Mindwalker by A. J. Steiger has many elements of dystopian and non-dystopian novels I have read before and yet it kept me interested until the very last page.


In a world run by shrinks , Lain is a mindwalker who helps people erase traumatic memories. Her relationship with Steven a.k.a the bad gorgeous guy is not very memorable , though. I wouldn't say the romantic part of the book is its most relevant feature, I found Steven bland to say the least. Their love affair failed to attract me but I do understand the behaviour of that character ,given the horrible experience he went through as a child.


What will make your continue reading is the original ideas developed by the author. A. J. Steiger depicts a society in which citizens are classified according to their mental health.Type Ones are healthy enough to be members of the government or to have a relevant role . Type Fives , however, are bound to have all their memories deleted to prevent them from committing crimes. People are constantly scanned and checked and the slightest offence can make anybody lose his or her citizen's rights . If you think you are not strong enough to take this pressure , there is even a legal drug that can help you pass away painlessly. The moment you get the prescription you are officially considered dead whether you take it or not.


I think that the book reflects how we tend to classify people one way or another , unfairly most of the time and how difficult it is to escape from prejudices.

Mindstormer, the second novel , will probably show us the way the characters finally overcome this oppressive society.

www.theleisurediaries.blogspot.com9 s Aoife Lennon50 58

This was bloody brilliant.......too bad I have to wait until 2017 for the sequel! :( So fast-paced! fiction library library-tallaght-ballyroan-etc9 s Mila Bleeke10 3

This book is just one big stereotypical Dystopian YA novel (there will be a sequel). I received an ARC.

The main character is a strong female character who is a Mindwalker. A Mindwalker can go into peoples' memories and wipe them away for the better. Well she runs into this boy and he has some bad memories, but he is a type 4 delinquent, so she should stay away from him, but she's intrigued.

This book was so disappointing to me. Strong female character who realizes the government is doing something wrong, so she rebels with the help of a male sidekick who is also her love interest. There's so many books that are this and it wasn't interesting at all. A book is coming out this month that is supposed to be almost it.

The writing was pretty good and all, but I don't think the book was worth it. There's supposed to be a sequel, but I don't think I will even read it. It didn't even leave off on a cliff hanger.7 s Liz550

4.25/5

I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed Mindwalker. I didn’t actually know too much about it before I started reading so I was a bit hesitant, but it ended surpassing my expectations. I have read so many dystopian books at this point that I really didn’t think anything could impress me anymore - but Mindwalker did! It’s a slightly different approach to the genre that I haven’t seen in many books (if I had to compare it to something, maybe a cross between Minority Report and Psycho Pass?) and I am looking forward to continuing this series!

Lain was a very interesting heroine. She was almost the opposite of heroines you would usually see in dystopians, Katniss or Tris. She wasn’t a strong fighter, she wasn’t necessarily brave in the face of danger/pain. She wasn’t an excellent strategist. But she was a great character all the same - and this is what I want, guys. Female characters don’t need to kick down doors and throw knives (though that’s pretty awesome too) in order to be strong leading characters. Lain was complex; she was compassionate and sincerely wanted to help people - to the point where it was almost an addiction. She was also loyal but not stupid, and questioned things when she thought something was wrong. I really enjoyed reading about her, and though we didn’t necessarily agree on everything (how on earth did she think bringing Steven to the party was a good idea?!), I could understand her decisions and motives behind them. The way she was able to deal with experiencing other people’s terrible memories as well, to see and feel everything they did in order to know which memories to erase - I don’t think I could have done that. It seemed so horrible and yet she did it for client after client because she really thought that erasing those memories would help them. And even though she was so empathetic and caring, she wasn’t a pushover. She dealt with things rationally (well, most of the time) and calmly. She was good at calming Steven down and in one scene I d that she didn’t just agree to his suggestion of sharing memories in order to get him to trust her. She waited until she was ready to share them, until she actually wanted him to trust her fully.

