4.5 stars

This book is impressive not just because it’s a fantastically written debut, but it’s refreshingly different from pretty much anything I can remember reading. While I wouldn’t consider myself well-read enough in the sci-fi or romance genres to confidently call it unique, it’s certainly memorable.

It’s intense, high-stakes action from beginning to end — and it’s incredibly intelligent, with actual scientific principles and processes being described rather than glossed over. (Though I did fact-check some of it with a chemistry-major friend who said it wouldn’t work as intended … so it’s probably not a good idea to try any of this at home.) Some fascinating ethical dilemmas and social standards are brought into question,

It feels almost like you, the reader, get to team up with Arden and Sebastian, which is awesome because Arden and Sebastian are awesome.

Of course, we spend the most time with Arden since she’s our protagonist and narrator. I loved that she casually exemplifies both brains and beauty: it’s 2019 and unfortunately this isn’t the norm yet, but it’s so empowering to read about the clicking of Arden’s black stilettos as she heads to the computer lab. She draws so much strength from her relationships, particularly with her family and her best friend, and at the same time it’s nice to be reminded that “strong” and “soft” are not mutually exclusive traits. Possibly the only thing I didn’t like are her disdainful generalizations about other girls and women; it didn’t really add anything to the story, and the world could use less internalized misogyny.

And it’s fascinating to see how Sebastian deals with not having any memories, how that affects his behavior and his personal identity. Being a kind of blank slate doesn’t make him a bland or boring character, either; he’s funny and smart and an all-around fantastic partner in crime. (I’ll let you find out for yourself how literal that’s meant to be.)

A significant part of this book is the romance, as you’ve probably guessed. I’m still figuring out what exactly I do and don’t like in (fictional) couples, but in this case I can say that I definitely ship it. They work really well together, literally as they try to figure out what’s going on and recover their memories, and figuratively as (metaphorical) sparks fly between them.

Part of what I love about ARCs is getting to experience a book without any influence from others’ reviews and thoughts; this book reminded me a little of The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle in that neither the narrator nor the reader has much idea what’s going on, and putting the pieces together is a large part of the fun. The basic synopsis gives you enough; I would just go for it, rather than reading reviews that might give away too much.

In Shana Silver's debut novel, we meet main character Arden, a teen computer genius with a love of stiletto heels. Arden attends a special school for intellectuals that is connected to a technology company. Her father was the school principal, and before dying from cancer, he developed a concept called HiveMind, which is being beta-tested by students at the school.

Problems begin to arise when a fellow student, Sebastian, admits to Arden that he has no memories at all, despite the fact that HiveMind should be backing them up. Arden doesn't remember Sebastian at all, and also discovers that she is missing some memories. So the teens pair up to figure out what's wrong with HiveMind, even as Arden is trying to prepare her own project for a competition - except she can't remember what her project is. And it turns out that Sebastian is her project partner.

In this tech-thriller, Arden and Sebastian are fighting against time to figure out the glitches in HiveMind and recover their own memories against the actions of a hacker who keeps getting in their way. Can the two figure out who is holding them back from discovering the secrets before it's too late?

Silver's debut has some flaws in plotting and description - shall we count how many times Arden's stilettos clack across floors? - but overall, it's not a bad debut. I would have liked more in depth characters. I didn't feel like I really was ever invested in any of them, not even Arden. But the ending ultimately was satisfying and I don't regret reading the book.

Mind Games is author Shana Silver's debut novel. Mind Games is a science fiction and mystery novel, narrating the life of Arden Varga who is a computer genius and a skilled hacker. Arden's father developed a cloud-based memory uploading app. Every memory gets backed up and synced to the brain instantly. Arden attends an invitation only High School which is sponsored by her mothers company; Vargas Industries. Arden sells memories and experiences to her classmates for their benefit by using Hivemind.

She soon realizes that her a bunch of her memories have been deleted from her mind, including that of Sebastian Cuomo who she should know, but has no memories of and neither does he. Arden and Sebastian Cuomo eventually discover that this whole mind wipe centers around around their final project – something that was apparently life-changing, and something that the hacker doesn’t want to see completed. To make matters worse, those around her, including teachers, seem to be having the same issues with loss of memories.

