Review: Perfect Lies

Author: Kiersten White
Date of Publication: February 18 2014
Pages: 232
Source: Library ebook
Series: Mind Games #2 (the last)

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.

Review:

The Mind Games duology is by far my favourite of Kiersten White's books. The stories are engrossing and dark in a way that is so appealing. The narration, especially Fia's perspective, is real and dark. Every bit of depth missing from White's other stories is on full display.

Let me make this clear: I very much enjoyed Perfect Lies. It's a one sit read. It's exhilarating. It makes me forget everything but this book and what is happening to Annie and Fia.

Fia has to be one of my favourite characters to read about. She is so lost and she is always doing what she thinks is right, except the lines blur and fade. Fia is always being used and she is so full of guilt and anger that I couldn't help but be fascinated. Her relationships with people are so interesting to read about. She has this weird connection with James and of course she always loves her sister, Annie.

People always say this, but Fia stands out among the books I've read due to her fantastic narration. It's like being inside of her head as her thoughts jump around from one point to the next and I loved it. The story ended pretty satisfyingly, and yet I want more, just because I enjoyed reading about Fia. She's loved and hated, and she's just so fascinating.

Disregarding my love for Fia, I have to admit that Annie truly took some steps forward in this book. In Mind Games, Annie irritated me to the point of resentment for all the ways she was hurting Fia. Perfect Lies fixed that as Annie realized what she had been doing to her sister, and finally, we see Annie actually seeing the world. Annie cares about Fia so much but the dynamic is strange. She also resents her sister. She thinks her sister is crazy. She deeply condemns what her sister is doing. It's not an easy love, and it's what makes Annie endearing: that she loves Fia anyway. Annie also ends up redeeming herself a bit, and her growth is really a nice storyline in the story.

There was at least one character that I also very much liked, that I can't mention in fear of the spoilers. But trust me, this character had such an interesting persona as well. I think that this series is so focused on Annie and Fia that they overshadow any other sort of character development, but this character, although in only a few scenes, was compelling.

This was a one sit read. What else do you need to know about the plot? Additionally, I thought the story was unpredictable. The story didn't follow a set timeline. It would jump back and forth between moments from a particular event and months before. Maybe some people will find the unconventional style irritating, but I'm always a fan of creativity in writing. Somehow, the story remained cohesive. Well, as cohesive as you'd expect when you have a main character like Fia.

Anyway, all the fun, magical parts of Mind Games appear again in Perfect Lies. The psychic powers and everything is just so much fun, and this series is probably why I keep giving Kiersten White books a chance. I enjoyed this so much.

And you know what, I'll indulge and give Perfect Lies 5 stars, because this read was too much fun.

-P.E.