The Eye of Minds (The Mortality Doctrine, #1) by James Dashner

The Eye of Minds (The Mortality Doctrine, #1) Reviews

• 
  dyanne

  My thoughts after I finished this book:
  What the HELL did I just read?
  
  James Dashner's writing style is nothing like anything I've ever read, or anything I ever will read.
  It's simple and complex at the same time. It is full of so many contradictions, so many layers, so much depth that it's really impossible to describe his books.
  
  The thing about James Dashner:
  He does everything for a reason.
  
  No detail is too trivial. No plot twist too big or small. Everything matters. In the end, when everything fits together, it counts. It matters. You read the book a second time and realize how much he was leading you on to that big AHA moment.
  It's amazing, really.
  
  This book is classified as science fiction, but it's really not limited to one genre. At times, there were more than one elements that contributed to a mystery, or a horror, or a realistic-fiction, or even an action/adventure type of atmosphere.
  
  And that ending!
  James Dashner has written a complex, intriguing, action-packed book that might even come to rival the Maze Runner series. And for that, I have to raise my glass to you, Mr. Dashner.
  
  But really, why did the book end like that?
  
  
• 
  Kelly Brigid ♡

  “Who knows the true definition of real?”

  
  
  
  Real ˈ
  /rē(ə)l/ adjective.
  1) "Actually existing as a thing or occurring in fact; not imagined supposed."
  2) "(of a substance or thing) not imitation or artificial; genuine."
  
  According to Google's definition of real (dictionaries are a thing of the past), anything that is not artificial or an imitation is real. Therefore, everything in a virtual reality is purely a figment of our imagination. Ah, but the question is, is the VirtNet real? If we are able to manipulate our brain to experience basic emotions and feelings, then where is the line that defines what's real and what's not? A virtual reality is actually oxymoronic in its name; virtual means non-existing, but a reality refers to the state of things as they actually exist. So, how can a non-existent reality exist? If our brains are intertwined to this false world, will the connection between real and not real no longer exist? The average human brain consists of over a thousand trillion connections, which is more links than that of all the world's computers combined. Is it possible to possess the technology to connect our brain with a false reality? And what if, a virtual reality and our reality were one in the same, and we could freely choose to enter...or leave either to go to the other? Yes, I adore the concept of virtual realities...which is why The Eye of Minds was a dreadfully tremendous disappointment for me.
  
  To be perfectly honest, I don't remember much of this book...then again, I didn't remember half of it the day after I read it, anyway. Not that it matters.
  
  
  
  You want to know the main reason I didn't fancy this book?
  

  Mundane
  Insipid
  Characterless
  Ho-hum
  Annoying
  Eerie
  Loser

  
  I think that summarizes his character very well. I truly believed that Dashner could create a likable protagonist, but alas, Michael makes Thomas look like the greatest character in the history of young-adult fiction. Michael is without doubt, the most dreary, lifeless piece of burnt rat on a stick of a protagonist I've ever had the misfortune to read about. Sure, you can make a character unlikable, but apparently it's possible to make them a complete stranger by the end of the novel too. I couldn't even remember what color his hair was, for crying out loud. Michael was just...odd. Allow me to give you an example of his train of thoughts...
  
  

  "Everwhere Michael looked, he saw perfection. Perfect hair, perfect clothes, perfect muscles, perfect legs.
  
  'Not my cup of tea,' he thought with a smile. He preffered dorky girls with messy hair and potato chip crumbs on their shirts."

  
  ...Potato chips?
  
  
  
  You have exquisite, and awfully peculiar taste in women, Michael. Am I the only one who finds this a little strange?
  
  At least The Maze Runner had several appealing side-characters. I could deal with Thomas being a boring Gary Stu, because I worshiped the very ground Minho, Newt, and Chuck walked on. Michael, Bryson, is there even a difference between you two? I honestly couldn't tell who was who when they were in the same room. And it didn't help that the the book was written in third person. Which is another problem I had - why not first person? I personally think the story would've flowed better that way, but the POV is probably the book's least concern. And then there's Sarah, aka lackluster love interest. Congratulations James Dashner, you have done it again! You have successfully created, yet another, pointless relationship between two uninspiring individuals, purely so you could have romance! Bravo!
  
