lightreads

Mind Games by Carolyn Crane

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This is a 'don't think about it too hard' book. It's urban fantasy with this comic book aesthetic -- the made-up American place is called Midcity, the people with powers are all drawn with this superpowers vibe instead of a magic vibe, if you know what I mean. Oh, and the plot is about a gang of people with mental illnesses who have the power to channel their symptoms into criminals that the law can't touch.

It's pretty good, actually; it's quick, smarter than it should be, and occasionally very funny. And it has that x-factor. Something a little more than 'things I like' and closer to 'things I like that are shaped like something a lot of you guys will also like.'

Except. You cannot think about it too hard. This book is premised on the notion that people are like computers, and you can "reboot" a bad one by giving him a few high dose infusions of psychological disabilities. …Yeah. Because that's how criminality works. And don't even get me started on the -- ug. Disability turned up to eleven reforming people. Gag me. It's a fragment of a bigger poisonous idea about how disability=suffering=better people; it is simplistic and pervasive and it has hurt countless people very badly. This book isn't about that, per se, but you can see the path from there to here.

Like I said: do not think about it. You really can't. Just read it and nod and go "yeah, okay."

So really like a comic book, then.




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