One hell of a ride! Mindbreaker is just as much fun as Mindwalker, with a breakneck cyberpunk plot and dark, brain-bending conspiracies. Dylan is a master of balancing strong characters with so-tense-you-can-barely-breathe action, and I adored every minute.

First of all, I would like to say thank you for the review copy, which was provided to me by the publisher. This fact does not in any way affect my personal opinion of this book. This post contains advertising and the rights for the book belong to the publisher.

Of course, is this only my personal opinion of the book and just because I give this rating to the book doesn’t mean, that everyone will have that opinion.

To be honest, I think the synopsis of the book tells way too much. I did go into this book a bit more blind because I didn’t read the back of it, but after finishing, I would say that it should have been more vague.
Second of all, I don’t know how I thought that this book could be read without reading Mindwalker first. You definitely should read that one first so you understand certain aspects of the world better.

So let’s get started with the book!
I liked this one a bit less than the first book, but it’s still a nice Sci-Fi book in my opinion.
I enjoyed the characters and the whole „coming out of a tech-free cult and now I am a cyborg“ thing. Also, the critic of capitalism and tech firms? Love it.
Sometimes, I couldn’t understand everything to its fullest. I read an early draft of this so maybe some sentences will be edited for clarity, or maybe because English isn’t my mother language, I had some hiccups.

The plot and the plot twist are very cool. Some plot twists I guessed right away, but others surprised me.
The love story was also a nice touch but could have been a bit more teased early on for my taste.

Overall, I enjoyed my reading time, and Kate Dylan is an author I would read again!

Conclusion
A nice Sci-Fi book, which I enjoyed!

I absolutely adored Mindwalker so when I saw a second book set in the same universe I was super hyped for it however I found this one just hit below the mark for me. I didn't enjoy it as much as Mindwalker sadly however I did still like the book but the main character, Indra, annoyed me a little bit but I think it's because I'm slowly growing out of the YA books to be honest but the plot I found interesting and was intriged by it, I think the book was well written and thought out so I'm intrigued to see what Kate Dylan will bring out next!

Great YA Sci Fi dystopian adventure. I didn’t realise this was book 2 in a series until the end, can absolutely be read as a standalone.

In a post apocalyptic future a dying girl from an anti-tech cult is saved by a tech company that uploads her consciousness to a cyborg body. But their motivations may be sinister…

This was a really enjoyable cyborg / resistance story. My only issue was that occasionally the MC seemed to have revelations when the reader already knew the thing that was being revealed. Thus these dramatic moments fell flat. But in general, great book for fans of The Matrix, AI etc.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc of this title in exchange for this honest review.

This book just wasnt for me sadly. I tried to read it, but ended up skimming most of it, since i just wanted to be done with it. Probably more a case of it being me rather than the book.

Kate Dylan, the woman that you are. She really went and wrote a book that includes one of my favorite discussions: if you transfer a copy of of the human brain to a robot body are you still human? She even included a dash of sapphic romance as a treat.

Mindwalker is one of my favorite reads of 2022 and Mindbreaker is just as good. I love the world, I love the characters. I especially love a book that can surprise me every time I think I’ve got a twist figured out. This one had me gasping.

Mindbreaker can be read as a standalone but I highly recommend picking up Mindwalker before diving in!

*Thank you so much to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the eARC!

“A robot soldier dressed in human skin.”

I loved Mindwalker—the set up, the story, the world. Mindbreaker, however, I liked a little less. I had a harder time connecting with Indra than with Sil. I think Mindbreaker would have benefitted from a stronger focus on character rather than plot. The main characters felt un-nuanced and the side-characters a little undercooked. Which is jarring in comparison to Mindwalker.

I was delighted, however, to see that Mindbreaker had a sapphic romance.

Overall, Mindbreaker was great, just not as great as its predecessor.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-ARC copy of this book, in exchange for this honest review.

I seriously loved Mindwalker, the futuristic, post-apocalyptic world Kate created was something that felt scarily possible, and Mindbreaker is of a similar nature and in the same world, though instead of our main character being a human with tech, it’s someone who is given no choice but to have her body destroyed and her mind uploaded into a ‘cybotic’ body.

Indra was a brilliant main character, a girl who has never really been allowed to be herself even before the evil tech corporation got their hands on her. And the two main side characters? Nyx is an absolutely adorable friend, you can tell he’d really do anything for Indra, and I loved Tian so much but I won’t say why in this review.

Both Mindwalker and Mindbreaker are full of brilliant twists, but Mindbreaker had even more moments within that tugged on your heartstrings. Sil’s journey was difficult and not without loss, but Indra… I honestly would just like to hug her after finishing this book.

And, if you also enjoyed Mindwalker… absolutely go grab this book right now because you’ll get to say hi to some of the cast!

