Mind Games by Kiersten White (review)

Selected for their unusual abilities, sisters Annie and Fia have spent the seven years since their parents’ untimely death under the care of the staff at the elite Keane School for girls. Annie, capable of seeing the future despite her blindness, has been taught to hone her psychic ability and given the latest in assistive technology. Fia, on the other hand, has has been groomed as an assassin, tasked with taking out Mr. Keane’s enemies under the threat of death to Annie if Fia does not comply. Annie knows nothing of this bargain until a hit gone wrong leaves Fia emotionally devastated. The two girls plan to escape the school—a difficult move when Keane and his cronies are capable of knowing their thoughts before the sisters can even act. 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. Chapters shift among perspectives and time periods, giving a voice to both sisters while interspersing flashbacks over the last seven years with the girls’ present dilemma. This technique heightens the suspense by leaving readers off balance, unsure of who they can trust and even when they can trust them. The sisters’ relationship is deeply complex: brash, angry, and violent, Fia uses her feelings and words as weapons as much as she utilizes her fists, while sweet but surprisingly cunning Annie manipulates those around her until she finds herself in over her head. Their interactions alternate between being heartbreakingly poignant and obviously, painfully, toxic. Readers may be unable to relate to the girls’ supernatural gifts, but they will surely recognize the emotional warfare in which they engage.