Steven was another fascinating character. He wanted Lain to illegally erase his memories because he could no longer go down the legal path, and he just couldn’t live with them anymore. He had suffered terrible abuse at a young age and he wanted to forget those memories so he could lead a normal life. He didn’t trust people but you could tell he wanted to trust Lain. And I d that his problems weren’t magically solved by meeting her, you know in those books where the moral of the story is basically “if you find someone to love you, all your problems will go away and any broken part of you will be fixed!”. Yeah, that didn’t happen here, because this book actually went down a more realistic path. Without the Mindwalking procedure, Steven would always suffer from the trauma of what happened to him. He may learn ways to cope and deal with it so that he may lead a regular life - but it would never go away, especially not just because of a girl he met. Steven knew this, Lain knew this. No-one expected anyone to change just because they had feelings for each other. Lain actually cared about Steven, where no-one had ever cared before. She took the time to know him and I the slow way their relationship developed. I also d how they put their feelings aside when they had to in order to accomplish their goals. The romance didn’t interfere with the actual plot, there were no overdramatic miscommunications that slowed things down and dragged things out, which I really appreciated.

Plot-wise, the pacing was practically perfect. The way things developed over time, the way the characters started to realise something wasn’t right…I loved it. Some things were predictable (surrounding Lain’s father and Steven’s true memories) but then again, I’ve read so many dystopians that I would be expected to be familiar with the format. And this book was definitely quite dark, and sometimes disturbing. It explores some serious themes, mostly focussing on mental illness and suicide and the morality behind government intervention (or lack thereof). You sort of have to be in the right frame of mind to read it. I was also very intrigued by certain things that weren’t wrapped up in this book, which is why I’m excited for the sequel. The consequences of the ending, for starters. And also, Ian. He was a curious character. I think he had feelings for Lain but he wouldn’t admit it - and yet he did so much for her. I don’t really want a love triangle, but I would to see more of him.

Overall, I really enjoyed Mindwalker. If you are looking for a new kind of dystopian, or if you’re a fan of things Psycho Pass (a great anime, watch it), then I highly recommend this book.6 s nick (the infinite limits of love)2,120 1,520

3.5/5

The concept behind the book was really cool and the romance was sweet. It's definitely not unique for a dystopian book, but I d how it was executed.
Review to come5 s Michelle1,252 187

When I first heard of Mindwalker it had yet to be picked up by a UK publisher so when I realised it was being published in the UK I as beyond happy.

Lain lives in a world where there is no violence, where people are categorized into numbers, Ones have the best jobs, the best homes, and the better opportunities. Your number is changed according to your threat against society, some even being collared so that if you threaten to harm others you are injected with a sedative to calm you down. Lain has a talent for being a Mindwalker, meaning she can go into other peoples minds to help them forget a traumatic past. abuse, losing family members, etc.

Mindwalker was an interesting read. I did initially struggle with reading this one, I thought it had a slow start, but as the story progressed things got a whole lot more interesting, and dangerous. Lain was a character who I had mixed feelings about. To begin with, for me she was too perfect, to prim and proper and I did find it hard to relate to her. But as the story continues we get to see her break out from her perfect shell as she goes against the rules to help a class friend, Steven. Steven is the bad boy, the boy no-one wants to be near, he is also collared. but he reaches out to Lain to gain her help in forgetting his very traumatic past.

As the plot for Mindwalker got more dangerous I was hooked. I had to know what would Lain do, by helping Steven she is risking her own job, her own number, and her reputation. By ignoring him she is sentencing him to death, abandoning him when he needs her the most. What follows from their meetings is a game of cat and mouse, of the past being revealed, and secrets that were meant to be left buried are beginning to surface.
I love the idea behind Mindwalker, of being able to forget traumatic experiences, or being able to help others through it. But it also comes with its disadvantages. People in power wanting to control the population, keeping them on a tight lease in order to achieve a perfect township. I think that the powers that be took it too far in thier need to control, and by the end of the book I had a lot of respect for Lain and Steven for fighting for what they believe in.

Final Verdict
Although Mindwalker was a slow start, it did pick up a keep me interested in what was going on. After the dramatic ending I am looking forward to seeing what comes next for this unly duo.2 s Constantina ?256 31

Cred c? v-a trecut ?i vou? vreodat? prin minte c? a?i fi iubit mai mult o carte dac? nu a?i fi citit deja altele cu acelea?i elemente. Povestea mea cu acest roman... Totu?i, cred c? e cel mai "dark" din subgenul s?u.

Romanul exploreaz? tema s?n?t??ii mintale
Autor del comentario:
=================================