This may be my first official sci-fi I read and I absolutely loved it. The world is not complicated and everything is explained so well, the characters are really diverse and well written and finally the enemies to lovers and Betrayal arc were TOP TIER. it wasn't going really fast for me until maybe 50% but after that it got so much better. Easily one of my favourite reads of the year.
Thank you for netgalley and the publisher for giving me an E-Arc to review.

Mindwalker has everything you would expect in a dystopian cyberpunk book: evil corporations, incredible technology, rebellious teenagers, hacking, rainbow hair. There's nothing wrong with that - the familiarity of the setting allows you to jump straight into the story, and for about the first third I was enjoying the fast pace and the action scenes. But after a while it seemed like that was all the book had to offer, which wasn't enough to make up for the shallow, annoying characters or the very predictable plot.

This is a sci-fi book and I usually don’t read this genre very much as it usually falls flat for me personally bunt I liked this book and as I was accepted for the ebook and the audiobook it was nice to listen while reading the book at the same time.

This is a story about ai enhanced teenagers who are put into agents minds when they are in sticky situations so they can increase there chances of survival in the missions. I think the concept of this book is really good and the execution was well done I liked the action in this as well and it kept me enticed. The pacing was well layer out and I may read the next book or even more by this author as it was well written had good action and felt detailed enough that you could images even thing.

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Digital Review - Mindwalker Series


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The Mindwalker Series – Kate Dylan
As always this digital review copy was provided by NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for a fair review.
Also HUGE shout out to a work friend and book fanatic like me – Haleema – for the copy of Mindwalker in the picture above… I couldn’t attend a book event with Kate Dylan and she knows how much I enjoyed this series so very kindly got and gifted me a signed copy <3
I actually started writing this review/discussion as part of a NetGalley wrap up and when I hit 2+ pages in a word document just about this series I quickly realised that really it needed to be its own thing. Now a lot of that was waffle and me just getting thoughts out my brain but hey – that’s the fun of doing this :D

Mindwalker is Book 1 and Mindbreaker is Book 2 in the series. I read Mindwalker back in Feb 2023 and thought it was fab back then – I had several conversations with different people about it after I put it down. For me, that’s often/always a tell-tale of how much I enjoy a book – how much did I talk about it. When Mindbreaker appeared on NetGalley and I got approved back in July 2023 I couldn’t wait to start it.

WHERE DO I EVEN START?!?!?!

I’ve seen these described a lot of ways, but I think the best would be Dystopian Cyberpunk Sci-Fi. The author herself describes Mindwalker as “basically a Marvel movie re-imagined as a YA novel with a fast-talking heroine, enemies-to-lovers romance, and a whole bunch of wickedly cool tech” and Mindbreaker as “like Mindwalker, it's essentially a Marvel movie re-imagined as a YA novel—but this time, it leans all the way in to the ghost in the shell/westworld vibes”
Samantha Shannon (who I am a HUGE fan of) reviewed Mindbreaker on GoodReads:

A great sequel to Mindwalker that can also be enjoyed as a standalone. Witty dialogue, compelling themes, tense action, a determined protagonist – Kate Dylan has taken all of these, soaked them in neon, and shaken them into a dystopian thriller that fizzes with energy and rebellion.
Sounds epic, right?? Well, lets start at the beginning.

Eighteen-year-old Sil Sarrah works for Syntext Corporation – she commandeers field agents minds (and therefore bodies) from afar with the tech that is in her head and gets them out of “sticky” situations. She is what is known as a Mindwalker and at Syntex she has 100% record and is the gold standard for the company. After an op goes wrong Sil is branded a traitor and she suddenly becomes on fugitive on the run.

Sil infiltrates the Analog Army, an activist faction working to bring Syntex down. Her plan: to win back her employer's trust by destroying the group from within. Instead, she and the Army's reckless leader, Ryder, uncover a horrifying truth that threatens to undo all the good she's ever done.

Add into this drama the fact that the tech in Sil’s head is deteriorating rapidly and has a known life span for the teenagers who have it inserted – Sil’s time is rapidly running out!

Mindbreaker isn’t a “normal” sequel, but more of a companion type book set in the same universe. New people, new story but the same world we discovered and loved from the first book. It’s a continuation of the same themes with slightly different outlooks, corporation, and technology.

We meet Indra who has a rare condition that will kill her. On death’s bed she is offered the opportunity for the 2nd largest tech corporation (Glindell) to use tech to save her – but it means she belongs to the corporation and becomes their IP. Her brain/mind is her own but her body will be tech. Indra is part of an anti tech commune, but she does dapple in tech with her best friend Nyx. She takes the opportunity and moves into the Glindell world, with her handler Tian as a kind of “overwatch” and friend. As times goes on and she becomes assimilated into the Glindell Corp, Indra starts to realise she is losing time and finding glitches in her memories. Whats been happening while she’s been “losing time”.

