My Thoughts: The Eye of Minds [DNF/ Bullet Point]

• Age Range: 12 and up 
• Grade Level: 7 and up 
• Series: The Mortality Doctrine 
• Hardcover: 320 pages 
• Publisher: Delacorte Press;
• First Edition edition (October 8, 2013) 
• Language: English 
• ISBN-10: 0385741391 
• ISBN-13: 978-0385741392
• 
  

"Michael is a gamer. And like most gamers, he almost spends more time on the VirtNet than in the actual world. The VirtNet offers total mind and body immersion, and it’s addictive. Thanks to technology, anyone with enough money can experience fantasy worlds, risk their life without the chance of death, or just hang around with Virt-friends. And the more hacking skills you have, the more fun. Why bother following the rules when most of them are dumb, anyway?

But some rules were made for a reason. Some technology is too dangerous to fool with. And recent reports claim that one gamer is going beyond what any gamer has done before: he’s holding players hostage inside the VirtNet. The effects are horrific—the hostages have all been declared brain-dead. Yet the gamer’s motives are a mystery.
The government knows that to catch a hacker, you need a hacker.
And they’ve been watching Michael. They want him on their team. But the risk is enormous. If he accepts their challenge, Michael will need to go off the VirtNet grid. There are back alleys and corners in the system human eyes have never seen and predators he can’t even fathom—and there’s the possibility that the line between game and reality will be blurred forever."- Amazon

My Thoughts:

Okay, I know MANY (many) book bloggers enjoyed this novel, however for some reason; I didn't.
In theory it has everything that makes up an action thriller, mystery, action, and a cool concept. Yet none of that really "connected". So for the sake of simplicity, and because I'm finding it hard to write a coherent review, here's a bullet point critique!

The awkward Sentences
There was something incredibly bizarre about James Dashner's sentences. When I read fast they didn't entirely translate well. I think this may have to do with the unusual phrasing and mannerisms this book encompassed. Keep in mind that unusual mannerisms can be a good, or bad thing.

The characters
Michael was literally defined by being a gamer, there was little personality (so far) beyond that. His gamer friends (which assisted him on his "quest"), were equally fleshed out. I think having a hero without a unique persona stunted the character growth.

The action (ish)
This kinda fits in with the awkward sentences bit. There was tons of combat in The Eye of Minds, but it rarely got through to the reader. It almost like I was experiencing the skirmishes through a translucent bubble, rather than actually being "Immersed" in the battles.

*Apparently there is a huge twist at the end of this instalment, so I'll be reading the last third of  TEOM*

The verdict
I guess what it boils down to is that I wasn't captivated by The Eye of Minds. Don't get me wrong though, I am a fan of James Dashner. His 13'th Reality and The Maze Runner series were great... But in my opinion, the Eye of Minds didn't fully live up to the hype.


 My Rating: 3/5  Reader's Rating: