Booklist
“A visceral thriller. White effectively captures Fia’s unpredictable, moment-to-moment existence, while Annie’s narrative is grounded but emotionally complex. White’s world building is as intriguing as her characters, making this a must-read series opener.”
Mind Games (Mind Games Series #1)
by Kiersten WhiteView All Available Formats & Editions
Perfect for fans of Sara Shepard's The Lying Game series, Kiersten White's Mind Games, a novel about two sisters trapped in a web of deceit, was called "lightning fast and fabulously fun" by bestselling author Laini Taylor.
Fia and Annie are as close as two sisters can be. They look out for each other. Protect each other. And most importantly, they keep
… See more details belowOverview
Perfect for fans of Sara Shepard's The Lying Game series, Kiersten White's Mind Games, a novel about two sisters trapped in a web of deceit, was called "lightning fast and fabulously fun" by bestselling author Laini Taylor.
Fia and Annie are as close as two sisters can be. They look out for each other. Protect each other. And most importantly, they keep each other's secrets, even the most dangerous ones: Annie is blind, but can see visions of the future; Fia was born with flawless intuition—her first impulse is always exactly right. When the sisters are offered a place at an elite boarding school, Fia realizes that something is wrong . . . but she doesn't grasp just how wrong. The Keane Institute is no ordinary school, and Fia is soon used for everything from picking stocks to planting bombs. If she tries to refuse, they threaten her with Annie's life. Now Fia's falling in love with a boy who has dark secrets of his own. And with his help, she's ready to fight back. They stole her past. They control her present. But she won't let them take her future.
Editorial Reviews
Holly Black
“Mind Games is a thriller of the best sort, one with many characters vying to have things their way, who will go as far as they need to get what they want—and a protagonist who will go even further. A brutal, exciting gem of a book.”Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (starred review)
“Brilliant in both character development and narrative structure, this is a psychological thriller that will challenge readers even as it speeds them through the pages.”Laini Taylor
“You might think you know Kiersten White, but here is a darker, more dangerous Kiersten White. A sharp, heart-wrenching, lightning-fast, and fabulously fun read in which twining narratives weave a trap around two extraordinary sisters. Fia may be the angriest narrator I’ve ever loved. I bet you will too.”Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)
“Brilliant in both character development and narrative structure, this is a psychological thriller that will challenge readers even as it speeds them through the pages.”Publishers Weekly
Two narrators, a kaleidoscope of time snippets, the distortions of lies, memories, and precognition—White’s paranormal thriller is a tour de force of perspective and unreliability. Fia, 17, and her blind older sister, Annie, barely remember a time when they were not pawns of Keane, a shadowy man running an equally shadowy organization/boarding school (of sorts) for empaths, psychics, mind readers, and the like. The sisters’ talents will be nurtured and Annie kept alive, so long as Fia does as she is told, using her preternaturally perfect instincts. An assignment to kill Adam, a teenage research prodigy, throws Fia’s already tumultuous existence into further flux, testing her loyalty to her sister and those around her. The combination of supernatural abilities, clandestine organizations, sharply witty dialogue, and a supremely skilled heroine will be familiar to readers of White’s Paranormalcy books, but this story is very much its own, due in large part to Fia’s unpredictability, both as character and protégé (to the endless frustration of the higher-ups at Keane). A sequel is likely and would be welcome. Ages 12–up. Agent: Michelle Wolfson, Wolfson Literary Agency. (Feb.)Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"Brilliant in both character development and narrative structure, this is a psychological thriller that will challenge readers even as it speeds them through the pages."VOYA - Mark Flowers
