This book was absolutely fantastic. I've already added it to our library collection on preorder and will recommend it to students.

This was a fun, mind-bending look at a future where our own memories are for sale. We meet Arden, a teenager who sells memories to people looking to live vicariously through others. But what happens when Arden's own memories are hacked? Hard to put down and a lot of fun!

I loved the way this book sounded. Unfortunately, I just didn't get into it as much as I would have loved to. I enjoy sci-fi and romance, but this was more heavily on the romance then not.

It started out fantastically, but turned predictable by the end of it. I might try it again and see how i like it reading it twice.

Arden and Sebastian keep losing their memories, and memories of each other. They have to race against a hacker to figure out where the memories are and how to get them back. This book was such a wild ride. It kept me on my toes the entire time. I had no idea what was going to happen. I was stressed as much as the characters. I loved the relationship between Arden and Sebastian, it was so sweet. However, the ending was not what I expected. I wasn't disappointed, but it was different. It was a very well written, and fleshed out story. Overall, I enjoyed it, and found it immensely intriguing.

This is a really awesome thriller/mystery! I love the way everything unfolded. I thought I had the whole thing figured out, but Silver is GOOD. She pulled one over on m

It would seem pretty obvious that modern fiction, especially modern science fiction, would pick up on modern tech and take off with wildly creative ideas. And of course it often does. But I also find that too often books, especially YA books, tend to rehash tired themes - hoping to capitalize on previous successes. <em>Mind Games</em> by Shana Silver, though, started right off with what I thought to be a rather unique theme.

Arden is a teen who sells memories from the back corner of the school grounds the way other teens might sell a beer or a joint. It's a successful venture for those who can afford it because who doesn't want to experience what it's like to be crowned Homecoming Queen or to know what it's like to have studied so hard that it's easy to pass a specific test? How does it work? Arden hacks into the memories of others, copies them, and then uploads them into those who can pay her price.

Business is pretty good until the day she realizes she's lost some of her own memory. Losing even fifteen minutes is bad, but not exactly life-threatening. Unfortunately, things get worse and Arden begins losing more and more of her own memory. Someone is hacking her and they aren't just moving or storing her memories somewhere - they're deleting them! Without the previous days' memories, how can she possibly hope to stop whoever is destroying her? How can she possibly complete her school project when she remembers nothing about it? And the good-looking guy she's told she's been partnered with on the school project ... does she know him? Do they like each other? Does he remember anything about what's going on?

I really got pulled into this story right from the start and the action moves along swiftly, revealing new obstacles or making new revelations at just the right time to keep me really interested. I also found that I was surprised by some of the plot twists that the story took. I definitely had not expected a major plot point, but it fit well with what was happening (I won't reveal it here, but suffice it to say that it's a pretty big deal).

There was the almost stereotypical YA romance. It didn't really bother me too much that it was there, but it definitely took on the tone of so many other YA books and it's the one part of this book that didn't feel unique.

I enjoyed this a lot and I would definitely recommend this to YA readers who enjoy many of the popular books with a strong female heroine. This young lady doesn't run around with a sword or a bow, and we're not in some dystopian future, and I think that's all to this books advantage.

Looking for a good book? Mind Games by Shana Silver is a thrilling science fiction YA read that is easy to get excited about.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

The premise of this book was very intriguing. In a nutshell, a select group of people have been chosen to beta test a cloud memory backup system that enables them to save every memory from their lives. The implications for this innovative technology are huge. For example, dementia could never steal someone’s memories if they can be restored daily.

Then, of course, something goes horribly wrong. Two people have a large portion of their memories wiped out, with one having no memories left that go past that morning. Even worse, their memories are no longer in storage. How did this happen? And who is behind it?

What ensues is a fast-paced, engaging YA sci-fi thriller. Because this book was published by Swoon Reads, there’s also a heavy romance subplot.

The existence of the romance worked for me, but I do wish it hadn’t been such a major focal point as I didn’t need to read about lots of teenage make out sessions. I’m not in the book’s target market, though, so if you’re a teen looking for a YA book with sci-fi, romance, and thriller elements, this might be the perfect book for you.

Readers are asked to consider several moral questions throughout the book. Is breaking the rules acceptable when your memories have been stolen from you? And how do you choose between two people you love?

Overall, this was an enjoyable read that could have been better if the romance had been reined in a bit.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a copy. This review contains my honest, unbiased opinion.