  
  
  Why can't James Dashner learn how to develop characters? Please! All I'm asking for, is one thought-provoking character, with flaws that he/she learns to overcome throughout the course of the novel. But, no, they're all a bunch of robots that I couldn't care less about. Even the antagonist, Kaine, is underdeveloped.
  
  I've ratted on James Dashner's writing multiple times...and I'll do it again. Show, don't tell! I feel like this book was written for an 8-year-old to comprehend. I'm not retarded, I can understand what Michael is feeling without you repeating it a thousand times! His writing hasn't improved since The Maze Runner, and has quite possibly gotten worse. I know, I didn't think it was possible either. The English language is incredibly complex, because it's a hodgepodge of many languages. I love stumbling upon a word that I don't know the meaning to, and trying to decipher its Latin or Greeks roots if it has any. I wasn't able to do that with The Eye of Minds though, because it was obviously written to be discerned by children. The Coffin, The Path, The Sleep, The Wake..etc. Capitalizing a common noun doesn't sound clever, it's tacky.
  
  
  
  The Godforsaken Plot. A cyber-terrorist, who goes by the pseudonym Kaine, is a hacker that is holding users hostage in the VirtNet. The government decides to fight fire with fire, and force Michael and his comrades to catch Kaine, or else they'll cut his Wi-Fi. I'm dead serious. Michael must trek off-grid and follow The Path, in order to apprehend the terrorist. Here's where it all goes wrong. The fate of the world is at stake, and rather then inquire the help from, gee I don't know, professionals, the government decides to ask 3 teenagers for help! Jolly good idea! Oh, and I've got it! If they don't cooperate, we will sever their Wi-Fi! Dun, dun, dun!!! Even more preposterous, is that the very second they threaten to cut them from the VirtNet, Michael, Sarah, and Bryson agree to risk their life without a second thought! Apparently, if they can't play World at Warcraft, their life is obsolete.
  
  The plot drags on...and on....and on. For 75% of the book Michael and his friends are on the deadly Path. Ooh, mysterious. It's pretty much like that one Bruce Lee movie where each floor accommodates a harder foe than its preceder. And all the characters are absolute idiots, so naturally, it takes them forever to defeat each room, floor, zone, or whatever you want to call it.
  
  I also wanted to know how they code. They're hackers! I want to know how and what they're hacking. All we get our stuff like:
  
  

  "They were still on their hands and knees like him, only they were concentrating, eyes twitching back and forth behind closed eyelids, frantically working the code."
  
  "Every once in a while, he closed his eyes to look for anomalies in the code or anything that stood out. But it was all solid."
  
  When finished coding, he opened his eyes and rubbed them- they were always a little bleary after linking to the code.

  
  Ugh...
  
  The Twist Ending. I do admit, this is the one part of the book that was actually pretty neat...even though the chapters leading up to it were confusing and made no sense. So, Michael successfully exited the Grid! He was a Program the whole time! Oh wait, I'm thinking of something else...
  
  
  
  To be fair, Michael didn't Pinocchio it up and become a real boy. He just possessed an already existing body, which was actually pretty interesting. I feel pretty bad for whoever had the unfortunate luck of being the possessee. That's gotta suck.
  
  The Eye of Minds may try to lure you in with it's title, but it'll be an utter waste of your time.
  
  
• 
  Jon

  
  Check out Scott Reads It! for giveaways, reviews & more!
  
  Thank you to the lovely Go Flash Go! from Read, Rinse, Repeat! It was so kind of you to send me TEoM and I really appreciate it ;) Thanks for being awesome!!!
  
  
  The Eye Of Minds was one of my most anticipated read of 2013 and it definitely delivered. I have been a huge, huge James Dashner fan ever since I first read The Maze Runner in my pre-blogging days. I consider myself a member of the Dashner Army, and I was so happy when Go Flash Go! sent me a copy of this book. Warning: This review may consist of a lot of fanboying and ranting. That being said, I loved The Eye Of Minds!
  
  
  I was pretty worried that The Eye Of Minds would be too similar to Ready Player One, which I really enjoyed. Sure, the books have very similar premises, but they have few similarities beyond that. Seriously, don't be dismissed by the few similarities and think of it as a "YA Ready Player One rip-off". The only reason I chose to address this concern is because so many people on Goodreads have commented that this book sounds way too similar to Ready Player One.
  