I honestly loved this book
Is fast paced, thrilling, it reads almost like watching an action movie.
I think the choice of writing not exactly a sequel but a companion novel was a risky one but one that majorly paid off.
The balance of the super High tech world with important and relevant dialogues and questions about bodily autonomy, humanity and human rights is extremely well done and it doesn't come off as preachy nor it distract from the plot of the book

Mindbreaker is a nuanced and electric YA sci-fi novel exploring humanity and agency soaked in cool tech and brimming with rebellion.

It’s hard for me to talk about this book without also talking about Mindwalker, one of my favourite books of the last year and possibly all time! Mindbreaker is somewhat of a companion novel, set in the world readers know and love from the first book, but following a new core cast. Overall, I simply loved getting to revisit the world Kate Dylan has created through a new perspective.

What makes Mindbreaker truly unique is Kate Dylan’s signature blend of tech-fuelled action extravaganza and nuanced exploration of identity and bodily autonomy. These are themes and concepts I’ll never get tired of exploring in fiction and Kate Dylan does it extraordinarily well!

In many ways, Mindbreaker cracks open the bones of this world to dive deeper, explore new perspectives and ultimately, create a much more nuanced experience for readers who’ve read both books.

Indra is, in many ways, a fish out of water. While she is in no way the innocent cult girl Glindell believes her to be, she is ultimately still navigating a world that is largely unfamiliar to her. Subsequently, she is a lot more wary of technology, an internal battle that follows her throughout the book. In my opinion, this personal journey and Indra’s relationship too technology (and her own humanity or lack thereof) is the strongest part of this book and the heart of what makes it stand out.

At times, I think Mindbreaker would’ve benefitted from a stronger focus on character rather than plot. Mostly, because I know that Kate Dylan can do both, something she proves with Indra’s development throughout the book. Ultimately, I just wish we had gotten to know all the other characters on a deeper level, too.

As excited as I was to meet some familiar faces from Mindwalker again, I was ultimately a little disappointed. A lot of the secondary characters felt less complex and nuanced than I expected, something that was particularly jarring when it came to characters I knew from Mindwalker.

Lastly, I cannot talk about the characters without also talking about the delightful sapphic romance in Mindbreaker! I will always root for the gays and, without giving anything away, the development of this relationship was one of my favourite parts of the book. There’s something incredibly satisfying about seeing the themes and internal conflicts Indra struggles with being reflected in and worked through within a personal relationship. I think this is how all romances should be done, honestly. Sweet and nuanced and yet so incredibly thematically aligned? I love to see it!

What would a Kate Dylan sci-fi book be without pondering the nature and boundaries of humanity, right? Indra’s existence and identity relies on a computer, her brain is pure code, her body has been replaced by non-organic parts. It begs the question if she’s even a person anymore. Where does a person end and the code begin?

Mindbreaker also explores themes of consent and bodily autonomy as Indra gets used to her new body and reclaims her agency in how she chooses to use it.

A thread that’s woven throughout the plot and that I found particularly fascinating is a discussion around emotions, pain and limitations as a necessary part of being human. As a bot, Indra can turn off her senses. She can choose to not feel pain (or anything, for that matter), which allows her to make her body achieve impossible feats. However, leaning into this non-human side of her identity comes at a price and the threat of losing her humanity in substantial and permanent ways.

I cannot stress enough how much I love Kate Dylan’s handling of these themes. She draws us in with cool tech and characters with superhuman powers but never avoids the hard questions about the cost of those powers. For all the shiny cyberpunk technology, Mindbreaker is fundamentally and delightfully human.

Well it's not bad but nothing spectacular either, for me. the timeline is some time after Mindwalker, sure, but in this book we're following a new character, focusing on another evil company that "convert" human to be a robot.

the pace felt off, started a bit slow but heavily packed near the end. I didn't vibe with the main characters too. It's fun to see how he Analog Army is doing but still, Indra isn't as sassy as the queen Sil.

The plot twist also didn't surprising like Mindwalker. So yeah.

This book is about cults and a character who is trying to escape it, and I LOVED it!

After being sold to a company by her own family, Indra has to deal with her newly reprogrammed body and her mind trying to figure it all out. I found the writing to be much better and the main character to be even more interesting than Sil Sarrah. I can't remember much of the previous book, but this felt more high stakes and fun. I found Tian's character also interesting, as well as the pacing being more fast and precise.

Overall, fun dystopian novel about the tech industry and mind control that will leave you holding onto the edge of your seat!

Mindbreaker offers a gripping journey into a dystopian sci-fi landscape set in a futuristic New York. The protagonist, Indra, grapples with the consequences of her cult upbringing, facing a series of daunting choices.

Indra's character is well written, portraying resilience in the face of a bleak future. Indra has a cute sapphic romance that was the heart of the story for me. I loved the whole cast of characters and the found family dynamic this book has.

