Note: Some spoilers for Mind Games will happen as it’s impossible for me to talk about the sequel without doing some spoiling. Also, why would you read the review of the sequel before reading the first book? That’s weird.
Back when I picked up Mind Games by Kiersten White, I remembered being totally apprehensive because of the negative reviews, but then I ended up enjoying the book, regardless. When it came to Perfect Lies I was actually kind of excited because I felt invested in Fia and Annie, the sisters with special powers being used by a totally shady company. Y’all, I kind of burned through Perfect Lies and am mostly pleased with what I read. There might be a few things I did not love but that does not detract from my overall ultimate enjoyment of White’s latest sequel.
So, this plot is going to be kind of hard for me to describe but I will do my best. Basically, Fia has given Annie a chance to escape from the academy by “killing” her. So, Annie is on the run with the Lerner group. Meanwhile, Fia is working with James to take down Keane from the inside. Oh yeah and they are trying to find this girl named Sadie who has this really powerful Seer ability, like she can see the future just by touching someone. OH AND Fia makes a real life female friend named Mae, called Pixie, who is this ball of spunk and awesome and gumption and you guys she is a great addition to this cast of characters. Also, Pixie is a mindreader. OH YEAH and there’s some romance for ANNIE WHAT I KNOW. Finally, Perfect Lies is about how the two sisters begin to fight back and assert their independence. They are not going to take it anymore, my friends.
I suspect that people might find Fia’s parts hard to read as she’s written in a bit of jumble. There’s a reason for that, it’s because she wants to be able to keep her innermost thoughts secret. In the last book, I liked Fia the best, but in this one, I don’t know. I just felt bad for her. She’s obviously very damaged mentally and kind of unhappy and you can tell. She’s lonely. She’s missing her sister but keeping up the familiar refrain about Annie being dead. Meanwhile, she also is putting her trust in James, son of the owner of Keane, which is probably not the smartest move. Anyways, in Perfect Lies, she just seems much darker and sadder and I am okay with that after reading all of the things girl has been through. It’s really okay that her character has changed.
As for Annie, she is my new favorite of the sisters. In Perfect Lies, White lets Annie come into her own. You guys, this girl goes from being dependent on everyone to standing up for herself. She starts to become more self-reliant. I think that’s so cool and admirable. I liked that Annie was more optimistic than Fia. I liked that she was not going to take this terrible, sad future that she kept seeing lying down. Annie’s just awesome in this book is what I am saying and will continue to say. OH OH OH and her romance is so sweet and adorable and totally slow burning. It’s cute, I will ship her and her lover forever.
White’s follow up to Mind Games is just as fast paced and thrilling as it’s predecessor. The chapters continue to be short and quick. There’s no extra BS or pages upon pages of purple prose. The tense is present. There’s a lot of staccato in her writing, but I think it drives the story and works for the plot. I did not entirely love the ending and kind of wanted Fia to go one way that she did not. However, I get it, and am prepared to accept the ending as it is. I guess I will “deal with it.” Overall though, I liked Perfect Lies by Kiersten White and hope you do too.
Disclosure: Review Copy Provided By Publisher
Books by Kiersten White:
Paranormalcy
Supernaturally
Endlessly
The Chaos Of The Stars
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I HAVE SO MUCH EXCITEMENT FOR THIS BOOK. I really enjoyed the first one and I’m excited for what you said about Annie
Yay for books that exceed expectations! I admit sometimes negative reviews make me wary to pick up a book, but I’m glad you gave this series a shot and it worked out. I’ve only read Paranormalcy by this author so I have some catching up to do.
Sometimes you just want a good fast-paced and fun book and it sounds like this series delivers.
Loved Annie in this one so much! I really appreciated some of her comments on how people treat her due to her blindness on top of her standing up for herself and becoming independent in this one, such a good message. I’ve always been a fan of Fia’s narration, so was completely okay with her thoughts getting even more jumbled to avoid the mindreading and since she is pretty broken now :(. I love broken characters though, can’t help it, haha