Review: Mind Games By: Kiersten White

Title: Mind Games (Mind Games #1)
Author: Kiersten White
Publisher: HarperTeen, 256 Pages (February 19th, 2013)
From: Amazon Vine
Format: ARC
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis: 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.

Review: 3.5 Stars - Mind Games is the first book in a thrilling new series by Kiersten White that throws us right into the lives and story of two sisters and their fight for survival in this fantastically intense page turner.

Fia and Annie are sisters that want a normal life and simple things like being able to take care of each other. They are all each other has since their parents died when they were younger. They each have a power that also makes them different from most people. Annie is also blind but she can see the future in snippets and knows that there’s something horrible to come. Fia’s power is her instincts. What her gut tells her is 100% the truth. She feels what’s right and wrong and just knows what to do in any given situation.

The story follows the two as they fight to keep each other alive. Being trapped at a school which happens to be holding leverage over the sister, they do what they are asked and live day to day never knowing just how bad things could get. Fia has it the hardest of the two. The things and areas she’s trained in and sent to do is beyond horrific.

As I’ve mentioned many times in the past I’m a huge fan of mulit points of view and White gives readers a chance to see things from both sisters during this tumultuous time. White has written a unique voice for both characters. Fia’s is so unique that I must say that that’s part of the book that didn’t work the best for me. I understand she’s going through more than anyone her age should and is being manipulated more than I could have ever imagined but her voice rubbed me the wrong way. It made me feel like I was reading someone robotic, which I guess in a way is true for her. If I was in her shoes I’d have shut down and just gone through the motions to survive as well. So I understand why she’s written as stiff and unnatural as she is, but it just wasn’t my favorite part of the book and sadly did change my overall love of the story.

There might be some slightly confusing parts, at least for me there was but the plot is fast paced and thrilling, which makes up for the bit of confusion I felt. However what the girls will do for each other is one of the strengths of the story. The other is how utterly compelling it is once you get just a few pages into reading. You don’t want to put it down; you can’t put it down because of the edge of the seat moments that don’t stop from beginning to end.

All in all Mind Games is action packed with teen sisters whose unique powers are being used against them and they will do anything to keep the other alive, creating a never ending cycle for the girls. With the future looking bleak it’s up to the two to find a way out of the school and away from those who are using them for the worst things imaginable. With an ending that left this reader smiling behind the book, I’m excited to see just what’s going to happen next for Annie and Fia and those who have been holding them captive. I recommend this title for anyone who loves a thrilling story that’ll keep you on the edge of your seat because this one does that and then some. Happy reading.

FTC Disclaimer: I did NOT pay for this book, nor have I been compensated at all in any way or means for reading and writing this HONEST review.