What do you think?
Rate this book
Mindwarp #4
Second Sight
Receiving psychic messages on her thirteenth birthday that prompt her to seek out three classmates, Kate learns that Ethan, Ashley, and Jack also possess special powers, and the four of them band together against morphing assassins. Original.
144 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 1, 1998
2 people are currently reading
77 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 27, 2024
This fourth Mindwarp novel follows the same general structure as the first three: another kid in this fictional Wisconsin town turns thirteen, discovers they have special powers, and then quickly has to use them to avoid falling into the clutches of a shapeshifting alien hunter. For our latest protagonist, her new superhuman skillset involves a variety of psychic phenomena, from premonitions of impending danger / pop quizzes to astral projection and the ability to telepathically speak her thoughts.
The problem is, it's a bit unfocused as a story for the majority of the text. Characters pop up for a scene or two and then disappear again, introducing conflicts with Elena's mother and a few school bullies that never get resolved. Instead she mostly just has a vision and is shocked to see it come true, repeated several times. Finally about two-thirds of the way through she meets up with the teens from the previous books, who fill her in on the stakes of the threat against them just in time.
It's a familiar enough schtick by now, and at this point in the series, I really need more forward momentum on whatever the larger narrative is supposed to be instead of these roughly identical plot beats and vague X-Files conspiracy chatter. The ending at least strikes a different tone that I hope the remaining sequels continue to explore, but overall this feels pretty weak even by the standards of other 90s middle-grade sci-fi.
Like this review?
--Throw me a quick one-time donation here!
https://ko-fi.com/lesserjoke
--Subscribe here to support my writing and weigh in on what I read next!
https://patreon.com/lesserjoke
--Follow along on Goodreads here!
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6...
--Or click here to browse through all my reviews!
https://lesserjoke.home.blog
The problem is, it's a bit unfocused as a story for the majority of the text. Characters pop up for a scene or two and then disappear again, introducing conflicts with Elena's mother and a few school bullies that never get resolved. Instead she mostly just has a vision and is shocked to see it come true, repeated several times. Finally about two-thirds of the way through she meets up with the teens from the previous books, who fill her in on the stakes of the threat against them just in time.
It's a familiar enough schtick by now, and at this point in the series, I really need more forward momentum on whatever the larger narrative is supposed to be instead of these roughly identical plot beats and vague X-Files conspiracy chatter. The ending at least strikes a different tone that I hope the remaining sequels continue to explore, but overall this feels pretty weak even by the standards of other 90s middle-grade sci-fi.
Like this review?
--Throw me a quick one-time donation here!
https://ko-fi.com/lesserjoke
--Subscribe here to support my writing and weigh in on what I read next!
https://patreon.com/lesserjoke
--Follow along on Goodreads here!
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6...
--Or click here to browse through all my reviews!
https://lesserjoke.home.blog
December 19, 2014
Elena Vargas is a firm believer in psychic powers. When her thirteenth birthday rolls around, she knows just what she wants: a psychic reading at Madame Mysteria's. The visit throws a few surprises, but even better than the visit is the realization that Elena herself has psychic powers too. But her powers are only the beginning: the aliens she thinks have taken her father have returned, and they're anything but friendly...
Elena's actually more fleshed out as a character in Alien Scream; she more picks up where Jack left off describing her. Like the other three, Elena has strange new powers appearing on her thirteenth birthday, along with an alien menace. Unlike the others, Elena's actually seeing aliens and their craft, and she has a book from her father to help her with the new psychic powers she's acquired.
This felt more flat than the other three books, mostly because Elena's main point of interest seems to be that she's Hispanic. Her powers come easily; as soon as she focuses on doing something in particular, she can do it. Her fascination with psychic phenomena shapes how she thinks about her powers and what she tries to do with them, so there aren't as many surprises.
Overall this is a weaker book than the previous three, though it finally brings up more information about Todd and the similarities he has with all of them. As a series followup it isn't bad, although not one I'd recommend outside of the series. I rate this book Neutral.
Elena's actually more fleshed out as a character in Alien Scream; she more picks up where Jack left off describing her. Like the other three, Elena has strange new powers appearing on her thirteenth birthday, along with an alien menace. Unlike the others, Elena's actually seeing aliens and their craft, and she has a book from her father to help her with the new psychic powers she's acquired.
This felt more flat than the other three books, mostly because Elena's main point of interest seems to be that she's Hispanic. Her powers come easily; as soon as she focuses on doing something in particular, she can do it. Her fascination with psychic phenomena shapes how she thinks about her powers and what she tries to do with them, so there aren't as many surprises.
Overall this is a weaker book than the previous three, though it finally brings up more information about Todd and the similarities he has with all of them. As a series followup it isn't bad, although not one I'd recommend outside of the series. I rate this book Neutral.
Read
April 9, 2010JSF ARC
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews