Reviewed by celinenyx on
Mind Games blew me away with its original and honest approach of two girls dependent going through hell.
Annie can see the future in visions, even though her eyes are blind. Fia has impeccable instincts. Together they are held captive in a school, run by men with immense power, and no morals.
Mind Games is written in a dual perspective of Annie and Fia, with flashbacks at different points in time. The story has a kind of messy structure and a lot of time is spent in the past, but this worked out very well for the book. The prose, especially Fia's, is close to the stream of conciousness style. Fia is mentally unstable, and being in her head is a very uncomfortable experience. Since a young age Fia has been trained to spy on, and worse, kill people. Because of this she well, has lost some of her marbles. I think this part of the story was done extremely well. So many stories with assassins have them be just kind of... numb yet socially functioning. In Fia we see more of a repressed anger, of feelings she can't face, which in my opinion felt so much more real.
Fia and Annie have an interesting sister dynamic. On one hand, they love each other. On the other they are so dependant on each other that they cannot stand it. Their push-and-pull was absorbing, and people that are fan of the sister-dynamics in Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce will probably like this one.
Mind Games is a very short book that just flew by for me. I read this in the train and it got me so immersed that I completely forgot where I was. Luckily I have to get out at the end station, otherwise I might have had a problem. There is plenty of great fighting scenes and more emotional ones sprinkled in between. I think this book is quite peculiar though, so if you're not sure, I would recommend reading a sample if possible. It stays away from the linear naturalistic kind of prose, and makes it into something more organic.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 23 January, 2014: Finished reading
- 23 January, 2014: Reviewed