Krista Reviews: Kiersten White's - "Mind Games"

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.

Hardcover, 237 pages  Published February 19th 2013 by HarperTeen  ISBN 0062135317 (ISBN13: 9780062135315)

Twins, Annie and Fia’s, story is told from alternating perspectives. The majority of the story unfolds in flashback sequences to give the reader the facts and help build the plot of the current day situation. 

Annie is blind but has visions of events. Not exactly events that predict the future, but things that could possibly happen if certain situations play out. Fia on the other hand has the power of intuition.

The story focuses on Fia saving Annie. They are very close and their first and foremost thoughts are always about each other’s welfare. Several times throughout the story Annie warns Fia of visions she has, but even though Fia has the power of instinct, she doesn’t observe Annie’s warnings.

The girls are highly flawed characters. They both seem lost and depressed, as if they are searching for something to replace the loss of their parents. Throughout the story, Fia is taught the skills of an assassin at the school they attend, but it’s against her will, as the school master keeps Annie to make Fia do their bidding.

I found this book very unusual and unique. The “abilities/powers” these girls have are not exactly laid in concrete. This does lead to some confusion in the storyline. Fia acts on initial feelings, but she herself is all over the place emotionally and at any time, may have the instinct to fight or flight. Being highly strung, she tends to act out her emotions by partying and trying to mentally escape her situation.

Many of you may recognize the author from her Paranormalcy series which has a lot of humour, fun antics, great characters and a kick ass heroine. While this story does have a bad ass girl at the fore-front, all the characters in this book are highly flawed, and there is very little humour. Definitely something different than other paranormal books that take place in a private-school setting. It’s dark and and full of emotionally driven characters.