Sister assassin by Kiersten White

Fia and Annie are special, so special that they came to the attention of Keane and his school.  When their parents died their Aunt Ellen was happy to send the girls to the school, it seemed like the best chance for Annie to succeed, a place where she could get an excellent education despite the fact she is blind.  The offer was only supposed to be for Annie, but then Fia showed that she was special too.  Years later and Annie and Fia are held hostage by Keane and his organisation.  Annie is held hostage by her disability and the knowledge that she will struggle in the sighted world without the tools and equipment from the school, and Fia is tied to the school because if she walks away they will kill Annie. 

It is a dangerous world for them to live in, one where their moves can be seen by Seers, where their emotions betray them - escape is virtually impossible, but virtually impossible is not completely impossible.  Fia doesn't fit neatly into any category, she is not a Seer and she's not a Reader, her gift is undefined but over the years she has been groomed to become the perfect assassin.  When she is sent on her first major real world mission she meets Adam and her world begins to crumble as she faces one of the most important and dangerous decisions of her life - if she is to be free Annie needs to be freed or killed, but does she has the strength to do either?

Sister assassin is a new book from the author of the Paranormalcy trilogy and it starts with a bang, and if the "feel" is right it feels like this may be the first book in a new series, but then again it could be a very good stand alone.  The characters of Fia and Annie are interesting and engaging, they have their strengths and their flaws, and as the story unfolds you understand more about why they are the way they are, and why their is a strain on their relationship.  Fia may have been trained to be an assassin, but she has a strong streak of humanity that struggles against that training, even though it may mean that she has made her life and Annie's forfeit. 

The cast of characters built around Fia and Annie is small, partly aided by the fact that they have lived in the small and sheltered community of the school for years.  In some ways this echoes the world of Paranormalcy, a small confined world that interacts with our world and in which the main character has a kind of crisis of faith.  In many ways I preferred Sister assassin to the Paranormalcy series, but that may come down to personal taste and a preference for action and tense drama rather than drawn out action and teen angst.  A very good read and I hope their are more books in the series as it doesn't feel as though Fia's story is finished.  This book is also published as Mind games.

If you like this book then try:

• Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
• Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz
• Every other day by Jennifer Lynne Barnes
• Unremembered by Jessica Brody
• Slated by Teri Terry
• Agent 21 by Chris Ryan
• Origin by Jessica Khoury
• Raven's gate by Anthony Horowitz
• Eve by Anne Carey
• Adaptation by Melinda Lo

Reviewed by Brilla