February 26, 2013

Mind Games by Kiersten White (Guest Review)

MIND GAMES
by Kiersten White
Hardcover, 256 pages
Published February 19th 2013 by HarperTeen

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Fia was born with flawless instincts. Her first impulse, her gut feeling, is always exactly right. Her sister, Annie, is blind to the world around her—except when her mind is gripped by strange visions of the future.

Trapped in a school that uses girls with extraordinary powers as tools for corporate espionage, Annie and Fia are forced to choose over and over between using their abilities in twisted, unthinkable ways…or risking each other’s lives by refusing to obey.

In a stunning departure from her New York Times bestselling Paranormalcy trilogy, Kiersten White delivers a slick, edgy, heartstoppingly intense psychological thriller about two sisters determined to protect each other—no matter the cost.


Mind Games is the first book I have read by author Keirsten White. I know that she has a pretty big fan base because of her Paranormalcy series, so I had pretty big expectations going into this book and I wasn't disappointed. Mind Games is exactly what the title would suggest- a book that totally messes with your head. This is not a fluffy beach read. This is a book that requires your attention and focus.

The narration of the book bounces back and forth between two sisters, Fia and Annie. Annie is a Seer, who mainly sees the future of her sister Fia. Fia is the brute strength of the school and is required to do many horrific things in order to keep her sister Annie safe. Fia is a very broken character, and it is most obvious in her narration. Fia's inner dialogue is broken, jumbled, and almost sounds like someone who is crazy. She lives on pure instinct and has an incredible amount of rage that she is hiding. Annie, on the other hand, seems incredibly naive and innocent (although all is not what it seems).

The characters are interesting, the situation is interesting, and there is a great deal of action to keep the reader engaged in the story- but the story really shines in the relationship between the two sisters. Responsibility and the desire to "take care of each other" is really what is at the heart of the relationship between these two. Each is doing what they can to take care of each other- and sometimes in very ugly ways. Fia is volatile, impulsive, and makes rash and sometimes stupid decisions. Annie is both blind visually and blind to the world in many ways (or perhaps is choosing to be blind). With flip flops between years throughout their time with the school, the reader gets an entire picture of who Annie and Fia are and how they became that way.

Mind Games is a fast-paced, entertaining story. Everything is fast about it: the length of the story, the dialogue, the inner dialogue, and the action. It was smart and fierce read. I am a little surprised that this is going to be a series, but am excited to read where the author will take these characters next.








2 comments:

  1. I'm really glad this is going to be a series as I really want to know more about Keene and his evil aims.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I really liked this read. I loved how different it was from the Paranormalcy books and how dark the tone to this one was.

    ReplyDelete

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