Silver puts together a plot that is fast-paced and disturbing, containing plenty of suspense, and twists at the end, to keep readers invested. Arden's thoughts feel real and natural, which positively contributes to the story. I liked the portions where the author shows Arden's brilliance where she ends up retrieving and putting the trail together piece by piece as the memories played out in reverse. Arden is a curious character who wears high heels everywhere. I honestly thought that was unrealistic. How many 17-18-years old wear kitten heals to high school?

Sebastian was somewhat interesting, essentially building himself up from a blank slate due to his complete memory loss. The romance was subtle and not in your face. The plot itself was really well built. I wasn’t able to predict who Arden's antagonists were until the very end, even though there were hints of who they were, and even then I was so shell shocked that I started to doubt everything around me.

Thanks to Swoon Reads and NetGalley for sending me a free copy of this to review! I first heard about it at Book Con, and the concept intrigued me. Someone who can sell memories? What a unique concept, and that aspect of the book lived up to it’s name.

There was one main thing that bothered me throughout the book that was almost entirely unrealistic: Arden is always wearing stilettos. Who is always wearing stilettos? Rephrase: what teenager is always wearing stilettos? Basically, no one. It would pop up on occasion, pulling me out of the story. Honestly, I hope that this is something they take out of the final book because it makes absolutely no sense and I thought about it more than I should have.

Outside of that, there’s also a lot of technical jargon that kind of went over my head. I would skim over the areas that got too deep into coding and other technical language, focusing instead on the characters and the action. The plot is what kept me reading, honestly. Silver crafted a mystery that I desperately needed to work out. By the end, I didn’t want to put the book down until I knew what happened.

Full of action and a twisty mystery, this book will work its way into your mind and keep you guessing all the way through.

In Mind Games, Arden attends an exclusive school where the entire community is connected by a Hive Mind, a collective consciousness that allows them to share their knowledge, thoughts and resources. Arden has figured out how to hack into the Hive Mind to copy memories from one student and give them to another. She runs a lucrative business where she sells student memories to kids who didn't do their homework or want to experience something vicariously. When a boy named Sebastian shows up whom she's never seen before but is supposedly her boyfriend, she realizes someone has been tampering with her own memories. Not only has she lost blocks of time, but Sebastian has lost all his memories. They were supposedly working on their final project together, but now on the eve of their presentation, there is no trace of the project in any student memories. The race is on to find the hacker and get their memories back, before they lose all they have worked for and each other. This action-packed YA debut is filled with suspense and romance and poses perplexing issues about identity.

Imagine a world in which you could upload your memories and keep the forever. Well this is possible with the new technology of HiveMind. However with every good piece of technology, you know something is bound to go wrong with it. Enter Arden, a girl who sells other people's memories. She has found a way to hack into HiveMind and give anyone an experience with another person's memory. It's a lucrative business, until Arden's own memories are hacked. She has lost memories and has no idea what has happened to them.

As Arden begins to delve into her missing memories, she realized that they weren't just lost, but that someone has hacked her. But who could have pulled this off. Arden is the best hacker at the school or so she thought. But Arden soon realizes that its not only her memories that have been lost, but her crush Sebastian has lost all of his memories. Now the race is on to discover who has stolen the memories and to get them back in time for their big end of the school year project; a project Sebastian and her have no idea of what it is.

This book provides a good mystery for young adult readers.

Arden has a side hustle at school selling memories. It doesn’t matter if you want to experience becoming a homecoming queen or want an easy way to study for a test; she has the memory for you. She feels like she has the best business in the school until she sees a new boy at school and asks for an introduction. She finds out that the boy isn’t new and has been her lab partner for years. Where have her memories gone? When she discovers that he has no memories of anything before that morning, she uses her hacking skills to try and uncover the truth behind the mystery.

