Review: Mind Games by Kiersten White

Title: Mind Games
Author: Kiersten White
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: February 19, 2013
Series: Mind Games #1
Links: Amazon | Goodreads
Source: Edelweiss

Two sisters, bound by impossible choices, are determined to protect each other—no matter the cost.

James's frozen face melts into a smile. "Do you want to know the trick to getting in trouble under the watchful eye of a psychic?"

I think of the nailed-shut windows. I think of Clarice. I think of the two, the two, the two who are now zero. Tap tap. "Yes, I absolutely do."

"Don't plan it. Don't even think about it. The second you get an inkling of what you could do, do it then. Never plan anything ahead of time. Always go on pure instinct."

I smile. "I think I can do that."

Mind Games is crazy/weird/demented, but in a fun way!

The point-of-view alternates between sisters Fia and Annie. Fia has perfect instincts. How awesome is that?! She always makes the right choice. Her teacher has to stop giving her multiple choice tests because she never chooses wrong. (I find this hilarious!) So the people with the power in this story are using Fia to help them with things: choosing stocks, picking winners, doing random dirty work, etc. Fia does get periodically angsty with the whole I-am-a-monster thought process, but her tendencies toward self-loathing are forgivable since she's had to do some terrible things. Still, it is right on the borderline for me between an expected affectedness and an obnoxious self-pity. It doesn't quite tip the scales into that annoying zone, but it had me growing slightly less amorous toward Fia's character the more she had those thoughts. She's still my favorite, though. Annie is blind (actually blind, not figuratively blind) and a bit naive. And she has psychic visions. Blind seer is awesome! Annie's chapters are largely focused on her growing realization of what exactly is going on with Fia. James is deliberately misleading and is something of an enigma, but I find his character to be really interesting because it's difficult to know on which side of the line he stands at times.

The villain is properly sinister and mysterious, and the thriller/suspense elements range from tense to fun to exciting. But there isn't a whole lot that actually happens, outside of the numerous flashbacks and back story. Probably most of Mind Games' chapters take place in the past. I think the nonlinear narrative could put some people off. I don't mind nonlinear narratives, and in this particular story the past stuff is interesting, is completely necessary for exposition, and also allows for a slow trickle of information that gradually enlightens the reader. The chapters are also divided in a way that sets some of them in the past and some in the present, so it's not randomly jumping around - there is a structure to it. But I still prefer the present events and wish that part of the story had progressed further. I would have preferred there to be more balance of the past and the present within the narration, because this first book is skewed in favor of showing the reader past events over present ones. I really wanted more of the present and it frustrated me just a little bit to not feel like the current events were progressing as much as I wanted them to. And, though I enjoy the past and need it to understand the present, the plot becomes a little too concentrated on catching up rather than propelling forward.

But I do like the story and the characters and I think that there is great potential for the future. I'm giving Mind Games a high 3.5 star rating. I want to give it a 4, but I'm not quite that satisfied by the amount of progress in the story. I love the stuff involving Fia's use of her instincts, and the ending is pretty awesome. I'll definitely read the second because I think it will contain more spying, action, and impulse, and because Fia is crazy in a good way and maybe a little bit in a bad way. I want to know what happens next, and since this book catches readers up to the sisters' present, the following books should be able to move directly forward from here on out.

Review: The Cadet of Tildor by Alex Lidell

Title: The Cadet of Tildor
Author: Alex Lidell
Publisher: Dial
Publication Date: January 10, 2013
Links: Amazon | Goodreads
Source: NetGalley

There is a new king on the throne of Tildor. Currents of political unrest sweep the country as two warring crime families seek power, angling to exploit the young Crown's inexperience. At the Academy of Tildor, the training ground for elite soldiers, Cadet Renee de Winter struggles to keep up with her male peers. But when her mentor, a notorious commander recalled from active duty to teach at the Academy, is kidnapped to fight in illegal gladiator games, Renee and her best friend Alec find themselves thrust into a world rife with crime, sorting through a maze of political intrigue, and struggling to resolve what they want, what is legal, and what is right.

What to say about this one? I liked it. It sated my high fantasy craving and was just what I needed at the time of reading it. The Cadet of Tildor isn't probably a Favorite, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I like the characters. The story is a fun adventure, full of swordplay and some magic. There's a badass mage wolf in it. (Mage animals alone is pretty much enough reason to read anything, right?) Also, if you're looking for a book without a love story, this is it (though there are a couple of crushes lurking around, however brief or quelled those feelings may be). The relationships in this book are ones of friendship rather than soul mates.

Renee and Savoy are both awesome characters with large amounts of resolve and skill. Neither of them will give up on themselves or what they want. The difference between them lies in their amount of experience. Savoy has it and Renee doesn't. Their dynamic is enjoyable and I like seeing Savoy in the role of Renee's teacher and mentor.

The worldbuilding is pretty successful. The Academy makes a great setting. The politics aren't necessarily complicated, but the interpretation of law and incorporation of some strategies at how to deal with some of the problems of the kingdom are a focus. Lidell does a good job at showing how sometimes, in order to control a criminal population, one has to allow for it to continue to exist. There is such a thing as the lesser of two evils in Tildor. And I think that is one of the truths that Renee, and to an extent Savoy, both have to come to terms with in the story - that everything isn't so black and white, that the gray areas exist and that, sometimes, you need them.

The plot is not so fast in the first half as in the second, as it is mostly training and personal growth and getting to know the characters and their motivations and seeing the ways in which they interact. There are still some tensions, conflicts and pertinent information, and the pacing is decent. But these things are more heightened in the second half of the story. It is once the kidnapping takes place that the problems become more immediate and the pacing picks up because of it.

My one complaint would be that the reader never really gets inside the characters' heads much. The third person omniscient point of view flows from character to character, but I found out more about what each character was feeling from the dialogue of others than I did from the characters themselves. For example, it's insinuated by both Renee's friend Alec and Savoy's friend Seaborn that Renee has a crush on Savoy, but never from Renee herself, other than a one-time admiring of his physique. So it's never made clear whether she likes him as more than a friend and comrade. Because of this sort of thing, there is a little bit of a lack of emotion in places - just because the reader doesn't get the extent of the emotions felt by the characters at times. I suppose that is intentional given the fact that they're soldiers bound to duty and whatnot (because that is a big part of the characters' reasoning), but I think adding more emotional depth could have made this a favorite since everything else is pretty much great.

It's a good story, if a little predictable in places, and I enjoyed it. I'd recommend it to fans of fantasy and adventure, and particularly to those who want a book that doesn't focus on a love story.

Review: The Reece Malcolm List by Amy Spalding

Title: The Reece Malcolm List
Author: Amy Spalding
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Publication Date: February 5, 2013
Links: Amazon | Goodreads
Source: Publisher

Things I know about Reece Malcolm:

1. She graduated from New York University.
2. She lives in or near Los Angeles.
3. Since her first novel was released, she’s been on the New York Times bestseller list every week.
4. She likes strong coffee and bourbon.
5. She’s my mother.

Devan knows very little about Reece Malcolm, until the day her father dies and she’s shipped off to live with the mother she’s never met. All she has is a list of notebook entries that doesn’t add up to much.

L.A. offers a whole new world to Devan—a performing arts school allows her to pursue her passion for show choir and musicals, a new circle of friends helps to draw her out of her shell, and an intriguing boy opens up possibilities for her first love.

But then the Reece Malcolm list gets a surprising new entry. Now that Devan is so close to having it all, can she handle the possibility of losing everything?

I had no idea that I would love this book so much! Devan's voice is perfect. Seriously, perfect. It's so teenager, so authentic and lovable that I immediately gave her my full attention and didn't want to stop until her story was finished. She's an awesome character - a little insecure at times, but completely confident when it comes to singing. She's unsure of herself and of her place, but not in a self-pitying way. She is a little timid but also has a self-awareness about her that allows her to recognize when she needs to overcome it. I just love her.

And I love the other characters as well. Devan makes a handful of mostly great friends who each have their weird little flaws but who are also understanding and forgiving of each other. Of all of the secondary characters, I particularly adore Reece Malcolm (whose name I almost feel should be typed in all caps, since she's such a force in this story). She's superbly flawed but also amazing, and she is written wonderfully. Devan's mom can be an intimidating woman, particularly to Devan who has had no contact with her prior to moving in with her after her dad dies. It should be awkward, right? Except it isn't particularly awkward at all. A bit rocky at times, though, since neither one is great at being open about her feelings, and Devan is a bit sensitive when it comes to her mother. The exploration of their relationship is my absolute favorite thing about this story. It's such a strange little dynamic. Even sans all of the other stuff that happens, I would have kept reading this through the night just to get to the point where Devan and Reece finally understand each other, because I was wholly invested in them and really wanted that for them so badly.

