Review: Perfect Lies by Kiersten White

Title: Perfect Lies
Author: Kiersten White
Series: Mind Games  #2
Publication: February 18th 2014 by HarperTeen
Genre: Young Adult ~ Paranormal
Cover Rating: 5/5
Overall Rating: 5/5

e-Arc provided from publisher in exchange for an honest review.

   

Annie and Fia are ready to fight back.

The sisters have been manipulated and controlled by the Keane Foundation for years, trapped in a never ending battle for survival. Now they have found allies who can help them truly escape. After faking her own death, Annie has joined a group that is plotting to destroy the Foundation. And Fia is working with James Keane to bring his father down from the inside.

But Annie's visions of the future can't show her who to trust in the present. And though James is Fia's first love, Fia knows he's hiding something. The sisters can rely only on each other - but that may not be enough to save them.

~My Thoughts:

I have read the first book, Mind Games, pretty recently and really liked it. It was different, original, so I couldn't wait to start the sequel, Perfect Lies, to see what was going to happen next with all my favorite characters.

Perfect Lies was not a great book, oh no, it was a fantastic book! I was entertained right from the start and ended up liking it even more than Mind Games. A sequel of a book is either hit or miss and this book was absolutely a hit!

The story in Perfect Lies gripped me even more than with Mind Games. I guess the reason to that was that this time I wasn't confused with what was going on. I knew what is was about and could follow it without any doubts. It was all more dangerous and excited to read about for some reason.

A lot of the characters stood out way more now, while other characters I liked before moved down on my favorite list.
Fia is still amazing and kind of scary to read about. I love how she's still willing to do anything to protect her sister, even if it is destroying her inside.
I didn't particulary liked or hated Annie in Mind Games. It's not that she was annoying or anything, I just couldn't connect with her character and she was always so good and sometimes even boring. But now? Now I think she's pretty badass. She grows a lot during this book and even her blindness doesn't stop her from learning to defend herself and kicking some butt. 
James on the other hand, I'm so frustrated with. I used to love him. He was my favorite male character and now he's way down on the list due to some events that happened in Perfect Lies. I came to dislike him quite a bit. 
Some characters we met in the previous book we came to learn more about now like Sarah, Cole and Rafael... and boy do I love Cole! He is amazing. *swoons* I just know I want to read a whole lot more about him. Him and Annie together... Can I just say, adorable! But of course this book isn't all about love, naturally. It's more about the powers of the girls and the Keane foundation. The big boss, Mr. Keane is still an asshole, no surprise there. He's still doing awful things but now he has Fia joining him. Together with James she wants to try to take him down from the inside. Will it work or not? If you want to know, read the book! 


Overall, Perfect Lies was even better than Mind Games. It has more of everything. More danger. More excitement. More romance. More death. It's a must-read for fans of this series, fans of Kiersten White or just anyone who loves a good psychological paranormal thriller! Just read it.

Favorite Quotes:

I nod, but it's a lie. I don't care about being careful. I care about being useful. And I'll do anything to make that happen.

I bounce my legs, buzz buzz buzz buzzing with energy. Not the good kind. The kind that warns I am too close to the edge, too far down the slope, in danger of sliding off and away and being lost forever.

I imagine invisible fishing lines, hooking the corners of my mouth and tearing at the skin there, pulling my lips back into a simulation of a smile. The same threads connected to my arms and legs, jerking me like a gangly marionette. Go here. Do this. Smile. Ignore the wrong. Make it work. Make it work.

Once upon a time, I was a little girl with a mom and a dad and a sister, and the only monsters were imaginary. Then I became one of the monsters.

About the author:

Kiersten White is the NYT bestselling author of the Paranormalcy trilogy and Mind Games, the start of a new dark thriller series. She has one tall husband and three small children and lives near the ocean, where her life is perfectly normal. Visit her at www.kierstenwhite.com.

Find Kiersten also on:

Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter | Website

Purchase Perfect Lies on: 

Amazon | Book Depository | Fishpond

Review: Mind Games by Kiersten White

Title: Mind Games
Author: Kiersten White
Series: Mind Games #1
Publication: February 19th 2013 by HarperTeen
Genre: Young Adult ~ Paranormal
Cover Rating: 5/5
Overall Rating: 4/5

    

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.

In a stunning departure from her New York Times bestselling Paranormalcy trilogy, Kiersten White delivers a slick, edgy, heartstoppingly intense psychological thriller about two sisters determined to protect each other—no matter the cost.

~My Thoughts:

So far I've read only one book by Kiersten White which was The Chaos of Stars, a book with Egyptian mythology in it. I loved it so I wanted to try another book by this author to see if I was going to like it as much also. I really wanted to try Mind Games because it seemed really great and how could I resist that gorgeous cover? Anyways... I've seen a lot of mixed reviews of it — the usual extremes of only one, two stars or four, five stars. Because of that it's always hard to tell what you will think of it, personally. And I must admit, starting it the first fifty pages or so were kind of slow and I didn't know what to think of it. It doesn't mean it was bad or anything... I just needed something to pigue my interest. (That's why it didn't get a full five stars.)

Mind Games introduces us to two girls, sisters. Fia is the younger one who has flawless instinct. She acts first, never thinking always knowing what is right and what is wrong. Her older sister, Annie, is blind except when she has her future visions, where she can see clearly as you and me can. Together they are trapped in a school that's run by the Keane foundation where they use both Fia and Annie plus other girls who also have special abilities for their own gain. Fia and Annie have to keep using their gifts or risk each others lives and that's just not something they are willing to risk.

This book was fast-paced and shocking but very enjoyable for me. Its characters were brilliant and yet messed up in their own ways. Kiersten White has created a very intense world with the school Fia and Annie are trapped. I could practually smell, taste and feel Fia and Annie's desperation to protect each other. Especially Fia was very harsh and fierce to read about because she's so broken by everything she had to do to protect her sister. 

Mind Games felt right from the beginning very different from other books. I've never read anything like it. The overall story makes it very interesting as did the characters. It has both the sister's point of view, but also flashbacks about what happened before, taking place so far back as ten years ago to six months back, also in both Fia and Annie's perspective.

Aside from the two main characters we had a bunch of others. Some you will like, some you will hate. But really, all these people from the Keane foundation are awful. I can't understand why someone would be willing to work there. Anywho... we also have James Keane. Yes, Keane as in the Keane foundation. He's the son of the Mr. Keane who calls the shot. He's one of the love interests for Fia. Though it's not like there's a lot of romance in it, just the potential for romance, especially with Adam. Fia has a lot of history with James but things actually feel right with Adam. But before I give too much away I must say personally I like James more. People will probably call me crazy but what can I say, I like the bad ones.

The ending of this book was freaking shocking. I was freaked out by everything that was happening suddenly. Shit really did hit the fan. It only made me crave the sequel even more. I'm really glad I was able to score it already! I can tell you I will be reading it soon because I can't wait to read about what's going to happen next. I'm sure it's going to be really exciting as well.

Mind Games by Kiersten White was really as author Holly Black says on the cover of my copy, "A brutal, exciting gem of a book." It's the perfect description of it. It was all that and more. I was surprised by how captivated I was by it. A definite must-read for fans of psychological thrillers with paranormal twists.

About the author:

Kiersten White is the NYT bestselling author of the Paranormalcy trilogy and Mind Games, the start of a new dark thriller series. She has one tall husband and three small children and lives near the ocean, where her life is perfectly normal. Visit her at www.kierstenwhite.com.

Find her also on:

Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter | Website

Purchase Mind Games on:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Fishpond | Kobo