  The Eye Of Minds is everything readers have learned to expect from James Dashner: a thrilling plot, fantastic characters, subtle romance, and incredible world-building. James Dashner never disappoints! The Eye Of Minds is definitely a page-turner and I zoomed through this book faster than I expected. I only planned on reading a few pages, but I actually I ended up reading 100's of pages and a few hours went by. This book is absolutely riveting and it's incredible how easily I was immersed in this story.
  
  The plot is incredibly original with enough action, adventure, and romance to satisfy readers. James Dashner has a knack for creating such tense, action-packed books and I absolutely loved this one. Gah. Don't even get me started on the incredible plot twists that were just so unexpected and absolutely epic. If you've read The Maze Runner series, you know that Dashner knows how to create terrifying creatures like the Grievers and Cranks. Once again, Dashner has created an extremely terrifying species of creatures called the Killsims. I really don't know how to do the Killsims but they are freaking scary.
  
  The world building in EoM is thorough, extremely original, and perfectly executed. The world Dashner created is a world that I would love to live in, on one hand, but on the other hand this world scares the bejeezus out of me. Seriously, I would love to use the Virtnet without all the complications that occur in EoM. Doesn't a virtual reality sound so epic? I am the type of person who would get so addicted to the VirtNet that I'd probably lose sight of reality. Maybe I don't really want to use the VirtNet after all. It doesn't matter if you think you would love the VirtNet, it's impressive how intricate the world Dashner created is.
  
  Lastly, our protagonists in EoM are the kinds of characters that I love to read about. Michael, Bryson, and Sarah aren't perfect; they each have their fair share of flaws and faults. The thing is because of their faults and the fact that Dashner doesn't try to sugarcoat their personalities, these characters feel so realistic. Michael, Bryson, and Sarah are extremely likeable, and I quickly grew attached to them. I loved reading the banter and dialogue between the three, and they definitely made me laugh a handful of times.
  
  Seriously, I'd highly recommend reading this book because it's just so fantastic. Only Dashner could pull off a sci-fi book of this magnitude. I know I'm being very vague in this review, but I'm afraid that I will spoil something by accident. Once again, James Dashner has created a sci-fi book that is unparalleled and I'm dying to read book #2. The only bad thing about this book is how long I have to wait for the following installment in The Mortality Doctrine. Reading The Eye Of Minds is definitely a must!
• 
  Lexie

  UGGHH where to begin with this book. Let me first say before I go in to dislike mode, that I am a James Dashner fan I loved the Maze Runner even though that series didn't end the way I wanted I still enjoyed it (even got my brother & boyfriend to read it, which never happens). I was pretty disappointed about this book the entire time I was reading it, as you saw from my status update earlier. Like I mentioned earlier that I really enjoyed the Maze Runner series it was hard to get into at first because of the slang but once I pushed through I was then engulfed by the story & characters, I was hoping that The Eye of Minds would do the same if I just kept pushing through, sadly it didn't.
  
  The first problem that jumped out to me was how easy it was to convince Michael, Sarah & Bryson to go on this crazy life threatening mission. VSN was just like "hey you guys are smart kids wanna work for us free and stop a crazy madman from killing humans" OKAY :O WTF seriously this didn't raise any red flags to anyone.
  
  As I continued reading I noticed there were sentences that I just didn't need to be there and didn't make a lot of sense why a character would do or say something. There were many scenes that just seemed really fake and forced. Which sucks because I swear I really did want to like Michael, Sarah & Bryson's friendship. Also this felt more of an adult book than a young adult book, but this might be just my impression of the book. There were parts that I felt were just way too complicated and not explained very well. It probably didn't help me either that I read this book plus Rush by Eve Silver back to back, both of these books take place in video game type worlds. So I sometimes ran into some issues with getting the two worlds mixed up. Overall I did enjoy Sarah & Bryson's characters a whole lot more than Michael, if I ever decide to continue this series it will be cause I want to know what happens to Sarah & Bryson, I could care less about Michael.
  
