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narcissia's review against another edition
4.0
Hmm, a high 3.5? It is kinda crazy/weird/demented but in a fun way.
The point-of-view alternates between sisters Fia and Annie. Fia has perfect instincts. How awesome is that?! She always makes the right choice. Her teacher has to stop giving her multiple choice tests because she never chooses wrong. (I find this hilarious!) So the people with the power in this story are using Fia to help them with things: choosing stocks, picking winners, doing random dirty work, etc. Fia does get periodically angsty with the whole I-am-a-monster thought process, but her tendencies toward self-loathing are forgivable since she's had to do some terrible things. Still, it is right on the borderline for me between an expected affectedness and an obnoxious self-pity. It doesn't quite tip the scales into that annoying zone, but it had me growing slightly less amorous toward Fia's character the more she had those thoughts. She's still my favorite, though. Annie is blind (actually blind, not figuratively blind) and a bit naive. And she has psychic visions. Blind seer is awesome! Annie's chapters are largely focused on her growing realization of what exactly is going on with Fia. James is deliberately misleading and is something of an enigma, but I find his character to be really interesting because it's difficult to know on which side of the line he stands at times.
The villain is properly sinister and mysterious, and the thriller/suspense elements range from tense to fun to exciting. But there isn't a whole lot that actually happens, outside of the numerous flashbacks and back story. Probably most of Mind Games' chapters take place in the past. I think the nonlinear narrative could put some people off. I don't mind nonlinear narratives, and in this particular story the past stuff is interesting, is completely necessary for exposition, and also allows for a slow trickle of information that gradually enlightens the reader. The chapters are also divided in a way that sets some of them in the past and some in the present, so it's not randomly jumping around - there is a structure to it. But I still prefer the present events and wish that part of the story had progressed further. I would have preferred there to be more balance of the past and the present within the narration, because this first book is skewed in favor of showing the reader past events over present ones. I really wanted more of the present and it frustrated me just a little bit to not feel like the current events were progressing as much as I wanted them to. And, though I enjoy the past and need it to understand the present, the plot becomes a little too concentrated on catching up rather than propelling forward.
I think that there is great potential for the future even though I'm not quite that satisfied by the amount of progress in this part of the story. I love the stuff involving Fia's use of her instincts, and the ending is pretty awesome. I'll definitely read the second because I think it will contain more spying, action, and impulse, and because Fia is crazy in a good way and maybe a little bit in a bad way. I want to know what happens next, and since this book catches readers up to the sisters' present, the following books should be able to move directly forward from here on out.
The point-of-view alternates between sisters Fia and Annie. Fia has perfect instincts. How awesome is that?! She always makes the right choice. Her teacher has to stop giving her multiple choice tests because she never chooses wrong. (I find this hilarious!) So the people with the power in this story are using Fia to help them with things: choosing stocks, picking winners, doing random dirty work, etc. Fia does get periodically angsty with the whole I-am-a-monster thought process, but her tendencies toward self-loathing are forgivable since she's had to do some terrible things. Still, it is right on the borderline for me between an expected affectedness and an obnoxious self-pity. It doesn't quite tip the scales into that annoying zone, but it had me growing slightly less amorous toward Fia's character the more she had those thoughts. She's still my favorite, though. Annie is blind (actually blind, not figuratively blind) and a bit naive. And she has psychic visions. Blind seer is awesome! Annie's chapters are largely focused on her growing realization of what exactly is going on with Fia. James is deliberately misleading and is something of an enigma, but I find his character to be really interesting because it's difficult to know on which side of the line he stands at times.
The villain is properly sinister and mysterious, and the thriller/suspense elements range from tense to fun to exciting. But there isn't a whole lot that actually happens, outside of the numerous flashbacks and back story. Probably most of Mind Games' chapters take place in the past. I think the nonlinear narrative could put some people off. I don't mind nonlinear narratives, and in this particular story the past stuff is interesting, is completely necessary for exposition, and also allows for a slow trickle of information that gradually enlightens the reader. The chapters are also divided in a way that sets some of them in the past and some in the present, so it's not randomly jumping around - there is a structure to it. But I still prefer the present events and wish that part of the story had progressed further. I would have preferred there to be more balance of the past and the present within the narration, because this first book is skewed in favor of showing the reader past events over present ones. I really wanted more of the present and it frustrated me just a little bit to not feel like the current events were progressing as much as I wanted them to. And, though I enjoy the past and need it to understand the present, the plot becomes a little too concentrated on catching up rather than propelling forward.
