happy. The engineering comes after testing and review of their life up to 18 years finds the ideal job for the junction of the individual and the Hive. The person is then imprinted with the total knowledge to make them competent and happy in that job. There is no time period or election time to decide whether the assessment is acceptable. The Hive seems to follow a policy of removing knowledge available to the citizens. There also appear to be some compulsions built into the imprinting. There is not no fear, for the citizens believe that certain members of Security can read their mind. My question simply is is security all that's important? Maybe it isn't yours. That though is why these books are so challenging. They are very much not black and white.
The books have a very likeable protagonist who does not turn out to be typical and learns. As the first book starts and as is very much emphasized in the prequel, she has fears about her post imprinting status. No, status is not eliminated, but rather stressed. Still if everyone is satisfied does that matter? Your pick. Status is by floors in the Hive. Suppose you are placed 30 stories above or below where you grew up and your family lives? Either will imply a considerable status shift from your family.
For anyone liking challenging social books, I highly recommend this series. I am very much looking forward to the fifth and hopefully more books in this series. My feeling is that although these books will probably not become classics like the books I mentioned in the beginning of this review, they ere really more intellectually interesting.

[Tony Hisgett]

I have found this series an interesting and enjoyable read, I helps that I like Amber, even though I wish she were far more assertive, at least in this book she shows signs of standing up for herself.
There are just a couple of things that that stop me giving these books five stars.
I am getting a bit fed up with the way Lucas over complicates things. A task that might take ten minutes suddenly becomes a crisis because Lucas insists it going to take ten hours and Amber can’t possibly do it.
Then there is Adika who is ridiculously over protective and Amber’s every action seems to involves yet another battle with him wanting to lock her in a ‘cotton wool’ filled room.

[Mender]

I liked the look into inter-Hive politics, although I'm still not sure it would work quite the way it's described here.

Nonetheless, this story is a fast and fun look through the way the Hive raises their young - in this case, through permitting them to create and run their own Games. Teens set each other challenges (with the biggest challenge being not getting caught running it).

The Hive's biggest Game is getting more and more dangerous, though, and Amber's team keeps running into it. It's time to shut it down - but that may be more difficult to do than it seems.

I liked this one, and the stakes were compelling.

[James R. Mortensen]

Wonderfully enjoyable and artfully entertaining

I have been impressed with the apparent ease with which Ms. Edwards continues to spin such a gloriously
entertaining yarn. I am also very happy with her judiciousIly correct use of spelling, syntax and continuity. I read a lot, and am constantly frustrated by authors who seem to have slept through their high school English classes. It is refreshing to read one who paid attention. I have now read all four books currently in the series, and breathlessly await the next release. I believe this series is aimed at young adults, but I'm 76 years old, and I am enjoying it immensely!!!

[Lou]

I loved this book. In my opinion, the second book is the most exciting in the series, but this book introduces a character who, although they don't name it, appears to be autistic. There are other characters in the series who have what I think is being described as Down syndrome, but I'm not as familiar with that. I really appreciate the representation as a neurodivergent person, especially because these characters aren't just treated as invalids and people consider what they have to say. So many authors don't know how to handle neurodivergent or disabled characters, but Janet Edwards does it beautifully.

[Linda]

absolutely obsessed with this series

Haven’t read a series that captured my attention like this in a while. I really had to drag myself away from these books. I am really looking forward to future books in this series.
I felt like I was viewing the world through the characters and their reality. Seeing the differing viewpoints of various characters also kept the story engaging and interesting.

[Rachel Prosser]

This follows on immediately after book 3. You really do need to start Amber’s series at the beginning with Telepath. I’m not going to give the plot away, but it develops Amber’s story nicely. There’s plenty of development, and it leaves us waiting for more. It’s not a cliff-hanger - but there’s just clearly so much detail there to build on.

[Susan T.]

great book; hard to put down!

Can’t wait for the next one this is a really good series and so perceptive about people and their needs and behaviors and far from being meaningful only for young adults. This 84 year old totally loves them!

[Camille Soulhat]

Loved it as always !!!! Can’t wait for the next book to see if what I imagined will happen. Thank you for your wonderful stories.

[Robyn]

Amazing! Wonderful book. I read it just after it came out, because Janet Edwards is my favourite author. It's an amazing series and this book continues the trend. I absolutely loved it.

[Ronica]

Fantastic!

I can't get enough of this series! Action, adventure, love it's all here. I eagerly look forward to the next book.😸

[Augusta Broers]

Like all books in the series this one is a page-turner and very enjoyable. I like how Amber is growing and becoming more confident. The world-building is such that, although it's very alien, you can follow and imagine the hive. Great read.

[Sheila]

I've read all the Hive Mind books now, and I look forward to more. Good character development and character growth all through the series. A well-created universe.

[Unilove]

Amazing book can't wait for book 5!!

[Mr D]

Still excellent

Still thoroughly enjoy reading the series and glad there are more to come. I will be sure to buy them.

[Pamela Baird]

I love all these Hive books. Very well written and very readable.