  My heart breaks a little about this book, I wanted to love it but I could've cared less to what happened. Plus it also didn't help that "twists" weren't all that surprising. I don't know how James Dashner went from the Maze Runner series to this book. 2/5 stars
• 
  Karl

  I go off track my reading challenge schedule. I just got a ton of work and I really have to set aside reading the last 100 pages of this book. I hate it when work interferes with pleasure reading. It's just ain't right. Hahaha.
  Okay back to the book.
  5 stars.
  This Dashner novel is very reminiscent of the anime "sword art online".
  
  I really really liked that anime show a lot! Plus I was an avid fan of MMORPG back in my days (It was the dawn of Ragnarok Online)..
  So the inspiration is not really new to me anyway. It felt I was revisiting the old pastime that I had years ago...
  Well the story starts very similar to the japanese anime I was referring to. Instead of using helmets that could connect to virtual reality, it used coffins instead.
  Same action packed adventure along the way where Dashner is good at and boom! It had an awesome twist at the end. I was never really expecting that.
  Having read the maze runner trilogy, I just really hoped that Dashner does not mess it up to the next book. I have high hopes for this series. So please let it be a good one.
  
  Please Mr. James Dashner, make the next book so awesome.
  A year is an agony to read a book that would suck.
• 
  Eden

  That plot twist might've been way out of left field, but it just created more logistics problems. :S And I read this almost in tandem with Brandon Sanderson's Steelheart, which really highlighted for me the main problem with Dashner's books: his writing is so clunky. It's really awkward.
• 
  Irmak

  2.5/5
  Kitap benim için büyük hayal kırıklığı oldu. Çok büyük beklenti ile başlamıştım, konusu çok ilgimi çekmişti ama umduğumu buldum mu derseniz bulamadım.
  Konu çok güzeldi gerçekten her ne kadar Avatar çakması olsa da ( Tabut'a girip kablolara bağlanıp SanalAğ'a geçme kısmı Avatardaki evrene geçiş ile aynıydı neredeyse ) Fakat kitabın anlatımı bana inanılmaz sıkıcı geldi. 3.tekil ağızdan anlatılmış olması beni çok sıktı ama o bir yana yazarın yazım tarzını da sevmedim. Labirent serisini okumamıştım, artık hiç okumam.
  Başta çeviriden olabileceğini düşündüm ama çevirmene bakınca Selim Yeniçeri olduğunu gördüm. Ki kendisinin çevirdiği bir sürü kitap okudum ve hiç bir problem yaşamadım hatta kitapları çok severek okudum. O yüzden bu kitapta problemin çeviri değil yazarın anlatımı olduğunu düşünüyorum.
  Karanlık Zihinlere'e 2 verdiğimi göz önünde bulundurduğumda bu kitaba 2.5'tan daha az puan vermemin de haksızlık olacağını düşündüm.
  Yaaaani diyeceğim o ki Oyun Ustası benim için büyük hayal kırıklığı oldu. Nokta.
• 
  Denisse

  3.5 Not as bad as some people are saying, not as good as I thought it was going be, either. The worst thing is that we're all comparing it with The Maze Runner series, it is not better, so, people get really dissapointed. But I liked some details and plot twists, it is also a very fast-paced book with no wasted pages at all. It has some good funny dialoge...I don't know, is not bad or good, it is just entertaining. It has the possiblility of a very good continuation, hope I can read it soon. I was going to give it just 3 stars, but I really liked the ending.
  
  
  "Who knows the true definition of real?"
  
  
  No soy mucho de las vídeo juegos, de hecho, no soy nada de videojuegos pero sentí que el libro tenia cierta vibra de eso exactamente, del tipo "tienes que pasar pruebas para llegar a la prueba final bla bla bla".
  
  Me gusta la idea, y se plantea de forma rápida y entretenida, pero los personajes no me llegaron tanto, Bryson fue el mejor a mi parecer. No es que los amara u odiara, osea, si me agradaban pero no a un nivel muy emocional XD De todas formas me gustaban los diálogos que tenían entre ellos.
  
  Un futuro donde la gente pasa mas tiempo dentro de un videojuego que en la vida real. Pero la experiencia es tan real que un fallo puede ocasionarte la muerte cerebral.
  