In a similar vein to the first book Indra discovers more than she bargained for and ends up on the run, brining along the Analog Army and some familiar faces for the ride.

Okay so the good points for both of these books (I had written this separately originally when I brain dumped but the same positives and negatives apply to both books):

The world building. The author has managed to create one of the best dystopian, tech-based worlds I’ve come across. The ability to world build and suck you in while explaining about the terminology, corporations, background and the complexities of what is a radioactive, futuristic, cyberpunk world is second to none. Its done is such a way that you can follow it, are intrigued by it and understand it, without it being an out and out infodump (looking at you here Ready Player One!) every chapter or so. The fact that I picked up Mindbreaker and knew exactly where I was in that world is quite impressive.
The world itself – the setting. It was so refreshing to read a YA Sci-Fi like this. The world felt rich, well thought out and clean. Every avenue was well thought out. At times it gave me vibes of In Time mixed with BladeRunner and This Mortal Coil series as well – In fact I could very well believe that This Mortal Coil and Mindwalker/Mindbreaker were set in a slightly different timeline of the same universe in a lot of respects.
The characters – Well the main ones anyway. Sil & Ryder especially in Mindwalker, Indra, Nyx & Tian in Mindbreaker. The way they were written – Sil a bad ass, pain in the arse angsty, angry female and Ryder the ever handsome, slightly angsty but sensitive underneath male worked well together. Very predictable but enjoyable and well written. In Mindbreaker, Indra’s ability to make every wrong decision in such a snarky and pouty way was so well written. Having Nyx as just the wholesome friend was incredible – its not often we see a male and female, both gay and just love each other.
The overarching themes of technology and ethics alongside consent throughout meant that the actual discussion point brought up in the book were topical and relevant. Even in Mindbreaker when we start to see the themes of religion and greed of men, its still an overall thread woven through it with technology and ethics at the heart of it all
As with every book there were some *less* good points as well:

The language. I get the need to have a toned-down language and create something that stands out when you are differentiating a world or universe, but it needed to be broader. “Christ-That-Was” whilst it didn’t annoy me (I found myself saying it in my head when I was getting annoyed IRL whilst I was reading this) it was very very over used – a 2nd phase would have helped this along immensely.
I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t have a positive and a negative of the same thing! Characters! Now whilst I enjoyed the main protagonist and the main storyline characters – the peripherals, especially the Analog Army, just felt like they were there to move the plot along a little bit – more like NPCs than anything.
The action. Now, don’t get me wrong here – both books are action packed and the action is fantastic but there is no breathing space. I put it down and felt exhausted…. All I wanted was for Sil and Indra to slow down, ever so slightly. Intensity can be achieved without constant movement and action.
Overall, I was absolutely enthralled with both of these books and its right up my alley – in a similar way that This Mortal Coil was as well. Its such an interesting concept when we start thinking about what was, in essence, mind hacking and transference. Albeit through technology, its still mind hacking and transferring minds. With the rise of AI in our own worlds at the moment, with the increase in technology in our everyday lives, with the increase in social influencing, its feels like an important topic to explore and what better way than in a YA dystopian world like this? Throughout both books the thought of 'even if we can, should we' prevailed and came up time and time again. It wasn’t just a man vs machine or “Damn the Evil Corporations” idea, it goes deeper than that, we get into the realms of consent, and of when we should stop. I could spend ages (evidenced above) talking about the story and the world building and how Dylan writes, but I think what drew me in the most for this series and the thing I go back to time and again when I talk about it to people is the tech aspect. A young person having tech in their head or having their mind put into tech, that can be used unethically without their knowledge. Its an incredibly scary concept, but one that feels within reach. It also opens up more ethical discussions as well around that tech – what if it was used to upskill for beneficial things rather than violence? What if it allowed us to create more advanced doctors, or people who could get to places quicker by using that mind walking technology. What if the MindDrive technology could be used to save lives? Or to keep some of the brilliant minds we have for longer? Moving genius brains and inventors from tech body to tech body – what kind of world could we create, what could we cure or invent as a people? . It all makes for such an imaginative and wide-open discussion with a real potential in the universe that Dylan has created.

For me both books (Mindwalker & Mindbreaker) was a 4.5 star read (rounded down to 4 for GoodReads) and I do really hope we see more of this universe that Dylan has created.

I really loved this book. Mindwalker was the perfect book to get me back into sci-fi. I loved the characters and the world! I can't wait to read more from Kate Dylan

I forgot how much I enjoy a good dystopian sci-fi! This was such an addictive and action packed story that had me eagerly turning the pages needing to know how it ended.