Mind Games is a dystopian sci-fi thriller by author Shana Silver. I don’t read a ton of science fiction and I haven’t read a good dystopian in a long while, so I was pretty excited to dive into Mind Games. While I did figure out some aspects of the mystery, I still really enjoyed this novel. It is the first time I have seen swoon reads go in this direction, and I have to say I am really excited to see them branch out from contemporary romances. (though you know I do love a good contemporary romance. But sometimes it is fun to mix things up). Mind Games is a fun ride of a story that fans of sci-fi, dystopians and mysteries and thrillers will all enjoy.

In Mind Games we meet our main character, Arden. Arden and her friends attend a school geared towards science and technology (STEM school) and with the skills that Arden learned at school she becomes a pretty great hacker. But she is no ordinary hacker. Oh no, Arden hacks people’s memories and she sells them, so other people can live out their experiences. This can be anything from someone wanting to experience a cool trip someone else went on, or someone wanting to gain knowledge that another person has. Pretty interesting, right? I have never heard of something quite like this, and I was really intrigued that this concept was going to be the basis of the mystery in the story.

Arden soon learns that someone has hacked her memories, and she sets out to find out who and why. I enjoyed Arden and her friends. Yes, at times the group could be annoying or immature, but I do think the characters (for the most part) were age appropriate. There is a romance in Mind Games, which is what I wanted, because when I read a book from Swoon reads, I do expect a romance of some sort. This romance was interesting because the love interest, Sebastian, were a large part of Arden’s missing memories. So we get to see their romance through memories and real time, and the mixture was very interesting. I liked watching it play out.

I am not going to spoil any more of the story line of Mind Games. It is a book that you just have to pick up and hang on for the ride because it is a fast paced world of hacking, memories and secrets galore. I can’t say I was the biggest fan of the ending, but overall it worked for the story. However; I did love the dystopian/science fiction setting. It was perfect for the world that Shana Silver created. I really enjoyed Mind Games and if you are looking for a young adult science fiction thriller, I think you will enjoy it as well.

3.5/5 gavels

i received a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. all opinions below are my own.

mind games was amazing. scratch that, it was perfect.

to be honest, i was skeptical about this book at first because sci-fi from swoon reads? what the actual heck. but the idea of memory hacking intrigued me, and i immediately sent in my application for the blog tour.

this book was everything i hoped for and more – lots of amazing and mindblowing science and coding facts, lovable protagonists, and packed action.

the world-building was interesting, and easy to understand. hivemind is arden’s father’s invention, and it is a system which stores people’s memories in binary code, and they can be accessed anytime using a computer, similar to what hideo tanaka created in warcross. it is being beta-tested by students at the elite science high school arden goes to before it gets released to the world, and some of them have figured out ways to hack into the system.

the mystery was also one of my favorite things about this book. i tried so hard to pick up clues myself along the story and piece them together to find out the culprit behind sebastian and arden’s vanishing memories, but oh my goodness, i failed so hard. and i totally did not expect that huge plot twist at the end. this book is full of sharp turns and surprises.

on top of that, the romance was beautiful. i loved seeing sebastian and arden slowly fall for and support each other amidst the chaos and memory deletions. it’s heartwarming reading the parts where they try their best to overcome the difficulties together. and the press conference scene gave me literal goosebumps.

the only thing that bothered me was how annoying arden's best friend zoey was. [she’s so darn noisy and dramatic and when she revealed herself to be the villain? I KNEW SHE WAS EVIL SOMEHOW.

all in all, mind games is an absolutely fantastic debut novel and i can’t wait to read more of the author’s work! i highly recommend the novel to fans of the warcross books. if coding, hacking and romance is your thing, this one’s for you!

This is a portion of the Review on my blog Trails of Tales

Just imagining the amount of research a story like this must have required is tiring me out. Shana Silver has painstakingly grounded her story with studied details to make it an engaging adventure.

Often a book might form on an excellent idea but it’s implementation and plot development may not live up to it. But the author kept a tight hold on the reins throughout the journey of this tale.

Young Adult stories are not what I prefer to read a lot because it’s chock full of high school/college rivalries, bullying, backstabbing, petty squabbles, attention seeking behaviors, DRAMA (lots of it) etc etc. It was enough that I had to live through it once. Reliving it is not a part of my bookish ambitions.

However ‘Mind Games‘ isn’t your usual YA staple. Of course, the elements mentioned above are present but in a moderate amount. An amount I can handle.

The story satisfies you on the Romance front too. The initial awkwardness between Adrian and Sebastian transforming into a fierce loyalty is explored with a gentle care by Shana Silver.

The sense of urgency at the backdrop and the building suspense that grows along with the plot of ‘Mind Games‘ keeps you wanting to leap straight to the end.

Speaking of the end….Ohhhh boy! That is…you….it….

Let me just put it this way. The conclusion is worth the agony of all that suspense.

Give it a read. If Sci Fi is your cup of tea, you would find ‘Mind Games‘ quite enjoyable.

A fun read! I've seen this title around and was excited to read it. I really enjoyed it, and am so glad I picked it up!

I’ve always loved technology and its ability to simplify our lives. As a software engineer, I’m forever fascinated by things like AI and Internet of Things, and how we leverage them to automate our most menial tasks, like turning a light on or setting a thermostat. But Mind Games takes the concept of innovation a step further.

What if you could archive your favorite memories and play them again and again? Welcome to HiveMind, the technology of the future that transfers all your memories to a remote server so you can play them any time you want. Memory loss, a thing of the past with HiveMind! Except, what if it isn’t?

Meet Arden Vargas, daughter of HiveMind inventor, and high school student at genius school MVP. Arden wakes up one morning suddenly aware that she has no memories of her senior project, or her fellow classmate Sebastian, who is also missing memories. In a race against the clock, Arden and Sebastian must work together to recover their memories, and finish their project, or face dire consequences.

Told entirely from Arden’s perspective, Mind Games takes on the ethics of biotech in a refreshing way. I loved Arden as a character. She is the perfect balance of smart and interesting. As a software engineer, I’m always intrigued by how women in tech are portrayed in pop culture. Usually smart and interesting are mutually exclusive. Women who are technically savvy are usually awkward or unattractive, or they’re portrayed as dumb in some way. It’s infuriating. But Arden is not that.

I loved this book. Silver did an excellent job of making Arden smart, but not pretentious. The story was compelling, without being cheesy. I found it incredibly thought-provoking, touching on issues of ethics in technology, but also identity and what it means to be human. Plus, in true Swoon Reads fashion, it had quite a swoon-worthy romance. I highly recommend Mind Games to fans of YA, Romance, and Science Fiction. There’s a little something for everyone in it. I hope you find it as engaging as I did.

Thank you to @xpressotours for the opportunity to be on this tour, and to @swoonreads for my review copy!

Are we our memories? What would constitute our identity without them? The idea of being able to save our memories is enticing. But should we depend on machines for our memory and endanger ourselves to losing or having them tampered with? This story emphasizes how dangerous our dependency on technology can be.

Captivating right from the beginning, I like how the suspense gets gradually more intense, as to the mystery of how the memories are gone. Also things are more serious and dangerous than just some missing memories.

This book keeps surprising you, as more of a conspiracy is revealed and like the protagonists, you only have theories of what is really going on. I like books that 'force you' to pay attention to detail as to be able to follow the storyline.

I enjoyed the straight to the point, story always on the move writing, even though some of the computer lingo may be daunting. But you get the general idea.

Talk about a jaw-dropper of a revelation, I never saw it coming. Leading to an impossible choice for the protagonist, you may or may not agree with it (plus there is moral ambiguity), but you surely will enjoy the ride to the conclusion

***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.***

Review can also be found at https://smadasbooksmack.blogspot.com/

**4.5 Stars**

Because I ever so much love to ramble in my reviews, I am trying not to spoil anything in this mystery therefore my review will be brief and pretty vague so I don't ruin the fantastic twists. I was a little hesitant that I would be in over my head with the tech jargon (since coding is not my first language) but the author made the technology pretty user friendly and I could follow along well enough without being a hacker. I will say that I was 85% certain I knew who the perpetrator was and I was right, but the whys and hows kept me guessing and still when everything came together I was shocked. I loved being surprised by a mystery and the thriller aspect of the story was fast paced and incredibly engaging. This is easily a story that can be binged because you will be sucked right in and not want to put the book down.

I loved that while this was very much a tech-filled mystery, underlying that was kind of an epic romance. How many people can say that they had a second opportunity to fall in love for the first time? We have Arden who can't remember Sebastian, and Sebastian that can't remember anything and we get to see them slowly become desperate allies, then close friends and then a romance blooms unexpectedly- a romance that may have already existed, but neither has any memory of that event. It was sweet and oh so romantic to watch them tap dance around the other, with this huge history that basically means nothing. Expect some epic swoon here.

Overall I really enjoyed this book, it was so unexpected and a really cool idea and well executed mystery. I was kept on my toes for the entire book and I will gladly pick up another title by this author to read in the future. This is a great choice for anyone who loves mystery thrillers and developed complicated characters- with a generous portion of love added for flavor.