  Me gusta que James no le de tantos rodeos a las cosas, solo las dice y listo, eso le funciono muy bien con su trilogía pasada, pero ya que esta tiene una trama muy centrada en todo sobre programación, o sea, es un poco mas técnica, siento que si hubiera explicado ciertas cosas mas a fondo me hubiera tomado todo el asunto un mas enserio. Pero es un lectura fácil cuando le agarras la onda y rápida si no le pierdes el ritmo. Vuelvo a hacer énfasis en los ENORMES margenes que tenia mi edición y la ENORME letra XD O sera que últimamente he estado leyendo libros con letra chiquita de mas?
  
  
  "A knife is a godsend to the man tied in ropes, death to the man in chains"
  
  
  No creo que sea una lectura para todos, tiene muchos datos técnicos, pero entre todo eso voy a destacar ciertas ideas que me gustaron bastante. 1. LOS KILLSIMS, me gusto su función y las descripciones que teníamos de ellos. Al menos en mi cabeza se ven geniales XD 2. LA ESCENA CON LOS CUERPOS, bastante creepy. Me likes.
  
  No digo que es lo mejor que he leído en mi vida, solo que me parecieron detalles buenos dentro de una novela sin muchos detalles.
  Recomendado si quieres leer algo rápido pero no tan ligero. Según mis gustos, esta seria la típica lectura de "En mitad de mi semestre escolar". No estas tan ocupado, pero no tan libre.
  
  Creo que el final salvo mucho a la historia, me gusto el twist y si leeré la continuación, solo que no ahora.
  
  No te recomiendo compararla contra TMR porque saldrá perdiendo por mucho XD
• 
  Braiden

  Review originally posted at
  Book Probe Reviews.
  
  After I finished reading The Eye of Minds, the first in James Dashner's new YA sci-fi series The Mortality Doctrine, all I basically did was:
  

  1. eat in my sleep...

  
  

  .
  
  

  
  2. run in my sleep...
  
  
  
  
  

  ... then wake up in shock horror.

  
  

  3. play the guitar, pretending I'm a rock god in my own VirtNet...
  

  
  

  
  

  ...while really feeling considerably itchy.

  
  Basically The Eye of Minds will mess with your mind.
  
  Even Sassy attempted to access the VirtNet again...
  .
  

  
  

  
  

  .
  ...but she ended up on the floor because I attempted to as well.

  
  

  Sorry. Too many dogs. 'Twas the only way that I could illustrate without being a pervert and filming myself - when asleep .

  
  

  Dashner's new offering is what you get when you put Rick Riordan's Heroes of Olympus (or any Percy Jackson or Kane Chronicle book) and Michael Grant's BZRK in the same room, with a pinch of Inception or The Matrix to spice up the gene. Loved The Maze Runner? Then doubtless you'll love The Eye of Minds, if not more. Dashner presents the reader with a trio of characters to get behind – Michael, Sarah, and Bryson – as they go on a quest inside the VirtNet to find The Mortality Doctrine and bring down the cyberterrorist Kane in the process. Once you enter the VirtNet with the trio, you won't want to leave – even if you become an unresponsive robot by the end, unable to comprehend a life without technology, transformed into a bunch of coloured pixels struggling to hold themselves together. Lost. Defective. Dea---

  
  

  *System Gone Into Hibernation Until Book #2, The Rule of Thoughts*
  

  
  To think I knew everything that hid up Dashner's sleeves. All those plot twists, all those surprises. But I really didn't. Every turning point in The Eye of Minds surprised me, my fingers bled from the razor-edged pages of the ARC, my skin blistered from how tight I held it. The Eye of Minds had a balanced weight of action, adventure, and suspense, with only a page to give those hopeless romantics something "romantic" to look out for. Dashner knows how to write stories for boys, writing more what boys want – the action and the adventure – than what the Young Adult age category usually dictates and the rules/tropes YA books usually follow. I wouldn't even call the "romance" in this book a romance – it's more of a friendly reminder that you can feel attracted to someone, without spending pages and pages explaining how, or even an entire book.
  
  I found the plot of The Eye of Minds completely original. I found the characters completely refreshing. I found the world completely addictive. There wasn't anything in The Eye of Minds that I didn't like. And because of that, I couldn't let The Eye of Minds depart my hands.
  
