Mind Games: review

Title: Mind Games
Author: Kiersten White
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Release Date:
February 19th, 2013
Publisher: HarperTeen
Age Group: Mature YA
Source: ARC provided by the publisher

I wasn't really sure what I was in for when I started Mind Games. I'd only read the first in Kiersten White's Paranormalcy series, and while it was cute with great world-building, it wasn't enough to get me invested in finishing the rest of the series. Evie just felt so young. (You know. Like how young sixteen year olds are, compared to a wizened spinster of 30...)

But, you guys? Fia is no Evie. Not even close.

"The moment he bends over to help the sorrow-eyed spaniel puppy, I know I won't be able to kill him.

This, of course, ruins my entire day."

Sophia (Fia) is a trained assassin. A spy. A thief. She is whatever Keane needs her to be; an indentured villain with perfect instincts she doesn't always understand, but always follows. And she will never, ever be able to escape.

Because if she tries, they'll hurt Annie, her sister who is blind to everything but the future. Her sister who is the reason they're trapped in the Keane Foundation anyway, whose abilities were the reason they were invited to the school after their parents' death. The reason they stayed even when Fia's instincts told her to run fast and far away from it.

So, she has to kill this boy. Adam. She has to do it or they'll hurt her sister. But she can't.  She can't kill the boy who is sweet to a puppy, who looks at her like she's a real girl without blood on her hands. Like she's clean and sweet, and maybe he wants to touch her.

He wouldn't want to touch her if he knew.

She can't kill him. So she follows her perfect instincts to hide him instead. And...well, that's about all I can tell you without spoilers.

But I can tell you it's twisted and dark. It's sexy and violent--much more so than I would have previously expected from White. And it's sad. What impressed me the most about Mind Games was Fia's pain. Her absolute self-loathing and reluctance, even when she is vicious and ruthless. She hates herself, and part of her hates Annie too, but she'll do anything--anything--to protect her sister.

I think some might be turned off by the structure and style of this book, though I happened to really enjoy it. It's told from both Annie and Fia's point of views, shifting back and forth from past to present. Fia's narrative style is a bit stream-of-consciousness-ish, which can be hard to follow, but I found it a perfect representation of how unhinged she is.

And for me, Fia's borderline insanity is what makes the story live up to its title--well, that and the ending. Which was less a mind game and more a mind *expletive*.

Mind Games was a fascinating and frenetic read, and I can't wait to see what White has in store for its sequel.

This review also appears on GoodReads.