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A review by amym84
Mind Games by Nora Roberts
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
When Thea was twelve years old she witnessed her parents murdered in their beds in a senseless crime of hate and jealousy. Because of what Thea saw, however, her parents' murderer was caught and sentenced to life in prison.
The only thing: Thea was staying with her grandmother hours and states away from her family home. You see, the women in Thea's family have a gift. They know things, they can "see" things. Her grandmother has the gift, her mother had the gift - although was more uneasy with it and chose to lock it away - and now, Thea has the gift.
Over the years, Thea will learn that there are those who don't or won't understand so she learns to be careful. But one person she can't seem to escape is her parents' killer. That terrible night bonded them in more than just blood, but in mind. Thea will have to figure out the game if she wants a chance at living her own life.
Mind Games is another Nora Roberts book. I feel like I can say that with both a reverence and a plainness. Her contributions to romance and the romantic suspense genres - including dipping into elements of the supernatural - are undeniable. But that also makes it difficult to tread into anything new or unexpected.
Mind Games follows suit with her other recent releases in that a heroine has something bad happen to her and spends the rest of the book reconciling with that. Typically this also involves not being fully free and clear from the "bad guy". In this case, it is a bit of a twist because the continuing conflict between Thea and her parent's killer - Ray - remains in the shared space of their minds or dreams, however you may choose to interpret the gift. I honestly, never felt like there was a real threat. I guess a more apt thing to say was that there was very little external conflict it was all very internal - literally and figuratively. And despite this looming threat it never felt high stakes.
There's a lot of expository build up with a lot of time spent in Thea's childhood - almost to the point where her adult life - including the romantic interest - feels rushed toward the end.
Regardless of all of this, I still was invested in the story. I was still pulled in and found myself immersed. It was definitely and escapist read for me and there is nothing wrong with that.
One thing I have noticed in the more recent Nora Roberts releases is the very chopped / clipped dialogue. Almost, at times, like characters are reading from a list of bullet points. It's a rather strange affectation.
I've learned, however, that it leans better into audiobook format than standard reading. I don't know if this is what Nora Roberts is going for or not, but the whole performance aspect lends itself well to the paired down dialogue and descriptors.
No one is better to bring this story to life than January LaVoy. If you are an audiobook fan, I'd say her name should have popped up somewhere along your listening journey. She has such a great range and in this case in particular I was super impressed with her ability to go from character to character, young to older, myriad of genders so easily. There were so many times that I forgot it was one person narrating the entire book. At times I had to remind myself that's how she easily she pulls you into the story and these characters. Each has their own voice in the sense that I never questioned who was speaking. The emotion comes through so well encapsulating a twelve year old girl's trauma of not only losing her parents, but witnessing it happening. Overall a great performance.
The only thing: Thea was staying with her grandmother hours and states away from her family home. You see, the women in Thea's family have a gift. They know things, they can "see" things. Her grandmother has the gift, her mother had the gift - although was more uneasy with it and chose to lock it away - and now, Thea has the gift.
Over the years, Thea will learn that there are those who don't or won't understand so she learns to be careful. But one person she can't seem to escape is her parents' killer. That terrible night bonded them in more than just blood, but in mind. Thea will have to figure out the game if she wants a chance at living her own life.
Mind Games is another Nora Roberts book. I feel like I can say that with both a reverence and a plainness. Her contributions to romance and the romantic suspense genres - including dipping into elements of the supernatural - are undeniable. But that also makes it difficult to tread into anything new or unexpected.
Mind Games follows suit with her other recent releases in that a heroine has something bad happen to her and spends the rest of the book reconciling with that. Typically this also involves not being fully free and clear from the "bad guy". In this case, it is a bit of a twist because the continuing conflict between Thea and her parent's killer - Ray - remains in the shared space of their minds or dreams, however you may choose to interpret the gift. I honestly, never felt like there was a real threat. I guess a more apt thing to say was that there was very little external conflict it was all very internal - literally and figuratively. And despite this looming threat it never felt high stakes.
There's a lot of expository build up with a lot of time spent in Thea's childhood - almost to the point where her adult life - including the romantic interest - feels rushed toward the end.
Regardless of all of this, I still was invested in the story. I was still pulled in and found myself immersed. It was definitely and escapist read for me and there is nothing wrong with that.
One thing I have noticed in the more recent Nora Roberts releases is the very chopped / clipped dialogue. Almost, at times, like characters are reading from a list of bullet points. It's a rather strange affectation.
I've learned, however, that it leans better into audiobook format than standard reading. I don't know if this is what Nora Roberts is going for or not, but the whole performance aspect lends itself well to the paired down dialogue and descriptors.
No one is better to bring this story to life than January LaVoy. If you are an audiobook fan, I'd say her name should have popped up somewhere along your listening journey. She has such a great range and in this case in particular I was super impressed with her ability to go from character to character, young to older, myriad of genders so easily. There were so many times that I forgot it was one person narrating the entire book. At times I had to remind myself that's how she easily she pulls you into the story and these characters. Each has their own voice in the sense that I never questioned who was speaking. The emotion comes through so well encapsulating a twelve year old girl's trauma of not only losing her parents, but witnessing it happening. Overall a great performance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent