Mind Games

Clever, fast-paced fun. This is the perfect summer read. ( )

Amazon preorder

I found the first 90% of this book so annoying that I kept jumping around - didn't finish isn't exactly right, it may have hidden charms, but they were hidden from me. I really didn't read a lot of it.

Not only was it "I don't care what happens to these people" but "I wish someone would kill these repulsive people off so the book would be over." Particularly the heroine. But then at the very end something improved and I was suddenly seeing what a lot of readers seem to see. So I may at least look at the second one.

Maybe. ( )

With all the raves about MIND GAMES, I wasn't sure what I was missing. Very busy, very comic-book-esque. I'll keep reading the series, but still not hooked.

Abigail disagrees with me on this one, read her review at All Things Urban Fantasy. ( )

Mind Games isn't just good, it's diabolically good. It's fresh, it's surprising, and it's an awful lot of fun to read. In short, it really stands out in the urban fantasy genre.

When I was reading reviews of Mind Games before I bought it, I got confused. I kept reading that these neurotic people were drafted into a group called the Disillusionists, and then they discover that they can transform their crippling mental problems into superpowers of some kind. And I kept thinking, well, that's cool but I don't get it. How is hypochondria a superpower? Well, here's the answer: it's not. The Disillusionsts rally around a "highcap" - a guy with actual paranormal abilities - named Packard, who enables them to transfer all their negative thoughts, feelings, and fears into another human being...but there's a cost, and it's pretty intense.

So Justine really is just a girl with severe hypochondria. It's only by hitching a ride with Packard that she can do anything more, and her abilities remain incredibly limited. But for all that, Mind Games felt more magical to me than most books I've read in the past year about werewolves or vampires or fairies. There's no whizz-bang, but the Disillusionists are all about getting maximum impact from the abilities they have. They cooperate, they strategize, and they get results. Scary, mind-boggling results.

The worldbuilding was great too. Exactly what an urban fantasy ought to be: the city environment was ordinary but unsettling, the characters familiar but ultimately so bizarre. I don't want to say a whole lot more, because one of the awesome things about Mind Games is how unpredictable it is - at NO point did I guess how this book would end - and I don't want to inadvertently spoil anything. ( )

I think urban fantasy is just not my genre. This book has rave reviews from even the pickiest UF readers, and while the premise is intriguing and the plot is fast-paced with many twists, I just wasn't super into it. I liked it, but not enough to make me want to keep reading the series. ( )