I think that there is great potential for the future even though I'm not quite that satisfied by the amount of progress in this part of the story. I love the stuff involving Fia's use of her instincts, and the ending is pretty awesome. I'll definitely read the second because I think it will contain more spying, action, and impulse, and because Fia is crazy in a good way and maybe a little bit in a bad way. I want to know what happens next, and since this book catches readers up to the sisters' present, the following books should be able to move directly forward from here on out.
bookph1le's review against another edition
5.0
Wow! I loved this book from beginning to end. It's a stellar psychological thriller. More complete review to come.
Complete review:
From the very first page of this book, I was drawn into the world White created. At first, I thought the setting was in the future, but then I realized this was a sort of urban fantasy with psychics. It could have been cheesy, but White handles it in a way that I found utterly convincing. Warning: some pretty big spoilers to follow.
First, I loved the set up because White takes just enough truth and uses it to make her rather fantastical plot work. Keane is such a sinister villain precisely because I could see someone using psychics the way he does. While there are some glimpses of just how long Keane's reach is--senators, the stock market, major corporations--there is still a great deal of mystery surrounding the extent of his power, and I found that a fantastic build up for a second book in the series. I bought the plot completely because I'm sure that if psychics did exist, unscrupulous business people would, in fact, take advantage of their existence.
I was also fascinated by what this book had to say about corruption. Though the school is set up with the best of intentions, it ultimately becomes a perverted, twisted version of its original purpose, and I believed that this could drive James's mother to despair. It also provides some indirect characterization of his father. Keane is one of the best villains I've read in YA lit in a long time, precisely because he is subtle, a bit unknowable, and evil in a very sinister way. It's good, for once, to read a book that doesn't have a mustache-twirling villain.
The relationship dynamic between Fia and Annie is fantastic. White does a wonderful job of exploring how the emotional ties that bind two people have an overwhelming power to affect lives. Annie never sets out to destroy her sister, but she's implicated in Fia's downward spiral precisely because her desire to hold onto what she really wants precludes doing what's in her sister's best interest. Their relationship is complicated, not always smooth, and this makes it very believable. While Annie and Fia both love one another, they also resent one another and, sometimes, even come close to hating one another. It was fascinating to watch the give and take between the two of them, to see how their attempts at protecting one another sometimes failed spectacularly, and to watch how each was willing to sacrifice significantly for the other.
The only element of the book that didn't utterly convince me was James. Right now, he's a little too close to being the boring, typical YA bad boy, but because I understand there is to be a second book in this series, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. What I did like about him, though, is that he is very grey. By turns, I alternately felt maybe he was trying to do the right thing and became convinced that he was just as bad as his father, but in a different way. I still really have no idea what his agenda is, and I like that aspect of the book. I'm hoping that there will be a good payoff in the end, one way or another.
I felt this book was exactly what it billed itself as being: an intense psychological thriller. Yes, there are some action scenes, but most of the plot of the book centers around the relationship between the two sisters. I thought this was a great strength as I don't often read taut, psychological YA thrillers. It may be that I'm just not reading the right books. Whatever it is, I'd love to see more books like this one. I sometimes get the sense that books are made into series for purely commercial reasons, often to the detriment of the story, but this is definitely one book that left me anxious to read more.
Complete review:
From the very first page of this book, I was drawn into the world White created. At first, I thought the setting was in the future, but then I realized this was a sort of urban fantasy with psychics. It could have been cheesy, but White handles it in a way that I found utterly convincing. Warning: some pretty big spoilers to follow.
First, I loved the set up because White takes just enough truth and uses it to make her rather fantastical plot work. Keane is such a sinister villain precisely because I could see someone using psychics the way he does. While there are some glimpses of just how long Keane's reach is--senators, the stock market, major corporations--there is still a great deal of mystery surrounding the extent of his power, and I found that a fantastic build up for a second book in the series. I bought the plot completely because I'm sure that if psychics did exist, unscrupulous business people would, in fact, take advantage of their existence.
I was also fascinated by what this book had to say about corruption. Though the school is set up with the best of intentions, it ultimately becomes a perverted, twisted version of its original purpose, and I believed that this could drive James's mother to despair. It also provides some indirect characterization of his father. Keane is one of the best villains I've read in YA lit in a long time, precisely because he is subtle, a bit unknowable, and evil in a very sinister way. It's good, for once, to read a book that doesn't have a mustache-twirling villain.