  The Eye of Minds is successful at addressing modern issues and future scenarios in a manner that speculates at the rawest level. Would we, in our future, have a Virtual Reality that we can escape to? And what if this perfect escape becomes hell, war-torn, just like the world we had left? The public arena of the internet and media. The identities people hide behind to keep themselves safe – which they never really are. The Eye of Minds is a relevant novel for the technologically advanced – gamers, internet-users, every person that uses technology in this day-and-age. They will find something to relate to in this novel, and with two more books to come in this trilogy there may just be so much more to explore and speculate on than what we were presented with in The Eye of Minds.
  
  I don't want to spoil anything, and it's difficult not to when you just want to talk and talk and talk about it, specifically because the last couple of chapters of The Eye of Minds will BLOW YOUR MIND and you'll wonder why you never had thought about it while you read. All I can really say is that I'll be recommending The Eye of Minds to every boy that walks into my bookstore in October when this book comes out, to every gamer, to every The Maze Runner or Rick Riordan fan. Want an epic sci-fi adventure? Go with The Eye of Minds!
  
  The Eye of Minds is a fast-moving, mind-altering sci-fi adventure that will leave you wanting to get back into the VirtNet as soon as you can, an addiction unsettled.
  
  *Will add more in the coming week*
  

  • • •

  
  

  Books in the Mortality Doctrine:
  1. The Eye of Minds (October, 2013)
  2.
  The Rule of Thoughts (2014)
  3. Untitled (2015)

  
  

  Other books by James Dashner:
  • 
  The 13th Reality
  • 
  The Mortality Doctrine
  • 
  Infinity Ring
  • 
  The Jimmy Fincher Saga

  
  

  Comparable Titles:
  •
  BZRK by Michael Grant
  •
  Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
  •
  The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
• 
  Jeff Raymond

  Sigh.
  
  Okay, if I put on my "would kids like this" hat, this book is pretty great. It's a fast-paced techno-thriller with a lot of twists and turns to keep the story moving along. A good gateway book for reluctant readers, perhaps.
  
  If I put on my "is this a good book" hat, I just want to throw it across the room in frustration and agony. While the book certainly falls in line with Tad Williams's Otherland and Conor Kostick's Saga thematically, it's written more like a Dan Brown or Brad Meltzer book that focuses almost all on moving the plot along than any sort of real characterization or worldbuilding. There's a place for those books, sure, but I'm not sure it's what I want from my sci-fi.
  
  So yes. Worth reading if you work with kids, worth picking up for your kid who isn't much of a reader, but if you're really into reading or an adult reader of YA, beware.
• 
  Jacob

  Eye of Minds is about a gamer named Micheal and his journey through a virtual world called the Vert Net. He was sent by a security system called the VNS to stop an evil figure named Kaine. He journeys far and even losses some friends on the way but at the end of his journey he finds Kaine and it wasn't what he expected.
  
  I liked how this book had so much detail and ho the ending held a big twist. it left me on hanging on and wondering what would happen next. Overall there was nothing that I disliked about this book and if I were to recommend then I would recommend it to anyone who would enjoy a good fictional book.
  
• 
  David Rubenstein

  Such a bad book. Absolutely ridiculous. I couldn't finish it; I got maybe 25% of the way through, but it was mind-blowing; and not in a good way.
  
  Yes, I understand how a virtual reality "game" does not need to be realistic. But even the "real life" aspects are totally without any connection with "real life." Just as an example, why would a government agency kidnap a teenager, and then demand an apology from the teenager when he rebels against his captors? And then, the teenager actually does apologize! And, why would an omniscient, all-powerful psychopath bother to make threats? Just do away with the threats, and be done with it!
  
  At first I thought I would just go along with this separation from reality. I followed the three teenagers through this gruesome virtual reality, but it all seemed so pointless. On and on these brave kids progress, and there just didn't seem to be any sense to it. Maybe, if I continued through to the end, all my questions would be answered. But, life is too short.
• 
  Kali

  When I was reading this I hated the writing style and felt we needed a better a introduction of the characters
• 
  C.P. Cabaniss

  DNF around 18%.
  
  I read the first 10% or so of this in 2014, because it sounded like something I would love. Don't as me why, but I love books (or the idea of books) that are somehow set around gaming. Not being a gamer myself I don't know why this is, but I do. So this sounded like the perfect book for me. I put it aside quickly then, but recently wanted to give it another chance. After listening to an hour and a half or so of the audio, I think I will relegate this one to the DNF pile permanently.
  