While Mindbreaker can be enjoyed as a standalone, if you have previously read Mindwalker it might add some nice little nods and updates for past characters.


Thank you to NetGalley and HarperAlley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

"A technological marvel. An ungodly abomination."
Last year I read and loved Mindwalker, and as soon as I saw that sequel was available on netgalley I had to request it and read it. Took me months to read and it's now a publication day, but I finally read it and loved it even more than I expected.
I didn't think a cyborg girl with religious trauma would be so relatable, but here I was devouring pages.
Are you your body or your brain? That's an interesting concept to be explored and I loved the way it was handled here. Same world as Mindwalker, but main character is a different person who later meets Sil and gang and things happen that made me squeal and chuckle and hold my breath.
"A ghost in the machine."
Tian became my favourite almost immediately, I loved Indra too, but Tian was definitely one who made me want to read more about her.
"After our ancestors bombarded the planet with enough radiation to make the oceans glow in the dark, the population dwindled to near-extinction levels. Even a hundred years on, we’re still down to four habitable continents, a dozen-odd reclaimed cities, and less than half a billion people."
I also love how this futuristic world is fascinating and scary at the same time. Corporations are using other people for profit, using and manipulating their brains and bodies and if you thought they were the worst in the first book, you should see what they are up to in this one.
Religious cults and digital souls, people altering their appearances at will and hackers and rebels trying to hack and rebel against the unjust system.
And have you seen the covers? These are some beautiful books.

**I was provided with an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

This is a companion sequel to Mindwalker and you bet I enjoyed this new adventure just as much!

Mindbreaker has us returning to the wholly immersive, post-apocalyptic cyber punk type world that Kate Dylan has imagined this time following Indra, a young girl who grew up in a religious anti-tech cult who in order to save her life has turned to Glindell Technologies for a cure and has thus been expelled from her order.
However, she finds that the deal she made was to have her mind uploaded and housed in a new robot body and though she may look the same she begins to wonder how much of her actual self remains. And when she begins to discover something is up with her memories it poses the question of whether Glindell really had her best interests in mind or if there is something else going on.

Dylan’s writing seamlessly folds you back into this fascinating yet somewhat horrifying universe with a story exploring themes of autonomy and denouncing corporate greed that is just as action packed as you’d expect.

Indra is such a compelling protagonist to follow. Equal in determination to Sil from Mindwalker though a tad more naïve and a hell of a lot more impulsive with her act first think later demeanour. She is again a character you want to immediately root for and her journey in particular was all the more interesting to follow as there was a bigger focus on her inner conflicts.

Due to this I found that the overarching plot was a little less clear until the second half of the book but I liked the more personal and introspective nature of the narrative. This allowed for a great balance of Indra coming to terms with her own self and seeing how those around her have shaped her into who she is and is still becoming.

The supporting characters are absolutely brilliant too! There is a wholesome platonic friendship as well as a slow-burn romance that will pull on your heartstrings just as much! Plus to add a cherry on top of the cake there are some cameos to look forward to also and the interactions all around are gold!

That being said you can definitely go into Mindbreaker not having read Mindwalker but honestly when you have two fantastically written and thrilling sci-fi books to entertain yourself with why only read one?

Whatever Kate Dylan writes next, I will be there 🫡
Final Rating – 4.5/5 Stars

Darker vibes than Mindwalker but so well done! Think Robocop but an anti tech cult girl instead of a cop. Great exploration around autonomy and the power tech companies hold.

Mindbreaker followed a whole new cast of characters but has a well done appearance of the characters from Mindwalker.

This was a fantastic follow up to Mindwalker. Kate Dylan poses some very interesting questions about what a futuristic world would look like.

The main character is a bit naïve but the struggle for her between big tech and her religious upbringing was really well done. And some of the twists at the end were just *chefs kiss*.

Indra was born into an anti-tech, religious cult. A forbidden trip gives her a terminal condition where she is becoming paralyzed. To be saved she is forced to sign her life over to Glindell Technologies. Instead of saving her body, they upload her mind to the experimental Minddrive and house her in a robot body. She looks exactly the same, but is she the same? She then starts having problems with her memory, finding herself in places with no idea how she got there, and she has newfound abilities. When there is an attack on Glindell's biggest rival, she fears the worst. With the help of Tian, her only friend at the company, she must uncover the truth and stop Glinell's insidious plans.

"Today's the day my parents decide whether to sell me or let me die." With this absolutely chilling line begins our return to the world of Mindwalker and I'm so excited. This is a story of a different part of that world with new characters, but just as impressive as ever. Emotive, evocative and poignant are a few words that come to mind as you enjoy the author's compelling prose.

The building of this post-apocalyptic, tech-savvy world tickles your imagination so it can roar. The sci-fi element with all the cool technology is thrilling and mind-blowing, though beautifully integrated into the story to feel natural and grounded. My brain did not hurt to understand it which is a major plus.

The all-enveloping, gives-us-the-full-picture-of-what-is-going-on POV digs deep into the protagonist's psyche. The result is pulling the readers' heartstrings in such a way we feel Indra must be protected all at cost. I love the irony of the girl who grew up being taught technology is bad becoming tech herself. The antithesis between understandably grumpy, cynical, basically lonely Indra and boisterous, trying to excel at my job, whip-smart Tian is absolutely smile-worthy. their rough around the edges relationship and its evolution are a joy to read. There is also a certain character with silver hair you will love. And yes a certain 'Army' does come into play. Yipee!

There is such an enticing sense of foreboding and intrigue, a drive from the gripping narrative and the unfurling of the plot to keep you turning the pages with an 'I need to know what's happening right now' gusto. Science fiction that is just a bit terrifying in its implications which is just as it should be. A constant undercurrent of danger makes it properly nailbiting.

The ever-present question of whether technology is good or bad colors this tale. How much should we give in the name of 'progress'? The Big Brother threat lurks as does the big bad monster of corporate greed. It deals with our humanity and what it is to be human. What makes you, you.

Thought-provoking, dystopian, tech-infused sci-fi that will satisfy your adventurous spirit. There is wit, there is action, there are surprises, there are heart-clenching scenes, and there are so many reasons to love this book.

After reading Mind Walker last year and it being one of my top ten it’s safe to say Kate Dylan has become an instant buy author. Mind Walker had it all and you bet I was ready to enter the world Dylan created again. I knew it would be good, I just didn’t know how good!

We meet Indra Dyer who was born into a religious cult and as such lived a simple tech-free life. Only when an illicit trip to the city leaves her with a debilitating and terminal condition Indra must decide to either die faithfully or betray her Order and accept the cure from Glindell Technologies. But when have corporations ever had people’s best interest in mind? Indra is horrified after signing over ownership of her life that instead of saving her fully they have uploaded her mind to a first-of-its-kind MindDrive housed in a fully robotic shell.

On the outside Indra looked the same but on the inside she isn’t so sure. She keeps having blackouts, finding herself in places she shouldn’t be with no memory of how she got there and then there’s the dangerous abilities she can’t explain. So when news breaks of an attack against Glindell’s biggest rival, Indra suspects the worst. It’s only with the help of Tian, a research assistant with questionable morals and a smile that won’t stop, she plans to uncover the truth behind the procedure that saved her life before Glindell can use it to change the face of technology and what it means to be human forever.

Wow. That is the first word that comes to mind. Mind Breaker has all the elements I love in Science Fiction and action as well. It’s non-stop with an interesting protagonist who I quickly grew attached to. Between the action and intrigue we also have a deeper exploration of what it means to be human and how far we will go to keep that humanity. Dylan has once again taken the best bits from the genres and created a memorable cast of characters and a kickass plot and sprinkled with a bit of romance to finish it off.

I have to admit I loved and still love Sil so while I was excited I wondered if I could possibly like Indra as much? The answer is yes! Indra is a brilliant protagonist. She’s got depth and such a good personality. I adored her and Tian’s banter. And, tiny spoiler, I had a massive fangirl moment when Indra meets and interacts with Sil! Yes Sil makes an appearance too! One thing I like about Dylan is that her characters are ultimately so human and well rounded. It's hard to go in detail without spoilers but trust me when I say they seem to come off the page. And that applies to the supporting characters as well.

In terms of the characters leaping off the page it ties in perfectly to discussing Dylan’s writing style and how she manages to portray and flesh out all the characters when the narration comes from Indra throughout the novel. Sometimes with novels set in a first person narrative I find that, personally, we don’t get enough information or feeling of characters around the ‘protagonist’ or rather the views are biased to that character. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn’t but with Mind Breaker Dylan manages to balance this meaning that while we get Indra’s insights as it were to characters we also get enough of the characters actions and interactions to build our own knowledge of that person.

So if you are wondering if Mind Breaker will be as a good as Mind Walker the question is did you really need to ask? It’s an amazing second book that can be read standalone as a bonus but if you haven’t read Mind Walker do yourself a favour and grab a copy now. If you have, get ready for another favourite. You can bet I will be bothering people about both Mind Walker and Mind Breaker now. If you love science fiction, heroines like Black Widow or Major Motoko Kusanagi, books with action, adventure and an amazing cast of characters you will adore Mind Breaker (and Mind Walker too!)

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This was another great cyberpunk read from Kate Dylan. Indra was a relatable main character despite being in a very unique situation. The themes that came to a head at the end really make you think our own world.