The first book in White's new trilogy opens with Fia making an impossible decision: kill a man she has never met, who seems to be perfectly innocent, or allow her sister Annie to be killed by the organization which controls the sisters. Annie, who is blind, is (paradoxically) a "seer," who has visions of the future. After their parents' deaths, the sisters were recruited by what seemed to be a school, but is in fact a criminal agency which grooms young psychics like Annie. Soon, it becomes apparent that Fia has an even more valuable power than Annie: she has near perfect intuition—always able to choose the right direction or the right move to succeed—and the shadowy Mr. Keane believes he can make her into a perfect assassin, if he can leverage her relationship with Annie properly. At the same time, Fia is falling in love with James, who just happens to be Mr. Keane's son, which complicates her need for escape. From the high-impact opening, White hurdles her story forward, rotating through two narrators—Fia and Annie—and two time periods, giving the reader four narrative threads in a very brief novel. Though the genre cliches lay thick on the ground, the closest comparison is Holly Black's Curse Workers novels: like Black, White is able to maneuver through the cliches by means of a fast-paced, gripping plot, and genuinely interesting characters. White's many fans will not be disappointed, and she is sure to gain many more. Reviewer: Mark FlowersSchool Library Journal
Gr 7 Up—Fia, 17, has unerringly good instincts, but sometimes they are not good enough. They didn't prevent her parents from dying in a car crash when she was a child. They didn't keep her and her sister, Annie, out of a school administered by the sinister Keane Foundation, which has more than educational interests at its core. And they have not gotten the girls out of the hands of the organization that is now exploiting Annie's psychic abilities and training Fia to be the perfect assassin. When Fia is sent to kill a young man named Adam, her senses tell her that his death is the wrong outcome, but if she defies her employers, the consequences could be dire. Adam is linked to a group that could be major opposition for the foundation. Fia wants nothing more than to see Keane ruined-as long as the consequences of its downfall do not include Annie's death, or her own. This gripping, intense story is told from alternating perspectives, flashing back to key moments in the siblings' pasts. The plot moves quickly from the start, throwing readers right into the story. While some background is provided later in the book, full explanations of the nature of the Keane Foundation remain elusive. This book is sure to be popular with teens who enjoy fast-paced thrillers with paranormal elements.—Misti Tidman, Licking County Library, Newark, OHKirkus Reviews
In this series opener from the author of the Paranormalcy trilogy, two strong-willed sisters struggle to free themselves from a sinister organization that grooms girls with paranormal abilities to serve twisted, illegal ends. Two years after their parents' deaths, the Keane School foundation offered to house and educate Annie and Fia. Sighted Fia--knowing their reluctant caregiver was attracted by the free ride and that Annie, blind, longed for educational opportunities--acquiesced, setting aside her suspicions about the foundation's hidden agenda. For five years the coldly manipulative staff has controlled the girls by holding each hostage against the other. Though Annie's clairvoyant visions interest them, Fia's gift for making successful choices is more valuable. Scarred and toughened by brutal conditioning, the girls fight back; their unwavering mutual devotion brightens the dark tale. Annie's a rounded, co-equal protagonist, not merely an extension of her disability. (Yes, she's magically gifted, but so are the disability-free female characters, and like them, she has flaws.) While she uses the prejudice blindness evokes in sighted people to gain unique access to Keane's powerbrokers, Fia, more damaged, is forced to serve its ends by the founder's handsome son, James, charismatic and equally damaged. The flashback-heavy narration, initially confusing, proves effective, constructing a temporal mosaic that holds readers' interest and builds suspense as events come into focus. An effective paranormal thriller, even in this crowded market. (Paranormal thriller. 12 & up)Product Details
- ISBN-13:
- 9780062135322
- Publisher:
- HarperCollins Publishers
- Publication date:
- 12/03/2013
- Series:
- Mind Games Series, #1
- Pages:
- 304
- Sales rank:
- 286,835
- Product dimensions:
- 5.10(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.80(d)
- Lexile:
- 770L (what's this?)
- Age Range:
- 13 - 17 Years
What People are saying about this
Laini Taylor
“You might think you know Kiersten White, but here is a darker, more dangerous Kiersten White. A sharp, heart-wrenching, lightning-fast, and fabulously fun read in which twining narratives weave a trap around two extraordinary sisters. Fia may be the angriest narrator I’ve ever loved. I bet you will too.”Customer Reviews
Average Review: