Minders by Michele Jaffe Review

Thursday 18 December 2014

Minders, by Michele Jaffe
Published On: January 30, 2014, by Razorbill
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Dystopia, Romance, Science-Fiction
Pages: 395
Format: Hardcover
Source: Borrowed
Rating: ½


A high concept, cinematic read with a surprising twist, MINDERS asks the question: who is really watching whom?
Sadie Ames is a type-A teenager from the wealthy suburbs. She's been accepted to the prestigious Mind Corps Fellowship program, where she'll spend six weeks as an observer inside the head of Ford, a troubled boy with a passion for the crumbling architecture of the inner city. There's just one problem: Sadie's fallen in love with him.
Ford Winters is haunted by the murder of his older brother, James. As Sadie falls deeper into his world, dazzled by the shimmering pinpricks of color that form images in his mind, she begins to think she knows him. Then Ford does something unthinkable.
Back in her own body, Sadie is faced with the ultimate dilemma. With Ford's life in her hands, she must decide what is right and what is wrong. And how well she can really ever know someone, even someone she loves.

    I've honestly seen this book everywhere I go, and I feel like it kept on following me, so I then decided to borrow it from the library to give it a go. Since August due to my crazy schedule, it has been stalling in my bookshelf waiting to be picked up and loved from. Minders was a psychological thriller, with some flaws in between. But overall, it was a great novel and a total change.

"He took a step forward, then another. Dread filled her. She wanted to close her eyes, look away, but that wouldn't change anything. He raised the gun, and as he stepped into the office she heard him think, Watch this Sadie. As if she had a choice."
   

        Okay, so this book did have some peculiar events where I thought things were too good to be true. But really, the plot is simple but so good. What's happening in this dystopia world is that the government basically hire spies to read other people's minds of troubled people. Sadie Ames is a girl who's perfect for this role, as she will be listening to the thoughts of Ford, who is troubled by his dead brother's past. What happens when she falls in love with someone who doesn't even know that she exists?

           "I want to feel what pressures other people feel. Experience the world guided by someone else's moral compass. See and hear and taste with senses formed in a completely different mold than mine. I want to see what it's like to live someone else's lie."
          The concept of this book was one of the most unique that I've read about for a while. Mind-reading slash dystopia? WHAT AWESOMENESS. This was like a less dystopian Hunger Games, if you get what I mean. There was almost always action at every corner of every page. Like legit, the word "action." xD Just kidding—but this book was a total joke with the romance and characters.

         

            At first, I saw Sadie as kick-ass and literally perfect. She was the new "Tris," and the character I've been looking for, for the longest time. And then Ford happened. EWEWEWEWEWEW NO. Their "love" ruined it all because it was completely fake and Sadie was so obsessed. GIRL DO YOUR JOB. 

             Honestly, that's the part that frustrated me the most. I was expecting something more simple and special. As I began reading, I was pretty intrigued. Jaffe had something so intriguing in her words and I just wanted to know what would happen and how the ending will come to be. Next thing next, the middle portion was a little too boring and I lost the real amazingness of the story until the ending came. Meh.


     Minders was something I haven't read about for a long time. The plot was pretty well, and the idea was perfect. Minus some bland and flaws in the characters, I was really impressed with the outcome, and it was a great standalone.


6 comments :

  1. A dystopian with mind reading and a standalone? Well, that sounds intriguing! Except for the complete change in the main character once the guy walks into the story...
    Great review Michelle!

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    1. Yes! Ugh, men. XD Thank you, Pili! I need a better fictional man here. ;D

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  2. This is exactly what I thought as well Michelle. :) The concept was absolutely fantastic, but there were just some parts that could have been cut out and that were reminiscent of other dystopias that we've already read. :| Thanks for sharing, and fabulous post! ♥

    ~ Zoe @ Stories on Stage

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    1. Yes! And the thing is that not many people have actually picked this post up! Thank you, Zoe! I'm really glad that this is a standalone, though. :)

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  3. This sounds like a book with a good plot, but then it got slightly ruined by a lovesick character. I hate when characters change because of the romance! But the idea does sound really cool, and I love that cover!

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    1. Absolutely—that's what it really was. BOOKS SHOULD NEVER FOCUS SO MUCH ON THE ROMANCE unless specified as a contemporary-romance. That, I understand. But YES IT'S SO GORGEOUS!

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