Just imagine if all your memories could be saved so that you could enjoy them time and time again. The fear of Alzheimer’s would be lessened and you could choose which memories you want to relive and when. Is that a great idea or is it perhaps at least a little creepy?

Then take it a step further and the creepiness really comes into play. Arden is an exceedingly bright and talented girl surrounded by other students almost as intelligent and creative as she is—this is, after all, a school that focuses on STEM—and she has figured a way to hack into the HiveMind, which happens to be her father’s brilliant creation. Arden sells memories to people who don’t own them and, while this may often be relatively harmless, at times it leads to some pretty unacceptable results. Let’s say, for instance, that Amy is in competition with Brad on a test and Brad buys Connie’s photographic memories of the book that’s the subject of the test. Not fair, right?

Then Arden gets her comeuppance, you might say, when some of her own memories suddenly disappear and her friend Sebastian is in an even worse way. These memories aren’t just temporarily missing, they’re actually gone and, oddly enough, Arden’s and Sebastian’s collaborative senior project seems to be involved. They can’t actually remember the project but the more they look into what it was about, the more ominous the truth becomes.

There’s a twist resolution that I couldn’t quite buy into but, on the whole, I had a good time with Mind Games and I’m interested to see what Ms. Silver does with The Con Code, coming out next year.

Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, August 2019.

Mind Games is a fascinating YA sci-fi novel with hints of romance that will keep readers guessing until the very end.

Arden is a tech genius at a school founded by her mother. She's created a program called HiveMind, where people can upload their memories. As a hacker, Arden likes to "steal" these memories and sell them to other students at the school so they can experience whatever it is they want. From winning an award to knowing the answers to an upcoming test, Arden can provide whatever a student needs.

But when she wakes up one day with memories erased, she finds it a bit odd and confusing. And when a boy she can't remember comes to her claiming to be a blank slate (all memories gone), Arden will have to put her hacking skills to the test if she's going to uncover the mystery behind what's really going on.

I found this to be a really fun, unique, fast-paced thriller. It kept me on my toes, and even though what I suspected (and who) was partially true, there were still so many twists and surprises that I found myself absorbed in it all. Color me impressed.

The characters are well-written and likable enough, although there are a few who may frustrate readers at times. I felt really bad for Sebastian because he seemed to struggle the most with everything that was going on.

The overall plot is kinda crazy, and there's a lot of technical stuff going on, but it's easy to keep up with (and you don't need to be a tech genius).

The only downside I can really find within the story is that it was a little bit too easy to figure out the who (even though there's more to it than that) behind it all. But even that's not really a bad thing.

If you enjoy sci-fi mysteries/thrillers with a dash of romance, you'll want to check out Mind Games today.

4 stars from me!

I knew I wanted to read Mind Games as soon as I heard about it. I mean stealing memories? What a cool concept!

Arden Varga attends a school for geniuses founded by her parents. When she’s not in class working on her senior thesis project, she can be found selling memories to her classmates ranging from studying for exams to winning homecoming queen at a normal high school. She’s able to hack into HiveMind, her father’s invention, and access the wide variety of memories of everyone hooked up to it. It’s all fun and games until she sees a student that she doesn’t recognize…that apparently is in one of her classes. It gets more confusing when the boy she talks to doesn’t have any memories at all before waking up that morning.

As Arden tries to figure out what’s wrong with her memory and with Sebastian’s, she discovers that not only does she not remember who Sebastian is, apparently everyone around her is missing any memory of the two of them together. As she’s in class, her teacher briefly explains that Sebastian and her have partnered together for their senior project…that Arden has no recollection of and all of her notes on have been destroyed. Shana Silver drives the suspense as Arden and Sebastian race against time to figure out what their project was and find a way to regain their memories. The pacing is kept fast, even when Adren needs to rehash what has happened since the hacker erased her memories in real time.

I loved the stealing memories aspect as it is such an interesting concept to think about. It was tough watching Arden loose certain memories for good and thinking about what that means. One of my favorite parts was when Arden was able to hack into the system and retrieve a few of her encrypted memories. These memories are specially formatted in the book and are told as though they are being played in reverse. I loved finding these parts and the major reveals they contained. Another cool part was the focus on STEM! This is a school for science geniuses and you can definitely tell it. The technology and classes featured are remarkable and Arden is such a talented hacker.

Overall, Mind Games is a fast-paced sci-fi thriller that will keep you guessing until the final chapters. I’m excited to see what Shana Silver has in store for the future and have already added her next novel to my TBR.

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.