Mind Games is a stand-alone science fiction thriller that grabbed my attention at the beginning and I couldn’t put it down until I turned the last page. I read A LOT of books and try to be stingy with my 5-star ratings, but I had a feeling that this was going to be a rarity. Silver has taken some modern science and interspersed it with more science fiction. This blend of truth and fiction gives the story just enough plausibility that readers will wonder if this might happen in the near future. I enjoyed this book so much I don’t want to limit my recommendation to only sci-fi fans. Everyone, just give it a try!

I have some mixed feelings about this book.

One one hand, it kept me guessing and I had no idea what to expect from one page to the other. The story was exciting, and the pacing was great.

On the other hand, I felt the writing, and especially the portrayal of the characters, could have used some work. I didn't find many of the characters to be believable. I also was not a big fan of the romance in this book.

However, the concept is intriguing and I loved the idea of "memory hacking."

I was really excited for Mind Games. This book has my name written all over it and the entire concept was interesting. But sadly I am really disappointed in how this book turned out. The beginning was interesting as Silver built up her world and all the tech, but after that? It was meh.

It takes a lot for me to really dislike a character. I try to see the best in characters, even the villain in a story. But I found nothing redeeming about Arden at all. First off, the whole being able to steal memories thing is cool. But stealing peoples memories unwillingly and then selling them isn't cool. Arden's family owns the school and the labs and her brother is on the verge of launching live changing tech. Arden literally does not need the money in the slightest, so why is she violating peoples memories like that? It ranges from test answers to someone's girlfriend cheating on them. The best part? Arden sees nothing wrong with this and neither do the people who are buying the memories from her. What. The. Hell. I really tried the find redeeming qualities for her, I truly did. By the end of the book I was so over her character but I continued reading because I did want to know about this twist at the end people were talking about.

I feel like Silver could have went in many different directions with this book and didn't. I understand the mystery/thriller aspect. As much as I disliked Arden I did want to see who was stealing memories and why Bash's were completely wiped. There is so much different tech that is talked about and referred to and I made my head hurt. As cool as it was and the potential it has I feel like some things were over described and others completely under described.

Listen, I know every sci-fi book out there isn't going to be my cup of tea and that is okay. Despite my issues I do like Silver's writing style and I will probably check out future books by her. A majority of my problem was her main character, some people are going to love Arden and others are going to hate her. I do encourage other readers to check out this book and make come to their own conclusions and opinions because I know people are going to like this book. Sadly, it just wasn't for me.

If all the pieces of the boat were replaced one by one would it still be the same boat?

There is a new technology currently in beta testing called the HiveMind. All those who are in the beta group are synced up to a server that stores all their memories. Why you would want to do this? I suppose so you don't lose out on precious memories because for many they do fade over time. It reminds me of the cloud. I don't use a cloud. Call it my paranoia but the series of events that happen in this book confirms why I would not trust the HiveMind. Hackers.

There is our main character Arden, who hackers into people's memories and copies them in order to sell them for profit. Then there are hackers who go into the HiveMind and delete or archive memories so the person forgets it completely.

The story opens with Arden realizing that more than 7,000 of her memories were wiped from her HiveMind account. They all dealt with her relationship with the boy she loves but doesn't remember, Sebastian, and the big project they were working on. However, it wasn't just her memories that were tampered. Sebastian has lost all of his and everyone at the school's memories of their project. This project is said to have the capabilities to save lives but no one can remember any of the details. When she realizes what is going on it becomes a race to uncover who the hacker is and why they are trying to hide the project. Every time they get too close their new memories are removed.

This book was thrilling right from the start and was hard to walk away from when other obligations came about. I felt Arden's frustration and urgency. There is a moral dilemma once she figures out what their project was that was heartbreaking. To say more is to spoil it. This book is best left to read with little information. If you love science fiction this is a great one to pick up!

Thank you to Netgalley and Swoon reads for an e-arc of this book in return for an honest review.

I had been eagerly eyeing this book for months so when I got an ARC I was ecstatic and couldn't wait to dig in. All those hopeful and excited thoughts shattered within the first two chapters and then all remaining respect disintegrated.

