Mind Games by Teri Terry
Louise Wilkes
13:23:00
0
Warning: Spoilers! (duh.)
Luna is a no-hoper with a secret: in a world of illusion, she can see what is real. But can she see the truth before it is too late?
Luna has always been able to exist in virtual and real worlds at the same time, a secret she is warned to keep. She hides her ability by being a Refuser: excluded by choice from the virtual spheres others inhabit. But when she is singled out for testing, she can’t hide any longer.
The safest thing to do would be to fail, to go back to a dead-end life, no future. But Luna is starting to hope for something better, and hope is a dangerous thing...
It's safe to say that after the impressive Slated series, Teri Terry holds some regard over me. I did in fact purchase this book with very little thought, I assumed, well it's her - I'll adore it. Won't i?
I'll paint you a picture, we are flung - FLUNG! into this dystopian, high-tech world where people no longer enjoy real life but more virtual reality from implants in their brains. Think Googleglass but more intrusive. Not the most original idea, but a sound one. Our protagonist is a Refuser. She has no implants nor goes around in the virtual world, making her a pariah of sorts. There's a whole lot of hacking and s'hacking mojo I'm not going to get into that is once again flung on you, but it kinda works. Terry doesn't ease you in - she throws you overboard without a life jacket and expects you to keep up. It's refreshing to have an author not patronise by over explaining. Terry assumes you can keep up and you will.
We've seen a painful amount of horrific dystopian/science fiction YA of late, everybody wants to be the next Hunger Games. This equals to publishers choking us with terrible rushed fiction aiming to make a few bucks from a trend, this in itself leaves reader with an unsettling dislike for certain genres that can take years to out wait. I still can't read anything with vampires- thanks Twilight! But Teri Terry has succeeded in making dystopian cool again, I remember why I was into it, the tension, the drama, the teenager taking down the mean adults. When this genre is done well it is DONE WELL! And I feel like I'm an excited child who just read Divergent for the first time and forgot why I enjoyed it so much. This book reminded me of that. It's about heading somewhere, being selfless and wanting to make the world better and more fair. Maybe adults and politicians should read YA dystopian fiction more, they'd learn a thing or two.
Overall I was into it, I didn't care that logically things didn't make scientific sense because the book was sure it made sense, it told me it did and I believed it. Luna is a delightful heroine who takes down even with a compassion and grace that would generally have her classed as an anti-feminist role or a weak woman but I wholeheartedly disagree. She is loved change from constant bloodbaths (speaking of which TOG4? Amiright?!) and girls depicted of being against each other. The love that doesn't work out and particularly the mother and daughter dynamic is very nice to read. I gave this book a full five stars and I highly recommend to anyone who's feeling a bit lost whenever they go in Waterstones and have no idea who all these new people are.
P.S It's a standalone. I can't begin to describe my sadness at this news.
Happy Reading.
Luna has always been able to exist in virtual and real worlds at the same time, a secret she is warned to keep. She hides her ability by being a Refuser: excluded by choice from the virtual spheres others inhabit. But when she is singled out for testing, she can’t hide any longer.
The safest thing to do would be to fail, to go back to a dead-end life, no future. But Luna is starting to hope for something better, and hope is a dangerous thing...
It's safe to say that after the impressive Slated series, Teri Terry holds some regard over me. I did in fact purchase this book with very little thought, I assumed, well it's her - I'll adore it. Won't i?
I'll paint you a picture, we are flung - FLUNG! into this dystopian, high-tech world where people no longer enjoy real life but more virtual reality from implants in their brains. Think Googleglass but more intrusive. Not the most original idea, but a sound one. Our protagonist is a Refuser. She has no implants nor goes around in the virtual world, making her a pariah of sorts. There's a whole lot of hacking and s'hacking mojo I'm not going to get into that is once again flung on you, but it kinda works. Terry doesn't ease you in - she throws you overboard without a life jacket and expects you to keep up. It's refreshing to have an author not patronise by over explaining. Terry assumes you can keep up and you will.
We've seen a painful amount of horrific dystopian/science fiction YA of late, everybody wants to be the next Hunger Games. This equals to publishers choking us with terrible rushed fiction aiming to make a few bucks from a trend, this in itself leaves reader with an unsettling dislike for certain genres that can take years to out wait. I still can't read anything with vampires- thanks Twilight! But Teri Terry has succeeded in making dystopian cool again, I remember why I was into it, the tension, the drama, the teenager taking down the mean adults. When this genre is done well it is DONE WELL! And I feel like I'm an excited child who just read Divergent for the first time and forgot why I enjoyed it so much. This book reminded me of that. It's about heading somewhere, being selfless and wanting to make the world better and more fair. Maybe adults and politicians should read YA dystopian fiction more, they'd learn a thing or two.
Overall I was into it, I didn't care that logically things didn't make scientific sense because the book was sure it made sense, it told me it did and I believed it. Luna is a delightful heroine who takes down even with a compassion and grace that would generally have her classed as an anti-feminist role or a weak woman but I wholeheartedly disagree. She is loved change from constant bloodbaths (speaking of which TOG4? Amiright?!) and girls depicted of being against each other. The love that doesn't work out and particularly the mother and daughter dynamic is very nice to read. I gave this book a full five stars and I highly recommend to anyone who's feeling a bit lost whenever they go in Waterstones and have no idea who all these new people are.
P.S It's a standalone. I can't begin to describe my sadness at this news.
Happy Reading.
.JPG)