That was the driving force of the book for me - the relationship development between Devan and her mother. But it's not just about a mother's and daughter's attempts (and failed attempts) at bonding. It's about friendships and first loves and kissing and music and theater. It's about finding those people with whom one is connected and that place in which one is comfortable, where Devan can be herself and be happy and know that she belongs in that place and with those people.

I was so surprised by just how much I adored this story. I expected something cute, and I got something wonderful. It has the perfect balance of emotions. Music and theater. Friendships and romances. An amazing mother-daughter story. And perhaps the most flawless ending I've read in a while. If you like contemporary realistic fiction, stories about finding one's place in the world, mother-daughter stories, show choir and musicals, get it.

Review: Changeling by Philippa Gregory

Title: Changeling
Author: Philippa Gregory
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: May 24, 2012
Series: Order of Darkness #1
Links: Amazon | Goodreads
Source: Publicist

The year is 1453, and all signs point to it being the end of the world.

Accused of heresy and expelled from his monastery, handsome seventeen-year-old Luca Vero is recruited by a mysterious stranger to record the end of times across Europe. Commanded by sealed orders, Luca is sent to map the fears of Christendom and travel to the very frontier of good and evil.

Seventeen-year-old Isolde, a Lady Abbess, is trapped in a nunnery to prevent her from claiming her rich inheritance. As the nuns in her care are driven mad by having strange visions, walking in their sleep, and showing bleeding wounds, Luca is sent to investigate, and all the evidence points to Isolde's criminal guilt.

Forced to face the greatest fears of the medieval world - dark magic, werewolves, madness - Luca and Isolde embark on a search for truth, their own destines, and even love as they take the unknown ways to the real historical figure who defends boundaries of Christendom and holds the secrets of the Order of Darkness.

The title and synopsis of Changeling suggests that it is some sort of a historical fantasy and that saving the world is required and whatnot. At least, that is what it sounded like to me. But honestly, there really isn't any end of the world going on here, and there isn't much fantasy either unless you count that one character is believed to be a changeling and that there are one or two curious/unexplained situations that may or may not have anything to do with magic. Whether the fantasy elements will be upped in future installments, I do not know. But, for now, this is a Middle Ages historical novel that involves a couple of mysteries, a lot of superstition of the witch hunt variety, and some battles between and fusion of religion and logic.

Luca is a teen accused of heresy and then sent forth to use his brilliant mind to make inquiries into strange occurrences and to find out the truth. Isolde is the daughter of a Crusader and Lord, betrayed by her brother and placed in a nunnery against her will. While both of these characters are decent enough, I had difficulty becoming attached to them. I liked their companions, Ishraq and Freize, better because they had more interesting personalities. Freize has a way with animals and makes clever remarks though he is thought to be a fool by some. (He reminded me of Shakespeare's fools in this way, which I liked.) Ishraq is a girl who has been Isolde's companion since childhood, when Isolde's father brought Ishraq and her mother back from the Crusades. She is learned in the ways of fighting and science, in order to be of service to Isolde and to protect her. The companions are more nuanced and interesting, while the main two characters fall on the flat side.

The plot involves a couple of mysteries that Luca must solve, the first involving Isolde's nunnery. The part of the story that takes place in the convent is predictable. I had a difficult time becoming invested in it because it wasn't much of a mystery at all. Once the story moves away from the convent, it becomes a lot more interesting, though the second mystery is also a little predictable even though it is not quite so obvious as that of the nunnery. The pacing is fairly slow, particularly in the first half of the story, and there isn't enough suspense or a creepy enough mood to make up for it. It does pick up slightly in the second half. I think that I could have enjoyed the mysteries more if the superstitions had felt more threatening, like in a Gothic story. The second mystery is more successful in this, which is probably why I liked it better.

If you are looking into reading Changeling because you want a historical fantasy, maybe this isn't quite what you're looking for. However, if you like straight up historical fiction, mystery, superstition and witch hunts, then you may quite enjoy this. I do think it could have been better if the suspense and creepiness had been upped a bit and/or if the pacing had been quicker. And it would have been nice if the characters had felt more three-dimensional. But my overall opinion of it is: It's alright. Will I read the second book, Stormbringers? Perhaps. The synopsis has me intrigued, as it mentions war, an intense and deadly storm, and an epic quest.

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