A teen programmer at a school for geniuses must join forces with a boy she can’t remember to stop a hacker from deleting their memories in Shana Silver’s action-packed YA debut, Mind Games. Arden sells memories. Whether it’s becoming homecoming queen or studying for that all important test, Arden can hack into a classmate’s memories and upload the experience for you just as if you’d lived it … just as if you’d lived it yourself. Business is great, right up until the day Arden whites out, losing fifteen minutes of her life and all her memories of the boy across the school yard. The boy her friends assure her she’s had a crush on for years.
Arden realizes that her own memories have been hacked, but they haven’t just been stolen and shared… they’ve been removed. And she’s not the only one: her mysterious crush, Sebastian, has lost ALL of his memories. But how can they find someone who has the power to make them forget everything they’ve learned?
Praise from the Swoon Reads community:
“An absolute roller coaster ride…. I loved it. I absolutely loved it!” –Pamela Delupio
“An awesome concept and a gripping mystery… a wild ride from beginning to end.” –T. K. Yeager
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I was lucky enough to read an early version of Mind Games, and wow… it was so good! This book was SO hard to put down — I read it in only two sittings. Such a unique premise. The stakes were high, the hook was fantastic, the world-building was excellent, and I loved Arden’s voice. And Arden and Sebastian’s relationship? Swoonworthy! <3
4.5, rounded up to 5 because it’s overall a very imaginative novel and I enjoyed reading it. I loved the backward memories the best—how clever and cool! Some very nice twists and reveals included, especially near the end. Great mystery as to who is doing the mind wiping. I wasn’t personally fond of the F-words added throughout; for one thing, (to me) it didn’t quite seem to fit the characters. The tech-geeky details were over my head—hacking lingo, SSD drive connections, etc.—and I don’t know how accurate they were, but they provided an authentic feel to the novel. I asked my geeky husband to explain the sayings on the T-shirts mentioned, and then they were (corny) funny!
***Actual Rating: 3.5/5 Blank-Minded Stars***
Mind Games started out all promising and full of potential. The blurb sounded exceptionally good, and so did the overall concept of the entire story. What I really appreciated about Arden and Sebastian’s story was how determined they both were when it came to figuring out what happened in their minds, with their brains because one second, they bore the most powerful memory vault everyone was drooling over, and the next second, their once-coveted minds were completely blank. No memories were saved, no class materials were memorized, and no friendship/interpersonal relationship were remembered. They were beyond devastated and totally panicked since well, it wasn’t hard to imagine what you used to rely heavily on became nothing all of a sudden.
Throughout their persistent search for the cause–or the person who was behind all this–Arden and Sebastian got to know each other better, in a purer, more natural way. I liked that they were honest with each other, and those around them, instead of being manipulated by sheer control of power when Arden could simply dig into someone’s mind without them noticing it and sold the precious pieces of memory.
However, as the story unfolded, I found myself getting lost more easily than I did in the beginning of the book. I mean, don’t get me wrong, the story was great, the plot was intricately-thought-out, and the characters were lovable. It was just a wee bit difficult for me to fully immerse myself in the book since I couldn’t quite relate to the protagonists the way most people did. There was a gap between what Arden and her friends were experiencing and me and the distance widened as the story continued.
Thankfully, there was a lovely happy ending by the end of the book and I was quite relieved that I still enjoyed most of the story. Hence, I’d still recommend Mind Games to everyone, especially if sci-fi and romance were your cup of tea!
***Thanks to Xpresso Tours and the author for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.***