The relationship dynamic between Fia and Annie is fantastic. White does a wonderful job of exploring how the emotional ties that bind two people have an overwhelming power to affect lives. Annie never sets out to destroy her sister, but she's implicated in Fia's downward spiral precisely because her desire to hold onto what she really wants precludes doing what's in her sister's best interest. Their relationship is complicated, not always smooth, and this makes it very believable. While Annie and Fia both love one another, they also resent one another and, sometimes, even come close to hating one another. It was fascinating to watch the give and take between the two of them, to see how their attempts at protecting one another sometimes failed spectacularly, and to watch how each was willing to sacrifice significantly for the other.
The only element of the book that didn't utterly convince me was James. Right now, he's a little too close to being the boring, typical YA bad boy, but because I understand there is to be a second book in this series, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. What I did like about him, though, is that he is very grey. By turns, I alternately felt maybe he was trying to do the right thing and became convinced that he was just as bad as his father, but in a different way. I still really have no idea what his agenda is, and I like that aspect of the book. I'm hoping that there will be a good payoff in the end, one way or another.
I felt this book was exactly what it billed itself as being: an intense psychological thriller. Yes, there are some action scenes, but most of the plot of the book centers around the relationship between the two sisters. I thought this was a great strength as I don't often read taut, psychological YA thrillers. It may be that I'm just not reading the right books. Whatever it is, I'd love to see more books like this one. I sometimes get the sense that books are made into series for purely commercial reasons, often to the detriment of the story, but this is definitely one book that left me anxious to read more.
sam_hartwig's review against another edition
3.0
This is the first Kiersten White book I've picked up since reading (and adoring) her Paranormalcy series, and I was a little disappointed.
I liked the concept and it was a quick, easy read but there just seemed to be something missing that I can't quite figure out. Maybe reading the next book will give me some answers... who knows.
I liked the concept and it was a quick, easy read but there just seemed to be something missing that I can't quite figure out. Maybe reading the next book will give me some answers... who knows.
pinkpicklez's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
jaxness's review against another edition
DNF.
I really wanted to like this book, i tried to like it but i couldn't go through with it.
i loved paranormalcy trilogy, but i don't know about this, it got me so bored, the writing and the characters were so annoying i stopped at 20% .
I really wanted to like this book, i tried to like it but i couldn't go through with it.
i loved paranormalcy trilogy, but i don't know about this, it got me so bored, the writing and the characters were so annoying i stopped at 20% .
fl0_or's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
sienaro's review against another edition
4.0
I liked the characters, I liked the setting, I liked, liked, liked the writing style (for the most part). What I didn’t like about this book was the flitting. We flitted forward and back in time, from Fia to Annie’s point of view, from place to place, to reference to previous thing that happened but we haven’t yet learned about. The story wasn’t necessarily fast moving. It happens in only three days and dare I say it was somewhat slow moving. The endless amounts of flashbacks and point of view shifts made it difficult to keep and follow the seemingly brilliantly crafted plot line. The characters and relationships were well written, but as the story went on, they developed into what seemed like more juvenile versions of themselves.
The whole novel felt like a set up for the next novel, but left the reader desiring so much more without any satisfaction or desire to read the next book.
The whole novel felt like a set up for the next novel, but left the reader desiring so much more without any satisfaction or desire to read the next book.
kambmoore's review against another edition
4.0
I ❤️ this book! It was similar and different to anything I've ever read all at once... It made me think about what humans are capable of (both in the powers department and the morality department) and what someone's willing to do for someone they love. Fia and Annie seemed like the very different people they were, and I rely loved their individual voices that interweaved together! Really want to read the next book right now!!!
celjla212's review against another edition
4.0
I read this in just a few hours. I have to admit, I was very confused for at least the first 100 pages of the book. But once I started really getting into the story, I couldn't put it down. I thought the alternating chapters between the past and the present were very efficient tools for revealing the groundwork of the story without giving away too much too fast. The book went through many twists and turns which definitely play mind games with the reader!
This book is a welcome reprieve from cliched supernatural YA and I can't wait to read the next installment.
This book is a welcome reprieve from cliched supernatural YA and I can't wait to read the next installment.
safaristevie's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
3.5