Mind Games (The Disillusionists, #1) in Audiobook Junkies

Apr 28, 2017 Melanie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: urban-fantasy, 4-stars, 4-star-narration, z-2017, z-2017-audiobook

Review originally posted at RabidReads.ca.

I’ve been a fan of Carolyn Crane since I read the second book in her The Associates series (I still can’t believe that I started with book two, I never do that, but I had heard such amazing things). I’m so glad that I picked up that series. It was a very fun romantic suspense. I don’t know what took me so long to start this series. I mean it is UF by an author I already know that I love. I finally broke down and started this series and I will continue to Review originally posted at RabidReads.ca.

I’ve been a fan of Carolyn Crane since I read the second book in her The Associates series (I still can’t believe that I started with book two, I never do that, but I had heard such amazing things). I’m so glad that I picked up that series. It was a very fun romantic suspense. I don’t know what took me so long to start this series. I mean it is UF by an author I already know that I love. I finally broke down and started this series and I will continue to berate myself over waiting so long to start this series.

So this book starts off with Justine. She is quite the hypochondriac. Her mother died of a rare condition called vein star syndrome (a type of brain aneurysm). Justine is very sure that she has it too, but doctors can’t find anything wrong with her. She makes many frequent trips to the ER. It really affects her life and even more, her relationships with friends and her boyfriend, Cubby.

Justine meets a guy named Sterling Packard. He offers her a way to take the fear away. She channels that fear into him and he’s able to shrug it off. Packard is a Highcap. Highcaps have special powers, like telekinesis. They can be very dangerous. Packard is using his power for good, kind of. He has his band of misfits, like Justine, and unleashes them on the world. These people who have obsessions, like Justine’s hypochondria, and get them to push their fears or neuroses into specific people. The people they target are people who maybe got off not guilty in court on a technicality. The victim or victim’s family will higher Packard to ruin the person. Those people get so down on themselves, they almost “reboot” their life. I will say that one of the targets was a really creepy woman who did some horrible things to her husband. I can see why someone wanted to see her destroyed.

This story was so unique, was enthralled with it. I loved how well the hypochondria was written (I’ve never known anyone who was a hypochondriac, but I could imagine that this is exactly what it is like to be around one). I really loved the characters that work for Packard, or at least most of them. Even the ones I don’t like, they were great characters and I can see their usefulness. Police Chief Sanchez was another really interesting character. Justine hero worships him more than I think is warranted, even before I knew everything about him. She thought he was like a Superman type character and I just looked at him as good cop, though more comes out throughout the story. Cubby is a character that I hated from the very beginning and the longer I was around him, the more I wanted him out of the picture.

I don’t want to give too much away. There is a large air of mystery to this story. I figured some of it out before it was revealed, but I was engrossed in the story the entire time. I’m very excited to see where this story goes in the next two books. If you like a group of anti-heroes that are very likeable, then you give this series a try.

“To us, your fear is a power…Imagine if you could channel all that fear out of yourself. Free yourself of it completely…You would simply channel your fear into victimizers. You’d weaponize it.”

“Fashion magazine disease articles. My personal Kryptonite.”

Narration
Rebecca Wisocky is a new-to-me narrator. I really didn’t know what to expect from her going into this book. I didn’t even listen to a sample, just jumped right in (crazy, I know). I thought she did a really good job for the most part. I liked her for the most part. She did male and female characters just fine. I liked the pace and tone. She did a great job with Justine when she would go off on a tangent and start talking faster and faster as she started to have a panic attack. The one thing that really got me was with a character named Helmut, I thought she was saying Helmet. I thought it was a nickname or something. It wasn’t until the two were on a mission and she called him “Uncle Helmut” that I looked up the spelling. In her defense, it would be hard to say it and make it more clear. It is just a name I’m really not used to. ...more

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Mar 16, 2010 Darcy rated it it was ok

Shelves: uf, 2011

I am not sure how I feel about this book. There are aspects that I really liked, the world and how people are the biggest plus. For the most part I liked the characters, especially the secondary ones.

Justine is a big part of my wishy washyness. At times I really liked her, she was tenacious in what she believed in, but then the next time I didn't like her. She let the others lead her and didn't think on her own. It was only towards the end that she seemed to find her brain.

Justine's love life ...more

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Dec 09, 2011 Jen (That's What I'm Talking About) rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2012-new-to-me-author, urban-fantasy, disillusionists-series

My Rating:4.5 stars: Loved it - enthusiastically recommend (A)

This book is amazing. There. Said it. If you haven’t picked up Carolyn Crane’s Disillusionists Trilogy, do yourself a favor and go get Mind Games now. And while you are at it - just pick up the entire series (three books) because you will not be able to stop after the first book.

The story takes place in the heart of Midcity, a twisted urban metropolitan, where a secret group of individuals, the Disillusionists, are learning to debase My Rating:4.5 stars: Loved it - enthusiastically recommend (A)

This book is amazing. There. Said it. If you haven’t picked up Carolyn Crane’s Disillusionists Trilogy, do yourself a favor and go get Mind Games now. And while you are at it - just pick up the entire series (three books) because you will not be able to stop after the first book.

The story takes place in the heart of Midcity, a twisted urban metropolitan, where a secret group of individuals, the Disillusionists, are learning to debase and reset dangerous criminals. Their teacher and leader, Packard, teaches his gang how to transfer their negative (and extreme) emotional darkness into others, causing the victim to question who they are and see their crimes in a new light. Packard, however, is trapped in a restaurant by his mysterious nemesis and will do whatever it takes to get free.

In addition to the Disillusionists, there are “high caps,” high-brain capacity individuals that have X-men type powers - telekinesis, precognition, memory revision. The general population doesn’t really know if high caps exist. Packard is a high cap who can read a person’s psyche.

Packard discovers Justine - an extreme hypochondriac, whose fears are so intense, she rates as a prime candidate to become a Disillusionist. Packard sucks Justine into his world, and she goes screaming and kicking almost the entire way.

Justine is a conflicted woman. She craves normalcy, but isn’t truly happy without challenge. Her emotions run both sides of the coin. Her beliefs follow her gut instincts, which can change depending on circumstances. I love that she is flawed and deals with her crazy life by making choices that I could see me making if I were in her shoes. She isn’t wishy-washy in the least, yet she can change her mind based on emotional feedback and her own her own moral compass. In the end my heart aches as she must constantly pick between safety and adventure.

Justine and Packard are hot from the start... they have so many “special” shared moments, and I enjoy their way with each other. Although I’m not sitting in the booth with the two of them, I can feel their connection, and I get it when Justine talks about how they have “those moments.” But it’s their stollen kisses, which are amazingly written, that steal my heart and gets it racing every time.

I love Ms. Crane’s humor and voice that she uses with Justine. Let me share this example - one of my favorite lines in Mind Games:

“...being near him makes me feel intensely alive, as usual. I remind myself that feeling alive is not always a good thing. People feel intensely alive during hurricanes and wars.”

The cast and crew of characters is a hoot. And just when I think I’ve got a character nailed, Ms. Crane tosses a curveball. She gets me to not like Packard and cheer for “the other man.” It never feels fake - rather she writes Justine’s point of view so convincingly, that I too became highly confused. And man, did I get so angry with Packard because of the things he did to Justine.

Overall Mind Games is an amazing book and the start of what will prove to be the most addictive series I’ve read since Twilight or Harry Potter. I consumed all three books in days. Ms. Crane’s characters are ones I want to get to know and hang out with - even the shady ones. Her mythology is fresh and exhilarating. Go read this book now! ...more

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Oct 23, 2011 Anne - Books of My Heart rated it liked it

Shelves: 2011

This has a lovely paranormal world in it. The main character struggles with whether using her abilities is on the side of good or evil. She wants desperately to be normal and she's not. She has sort of a wacky attraction to too many guys in my mind. She is pretty loyal and she does come up with creative ways to solve problems. The story has a major resolution at the end, but it feels like their is more story to come.

The author lives where I do which is interesting. ...more

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Jun 04, 2010 Melindeeloo rated it really liked it

It's hard to warm up to the heroine at the start of the story, with the journey into her hypochondrianism, but the idea of neuroises as a super power makes this a really original offering and I liked the ending alot. ...more

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Jan 04, 2013 Sunny rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I really enjoyed this first book in this new series. The author, Carolyn Crane, is funny and the premise of this series is fantastic. cannot wait to read the next book

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