Review: Mind Games by Kiersten White

Title: Mind Games

Author: Kiersten White
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publishing Date: February 19th 2013

Pages: 237
Genre:  Sci-Fi Thriller

Series:  Mind Games #1
Source: Audio

  

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.

This book really wowed me. I have wanted to read it for a while and thought it would be a book I enjoyed but I was hesitant. I finally listened to my audio version and loved it. I loved the narrator, the story, the characters, and the writing. The book was full of intense drama as the main characters, Fia and Annie, find their way in the horrible life they live. The ending was just wow and I can’t wait to get to the next book.

Girls have been discovered to possess psychological abilities. Only women and there are many different types… Readers who can read minds, Feelers who can feel your emotions, Seers who can see the future and then there is Fia – a Thinker and a Doer. She knows the right decision and action moments before she needs to. She can’t make wrong choices. She feels wrong or she feels right. There is no one else like her or no one else known that is like her. She and her sister Annie, who is a seer, were snatched up by evil mob people when they were quite young. At this “school” they are held prisoner while they are taught to use their gifts and eventually used to do the evil doings of their captors. Annie is collateral to ensure Fia does what she is told. Everything changes when she is sent on a hit and can’t kill the mark. She feels it is wrong to kill him and doesn’t. This leads to big trouble, secrets revealed, and a possible freedom.

Wow I loved it. It was so much more than I anticipated. The story was fast paced from the very beginning and the story hooked me right from the start. Awesome beginning. The story begins with the hit and then it unravels things from there. Going forward with Fia and Annie but also filling in missing pieces with flashbacks of their lives. This in turn did wonders for my curious mind. I started out not knowing anything except that there was a hit and Fia had a sister. The flashbacks and Fia and Annie’s thoughts fill in all the missing pieces throughout the story as the new story unfolds. I don’t generally like stories told in this manner, I don’t like to feel confused at the beginning of a story, but this was done perfectly. The story and the memories flowed well and gave just enough information to satisfy me until the next. Same with the main story. I never had a chance to feel frustrated that the story was interrupted by a flashback, they intertwined beautifully. I feel that I was able to really get to know the girls because of the way the story was told.

The main characters, Fia and Annie, weren’t always likable but they were always interesting. The flashbacks helped me with understanding the choices they made and the way they behaved which made the unlikable parts of their personalities doable. I never really hated either one of them, but they did make me mad at times. In the end I loved them both. Fia is very strong willed and had a high sense of responsibility for her sister, Annie. Annie was blind and since Fia was little, their mother told Fia to take care of Annie. Fia does not take this lightly. Fia is street smart, part of her gift, and she can really kick butt. She is loyal to those who earn it and of course to her sister, and she always tries to make the right decisions for her sister. Her only goal in life is to keep Annie alive. Keeping Annie alive is also what makes her miserable. In order to keep Annie alive she must do things she doesn’t want to do. It took me a bit longer to like Annie. Annie seemed whiny to me but like I said earlier, the past explains this aggravating personality trait. Annie does love Fia and it was her best trait for sure. I enjoyed the close relationship between the two sisters and felt it was realistic. They were loyal, close, and they pissed each other off quite often. They didn’t always have the best reaction to each when it came to a disagreement… but they always had each other’s back.

There is romance in the book and I think I liked it. I am still not sure. I don’t think I got enough of the romance to make a solid conclusion. It was not the main story and so it just started to build by the time the end of the book came. I can say that it is not insta love. It was a building bond between two that have known each other for quite a while and in flashbacks I was able to see it build to the current situation in the end of the book.

I did like the story, I love a good mob story and this story felt like a good mob story to me. I like to see the bad guys in control then someone take them down. It always feels good to me. The mob wasn’t quite taken down in this book but I have a good feeling that it’s on its way.

Loved it and can’t wait to read more.