Mindwalker is a standalone (Mindbreaker is set in the same universe) and although I personally wish it had been longer I found myself really enjoying the plot and it's characters. Sil is a badass and honestly gives me a lot of Black Widow vibes (which now looking at Kate's instagram can see that's what she was going for!) She's thrown into a situation she never accounted for and I just loved how complex of a character she was.

I really liked the technology side of things, with mind walking and different techs to alter appearances such as hairstyles. I think it's so fascinating!! Honestly this was such a great book and I really recommend picking it up if you love dystopian reads or badass female main characters!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Full review was delayed due to reviewer illness. I'll need to re-read the book to provide a full review, but star rating is accurate.

I was so hyped for this book, the concept is right up my alley and the pre publishing buzz really worked it up! And I’m so glad because it means more people will pick up this piece of ya sci fi perfection. It’s a fairly small genre but every time a stonking book like this comes along I hope desperately that more people will write it.

Mindwalker was everything I could have hoped for. A post apocalyptic bio hacking dream. I adored Sil, and loved her relationships with Lena, Jondi and Ryder so much. I could easily have had more of Lena and Jondi, but it definitely would have slowed the pace of the book, which would have been a mistake. I did struggle with Ryder’s apparent insta love with Sil a little, at least her response to him was more grudging like and attraction 😂

I would also have adored getting to see more backstory of the analogue army resistance, as I think there’s miles of stuff we could get into there! Again, definitely not for the main book but I wouldn’t say no to a side novella!

The mystery of what happened to get Sil kicked out and following missions and revenge were superbly plotted and paced, and I enjoyed every second. The twists and turns were so well put together and I thought I had one, only to then think I was wrong and then discover I was right! You know the twists are good when they do that to you 😍

I highly recommend this, 4.5 stars.

Mindwalker is a book that has sat on my kindle unread for such a long time. I got this book as an ARC last year in 2022, but for some reason I just never got around to reading it. Fast forward a year, and as part of my ‘ARC August’ challenge, I finally decided to pick Mindwalker up. I am so glad that I did, and I am now kicking myself for not reading this sooner. I absolutely loved every moment of Mindwalker. It was so intriguing right from the start, and it just got better and better as the book went on.

Mindwalker follows the story of Sil, an agent for one of the biggest Tech companies, Syntex, who turned over her freedom to have a super computer installed into her brain. She has the ability to take control of others bodies, known as Mindwalking. Suddenly she goes from the best Mindwalker in Syntex, to a wanted criminal having to team up with the group of rebels. All Sil wants is to prove her innocent and go back to Syntex, but she finds that all is not as it seems at her beloved home… and maybe the rebels have something bigger to tell.

I am such a big fan of dystopia novels and sci-fi novels, so the fact that this world was a fantastic mix of both meant that I absolutely loved the world building. I really found the focus on technological advances such an interesting take, as it feels so realistic and like this could actually happen in the not so distant future. It was so fascinating to see how the technology allowed Sil to ‘Mindwalk’ and the other abilities that the agents had. I really loved the whole build up of this technological world, and I found it amazing that Kate Dylan managed to make her audience understand all of these advances without feeling bogged down with the details.

One of the things I loved the most about Mindwalker was the character development throughout this book. We start the book with Sil as such a loyal member of the Syntax family and everything we know about this giant tech corporation we know from Sil. That left us with this fantastic opportunity to learn all the things wrong with this world through the eyes of our main character. I love books where we learn everything at the same time as a naive narrator as I find it so much more intriguing and enjoyable.

Mindwalker is a fantastic YA sci-fi novel, and is a fantastic starting point for people who are wanting to get into sci-fi. It is fast paced and action packed, filled with mystery, intrigue and the corruption anyone would expect with a dystopic sci-fi. It even had a hint of a beautiful romance. I loved every single moment and I cannot wait to get my hands on book 2 of this series. Don’t be like me and sleep on this one for a year, go and read it now! You won’t be disappointed.

Mindwalker was a fast-paced sci-fi book I was delighted to read. It gave me some strong Marvel vibes, with characters struggling and trying to overcome their difficulties.

I think this Book could have gone more in-depth, regarding the characters mostly, but it did his job. I'm quite picky when it comes to sci-fi and I liked this one, so it's good sign !

oh my gosh. one of my favourite books of the year! mindwalker was stunning, cinematic, and epic. i can't wait to see what kate dylan comes up with next.

This is such a delayed review and I can't think of why I'd forgot to write it.
I'm not always a huge fan of scifi but I enjoy reading it now and then, this book however, was devoured. There's so many different things in here that the author has created such as the futuristic tech, government and opposing growing rebellion. It is not romance heavy (if that's your thing you might wanna change books) but I still enjoyed it.

