Mind Games by Kiersten White

How do you beat a Seer? By never thinking past your next move. In fact, its best not to think at all, rely on your instinct and never ever plan anything.

This simple idea is the driving point behind the book Mind Games by Kiersten White. Sofia, called Fia by friends, is a 17 year old girl who has been drawn in to a web of lies and deceits in order to protect her sister Annabelle from a school that is a lie itself.

When they were young, Annie, blind from a young age, had a vision and saw her parents die in a car wreck. Since then, she has wondered if telling her parents was the real reason for the car wreck, would it still have happened if she hadn't said anything? Fia has been protecting her older sister since she was young and she has a unique power to do so. No matter what she picks, she always picks the right answer, the right object. Fia has perfect instincts, but will that be enough to protect Annie?

After the death of their parents Annie and Fia are taken to the Keane Institute, a miracle school that will provide everything Annie needs to learn, even doctor visits to try to restore her vision. Fia knows the school is wrong, but she can't deny her sister the chance to thrive. And thrive she does, Annie just has to ask and any supplies she wants are provided for her including a mentor to help train her Seer abilities. But under all of this is a sinister intention. They start training Fia in skills that aren't normal for a 14 year old girl, hand to hand combat, knife fighting, how to get out of a room when everyone else has a taser and doesn't want you to leave. But there are skills that Fia learns that aren't taught by the teachers. How to beat Seers, Readers, and Feelers. How to survive when everyone wants to use you for their own interests. How to protect your sister when she doesn't realize she needs protecting.

Mind Games is written in a series of flash backs intermingled with the present. We see how Fia and Annie come to be at the Keane Institute and the series of events that lead up to the present and why each girl makes the choices she does.

I would rate this book a 4/5. It was well written, though at times a bit confusing with all the jumping around. White does a good job showing the psyche of a young girl who has been pushed too far and made to do things that no human should have to do. In Mind Games we are presented with a girl who is on the verge of a mental break down who has developed a bit of OCD in an attempt to cope. We are led to believe by other characters that Fia is a cold blooded psychopath, but after reading the book I have come to the conclusion that the problem isn't Fia's lack of emotions, rather she has too many, but is good at playing the game.

I very much hope this is a trilogy or at least a duology but since Mind Games was just released yesterday, I doubt it will be any time soon. Drats.

I am actually pretty sad right now, Kiersten White is coming to Provo Utah on March 6th for the Pitch Black: Dark Days tour, but unfortunately that is a Wednesday and I really don't think I can handle an hour drive without traffic during rush hour. I would love to meet White and get an autographed copy of her novel, but I will have to settle for preordering a copy through The King's English Bookshop, the sponsors of the event. Maybe some day I will be able to have White sign a paint chip for my project! (You can read about my project in an earlier posting.)

Recommendations:

Paranormalacy by Kiersten White - I loved loved loved this series. At first I didn't connect the two series because they are so different, but Kiersten White really is an amazing author.

Shatter Me by Teherah Mafi - Set in a world where having powers is a bad thing, this dystopian brings its own special power to the YA genre. I really liked this book.