REVIEW: Perfect Lies by Kiersten White

Perfect Lies by Kiersten White (Mind Games #2)
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: February 18, 2014
Source: Edelweiss via publisher*
Rating: 5/5 stars
Get it: Amazon | B&N

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 Review

I’ve been super excited for Perfect Lies the second I finished Mind Games. I thought Mind Games was amazing, but Perfect Lies was just explosive. Kiersten White ups the ante with more suspense, action and edge than ever before. 



Fia has always been my favorite of the sisters. I adored her snarky, crazy, erratic thoughts. Fia was always a loose cannon and this time, she was quickly unraveling and losing control. All the spilled blood and sacrifices she had made and done to protect Annie was catching up to her. I didn’t know if she was going to tip over the edge and meet her downfall due to her unhinged state of mind. I just wanted to protect Fia because she was in deep, so in over her head, so fragile and broken. With her trying to destroy Keane from the inside, it seemed like she was destroying herself because it was harder and harder for her trust people and to figure out what was truly right and wrong. 



Annie really turned around in this book. I always thought she was more quiet, reserved, and a little helpless because she just allowed everyone else to take care of her. That Annie was no where to be found in Perfect Lies. Being away from Fia allowed her to stand on her own, to make her own decisions, and to just push herself to not be helpless little Annie anymore. She worked hard to decipher her visions, did what she could to help Fia, and just made herself be stronger mentally and even physically.



As I said, there was more suspense and edge. It was very fast paced to the point where one chapter was just not enough. I never really knew what was going to happen, what Fia was going to do next or what Annie was going to see. Old characters came back and new characters emerged. Some characters I disliked or didn’t care for became instant favorites and some characters I actually liked and adored slowly became characters I ended up having a heavy heart for. 



Like its predecessor, Perfect Lies was split between Fia and Annie’s perspectives with different timelines. I suggest not to think so much about these alternating timelines the way I did because you can get easily confused and possibly over think the events altogether. Trust me when I say everything comes together in the end. The events of what was happening to Annie get explained when it was Fia’s turn. The more you read, the clearer things get. Kiersten White really weaves and intertwines these timelines together. She really gives both Fia and Anne two distinct and easily identifiable voices. The best part is that though these two sisters are separated nearly the entirety of this book, the love they have for each other was stronger than anything. They were always thinking about protecting each other even when so much was already happening around them.

To make this book even more marvelous, we see unlikely friendships form and a romance that was dark and manipulating while the one was sweet and genuine. There was a lot of intensity, sad and even witty moments happening and I liked that each chapter was always another piece of the puzzle of Annie and Fia’s story falling in to place.



Overall, Perfect Lies was a brilliant follow up and end to the Mind Games duology. It was thrilling, exciting, and even a little disturbing. It was the best paranormal-suspense-mind twisting book I’ve read to date!



*Thanks to HarperTeen for sending a copy for review purposes

I was not compensated for my opinion. 

REVIEW: Mind Games by Kiersten White

Title: Mind Games (Mind Games #1)
Author: Kiersten White
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: February 19, 2013
Format: egalley* 256 pages
Rating: 5/5
Get it: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

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 Review

Mind Games is another masterpiece that I completely loved from Kiersten White! She has done it again, simply sweeping me off my feet with another amazing story. Mind Games has a stunning combination of the bond and love between two sisters, suspense and edge that will surely be loved by old and new fans all around. 

I’ve been smitten with White’s work the moment I finished Paranormalcy and Mind Games was further proof of her excellent and outstanding writing style. She has this touch, this ability to create unique voices and personalities in every character she makes and it’s more prominent here between her two main characters, Fia and Annie. The swift and easy way of her storytelling always impresses me to no end. There is something about her writing that flows smoothly without trying that I can never get enough of no matter how many books she may write. Mind Games was really different from her pervious books and that’s what I love most about it. It’s darker, more mature and ten times more thrilling. Kiersten White really ups her game and I was throughly dazzled. 


Between Fia and Annie, I loved Fia more from the very beginning. For me, Fia was just more interesting, more of a mystery and very hard to figure out. She was such a complex character that had so many different sides that always kept me guessing on what she would do next. Fiercely Fia, is what I call her, and she got more spunk and backbone that all the other characters in this book combined. Somewhat broken, a little spazzy and filled with energy, Fia brings out the life of this book in every way. I looked up to Fia for her strength, intelligence, and her cunning ability to fight and defend herself with little to no ease, but mostly for the continued sacrifices she makes on behalf of the safety of her sister. Troubled and internally tortured, Fia struggles with right and wrong and the consequences of her instincts despite the good and the bad. The best thing about Fia was her unwavering loyalty to Annie and the fact that her bravery was seemingly endless even in the face of her most deepest fears. 

While I didn’t love Annie the way I did with Fia, I did like her to some extent. I thought Annie was a little more serious compared to Fia’s spunky attitude. She was just as protective as Fia, even when she felt like she couldn’t really protect her all that much. I like that Annie was able to give some attitude and dish it even when she was scared and even when she truly couldn’t see. I had a soft spot for Annie because of the guilt she carried for the death of parents and for Fia’s unraveling. I could see the burden she carried and blame she put on herself for everything that has happened and it ate away at me that she would feel this way. Quiet and reserved, Annie wasn’t afraid to risk her life for Fia. She may have seemed weak, but she was strong and able to handle herself far more than I would have thought she could. In the end, I did end up admiring Annie just a little bit more. 

There was definitely many elements going on in this book that White allows us to grasp and understand, but I could always tell that there was so much more to the story and what was truly going on with the Keane Foundation. The special abilities from Seers, Readers and Feelers are slightly touched upon enough to give way to intrigue and fascination. I loved the aspect of exploitation and black mail because it was entirely different from what I usually read in books lately. The best part of this book was the alternating point of view’s between Fia and Annie and all the flashbacks that were weaved in between the chapters. These flashbacks allowed the story to come full circle and to connect any dots and tie any loose ends. It was not only insightful, but it helped moved the story and explain any questions along the way. I’m excited for the next installment because I have a feeling things are just only beginning for Fia and Annie.


Overall, Mind Games wasn’t a simple story about romance, but of two sisters who love each other so much and would go to so many lengths to protect each other no matter what. This book will enrapture from start to finish and leave you holding your breath for more. 

*Thanks to Edelweiss and HarperTeen for sending a copy for review

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Favorite Quotes:

All quotes are subject to change from eARC to finished copy.

"'If anything happens to her, I'll never have to see for you again because there will be nothing left in the world I care about.' 'You're not the only one who cares about her.'" Location 304.

"Most people lie with words; I lie with my whole body. I lie with my thoughts and emotions; I lie with everything that makes me who I am. I'm the best liar in the whole entire world." Location 504.

"His voice gets tight. Daddy issues. I wish I had daddy issues. Though I suppose I have issues with his daddy." Location 928.

"'If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around, does anyone give a crap?' I mutter." Location 996.

"But his hands are on my neck and in my hair and tracing my collarbone and it is wrong but it feels right, it feels like falling and I know the impact at the bottom will probably kill me, but I don't care anymore." Location 1395.