Thank you for my eARC of this book. I did enjoy this but didn’t find myself wanting to pick it back up again. It got to the point that it had been so long that I would have had to start from the beginning again. Unfortunately I didn’t finish. It may give it another go in the future. If so I’ll update my review!

Kate Dylan's "Mindwalker" is a captivating and thought-provoking young adult novel set in a future where mental illness has been eliminated through a process called Mindwalking. The story follows Lain Fisher, a teenage girl who possesses a rare ability to enter and explore the minds of others, and is recruited to work as a Mindwalker for the government.

Dylan's writing is engaging and fast-paced, with a plot that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat. The world-building is immersive and well-developed, with a believable and unsettling portrayal of a society that values conformity and control over individuality and freedom.

The characters are multi-dimensional and relatable, with Lain's struggle to reconcile her duty to the government with her own beliefs and values forming the heart of the story. The novel also tackles themes such as power, ethics, and the nature of identity and consciousness.

This book is such a good Sci-Fi novel! Not usually my typical genre but I really adored this one. The kickass female lead was brilliant, really drew me into the story.

Sil Sarrah is the best at what she does -- and she knows it, so when a critical mission goes south and she's forced to flee the very company she has pledged her life to, she determines to do anything to get back home. To do that she infiltrates the Analog Army, an activist faction that wants to bring Syntex down, unless Sil can destroy them from within. But then Sil discovers something that could change everything. With time running out before the supercomputer grafted to her brain kills her, Sil will have to uncover the truth and decide who she can really trust....

Wow this was a thrilling ride! It drops you right into the action and never really lets up.

It took me a while to warm up to Sil as a narrator and main protagonist. She has quite a brash personality but I did like how driven and determined she was.

I don't read much Sci-Fi but I think Dylan did a wonderful job at explaining all the tech stuff, especially to someone new to the genre like myself. The world building was truly interesting and I'm excited to explore more of it in the sequel.

All in all this was fun, action-filled story and I can't wait for more!

Many thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Please note that this book is not for me - I have read the book, However I had to DNF and because i do not like to give negative reviews I will not review this book fully - there is no specific reason for not liking this book. I found it a struggle to read and did not enjoy trying to force myself to read this book.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused and thank you for the opportunity to read this book

Sci-Fi is something that I don't read enough but really want to get into more. So when I saw this book on Netgalley, it instantly grabbed my attention. Not only from the vibrant, intriguing cover and description but the concept as well.

This is something I've not heard of as a premise before, and the way the author wrote this book made it feel like a mystery, wrapped into a science fiction blanket. And I loved it for that reason!

Unfortunately for me, I think that some elements were rushed and it felt as though it could have done with a hundred more pages to explain everything and be more subversive in the way it was written. The plot drew me in but more expansion on the world would have been amazing. Instead, I was thrown into the deep-end from the beginning.

Sometimes, that's a great thing. But for me, with this book specifically, the first third could have been drawn out a little more to make me care for these characters even more.

Wow. This book blew me away. The concept, the execution, it was amazing! I couldn’t get enough of it and never wanted to stop reading.

Sil Sarrah works for Syntex and has a supercomputer inside her head. This computer allows her to go into the heads of field agents and commandeer their mind from afar to lead them to safety. She has not lost a single life in the ten years she’s been doing it. The only thing is, the supercomputer inside her head is slowly deteriorating and she only has about a year left before it will take her with it. Her computer glitches during a mission, which sets off a turn of events she could never have predicted. After failing a critical mission, she is forced to run and prove that she is not a traitor to the people she has worked for for the last ten years.

She infiltrates the Analog Army, which are a faction working against mindwalkers and the Syntex corporation. But as Sil gets closer to those in the faction, she begins to learn horrifying things about the people she works for. This book took me on a rollercoaster. The author describes it as a Marvel movie in a YA novel and I couldn’t agree more! The plot was thrilling and there was so much action, I was addicted. It’s quite a fast-moving book but it suits the story so well.

‘Everything about my life was designed to keep me from living. Whereas everything about Ryder makes me not want to die.’

Of course, there is a romance! To infiltrate the Analog Army, Sil has to work with Ryder, the Army’s leader. Initially there is a lot of mistrust, but as these two are forced to work together and be in tense situations, they slowly get closer. I love Ryder and loved them together. We get to see into his backstory and understand why he is so against the Syntax company. But I have to say I did not see the ending coming!!

Honestly, I adored this book and will 100% be reading it again. I am also desperate to see a perfectly executed film adaption as I think it would work so well! If you love Marvel, books about tech, taking down evil corporations, and some enemies-to-lovers, then this book is for you!!

Mindwalker was a delightful story about a girl uncovering the secrets of the organisation she was raised in. It had a great cast of characters, as well an exiting romance. It truly was like a Marvel movie squeezed between the pages of a book. I can't wait to see what else Kate Dylan crafts in this world.