The only thing I remember about the main character Arden is her stilettos. I have no clue why a 17 year old would wear stilettos everyday to school, but Arden does. She also prances around in them in her house, runs in them multiple times, and scales through windows without breaking her ankle. I lost track of how many times each chapter mentioned the sound of Arden's stilettos clacking against the floor. I'm not exaggerating; numerous times each chapter this ridiculous fact was nestled into the story.

Arden also possesses an ego problem. She views herself as superior to everyone because of her hacking and coding intellect. She has to win an award. Why? Because she deserves it. She has to be the best student at her prestigious science/computer centered school. Why? Because she says so. She has to be the smartest person at her school and put on a pedestal to her peers or else it's war.

Arden's best friend Zoey was the cliche and overused stereotypical best friend who is beautiful and obsessed with boys and falling in love. She has her's and Arden's boyfriends picked out and that's all she talks about.

The instant love (and I mean instant because they declare their love for each other within 24 hours) between Arden and Sebastian was cringe worthy and eye rolling.

All the science, hacking, and technical talk took away the element of the story. At times it sounded more like a science article or research paper instead of a novel. The lingo was way over my head and after a few chapters of big words and descriptions that didn't make sense I stopped trying to understand the meaning behind the technical/science aspect.

Arden makes consistently stupid decisions despite labeling herself the smartest person on the planet. All of her decisions followed this method: Question mother. Mother doesn't do what Arden wants. Arden breaks laws, goes behind mother's back, and does what she wants anyway. Arden gets caught. She runs away. Discovers something else shocking. Process repeats times infinity.

The lack of respect Arden and Sebastian had for their mothers was disgusting. The girl hate perpetrated by Arden was unnecessary. Literally every girl hates her despite her best friend. The bad guys were easy to pinpoint, though one twist at the end I didn't expect.

I realized by the 35% mark I should have skipped this one, but thanks NetGalley for giving me an ARC.

Arden's specialty is selling memories, but when it comes to her own she protects them as if they are fine jewels. When Arden suddenly loses not only a chunk of time, but all her memories specifically of a boy - Sebastian - that she apparently has history with and to make matters worse, Sebastian has lost ALL his memories, Arden realizes that it goes beyond a simple glitch and that something is very, very wrong. Now she and Sebastian must race against the clock to figure out who or what wants to keep their memories hidden for good.

Mind Games is full of twists, turns, and layers that you continually pull back to reveal the big picture. I thought I knew the culprit and while I started correctly suspecting very late in, I still couldn't connect all the pieces before the big reveal, so I was still shocked.

I loved Arden - strong, smart, fierce, and determined. She was ravenous when it came to finding out the truth and by the end you realize that she was so close so many times and she had no idea.

Sebastian is a gift. Obviously vulnerable given the circumstances, but so endearing and sweet. I had a strong need to protect him. And his chemistry with Arden - both memory and present - is all the swoons! I love them together!

Mind Games is an edge of your seat, absolute page turner that is not to be missed!

The book started a bit slow, but once the premise was fully explained, and the action started it was hard to put down.

Mind Games is a sprint to the finish line! The debut novel from Shana Silver is engaging, though a bit over narrated. The plot, while well thought out is a bit predictable, but intense action scenes and confrontations help to more the storyline along.

Arden is a coding genius in a school for tech geniuses. Everyone who is connected to the school is also connected to a breakthrough technology Arden's parents invented -- HiveMind. Imagine cloud-service for your thoughts and memories. When Arden realizes she loses seven thousand memories, she begins a quest to find out where they went and will stop at nothing to get them back -- especially when it comes to Sebastian, the boy she can't remember but pulls at her heart.

Great read. The book is a great read alike for Ready Player One. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend that adults try it out as well.

This book was received as an ARC from Macmillan Children's Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I have never been more invested in a plot as I have been with Mindgames. Mindgames at first when I read the description reminded me a lot of Tron and Ready Player One, two favorites for our young patrons. This book was better! The drama and the suspense Arden faces for herself just by getting involved with virtual reality was really mindblowing and all she had to do to piece her life back together (literally) was really inspiring to read. I know fans of Ready Player One will enjoy this book as well as our young readers.

We will consider adding this title to our YFiction collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.