  Dashner's writing style is difficult for me to get into and I don't find the characters that compelling. The terminology used within the society he has created also really bugged me, for some reason. It just seemed so...I don't know. It just didn't work for me.
  
  I gave it a second chance and I'm glad I did. I just wish the outcome had been different.
• 
  Burcu

  Neden sağ gösterip sol vuruyorsun be adam! İkinci kitabı verin bana hemen şimdi :(
• 
  سارة سمير

  It was really good!
  On to the next! 😍
• 
  Karen’s Library

  I met James Dashner at a book event last year and at one of his panels, he challenged the audience to read The Eye of Minds. I accepted, bought it, and he signed it for me. I'm a huge fan of Ready Player One and I just finished Warcross, which I thought was pretty good. Being a non-gamer, I figured since I enjoyed those 2, I'd probably enjoy TEOM as well. Hmmmm... Not so much.
  
  It was ok, and I'm giving it an extra star because of the ending and that twist. But, I never really connected with Michael, Sarah or Bryson. In fact, I found it really odd that Michael still had a nanny and that his parents were always gone.
  
  I thought the concept of being hooked up to a feeding tube which enabled you to spend days and days in the game was really creepy. And I hated that in one part of the book there was a game where the entire object was to kill other humans, with no reward, or fulfilled quest at the end... Just kill others.
  
  I love James Dashner and found him to be really funny and endearing in person. I've read The Maze Runner several times and really enjoyed it. Maybe I need to be a gamer to appreciate this book more. Or, maybe it's possible that Ready Player One has ruined me for other gaming books.
• 
  Meli

  Das Ende war so genial ... ich brauch Band 2!!
• 
  W.esley

  I have a problem with the way Dashner writes.
  
  First things first, the book was okay after I finished it. I read The Maze Runner (really liked it) and The Scorch Trials (hated it), so this was my third Dashner book and the book that would sort of solidify my opinion of Dashner. And I've decided I don't like the way he writes.
  
  While I found the book okay as a whole after finishing, it was not fun to read; it was just annoying. Similar to the Maze Runner series, I appreciate the concept and core story (even though I find this one not as unique or creative as Maze Runner) but I don't like what Dashner's built around it. For me, the book's imagination ends at the concept. Everything in between is so random and frankly, a waste of my time. It was like how every unexplained and illogical thing from Maze Runner was justified by a character vaguely saying, "It's the variables." A cop-out to a more fully developed and completely thought-out idea.
  
  This book, as with The Scorch Trials, comes across as a harebrained creative writing assignment with little to no forethought. Dashner had the beginning and end in mind, and filled the middle with whatever random thing he could muster up for the sake of lengthening the book. My honest guess at his thought process would be:

  Hm...something needs to happen now. What's weird? Tentacles are always weird. Let's make them wires cause this is sci-fi. Okay moving tentacles attack the characters. What next? Talking animals! Those are always strange. What should they say? They should recite something. It should rhyme; rhymes are nice. Okay, it'll be a poem, like the ones every ominous character knows...

  Fitting his directionless ideas into his chunky writing style only makes them worse. He cuts up a single chapter into anywhere from two to eight sub-chapters, with little to no time passing in between these sub-chapters, which makes me wonder why he didn't just hit Enter (maybe hit it twice even) when typing up this book instead of adding a gimmicky little square with a sub-chapter number. Many other books segment chapters, but it usually indicates a change in scenery or a noticeable amount of time passing. The bottom line is that in my opinion, the way he segmented his chapters was rarely necessary, if ever. Does a three page chapter on a small page and 12-point font really need sub-chapters?
  
  Sure, this is a book for young adults, but so is the The Hunger Games and Harry Potter, yet an adult could read the Games or Harry Potter and still enjoy them. The latter's worlds are so thoroughly imagined that the quirks are believable. Dashner's worlds are like sticky tape across the carpet of a public place: they're a collection of raw, unrelated, and discarded half-thoughts.
  
  I usually finish books because I want to know what happens at the end and one of the markers of a good book for me is that I enjoy the entire experience of getting to the end. With Dashner and with Eye of Minds, I just want a two-sentence summary because that's all I believe he has to offer. Everything in between has no value.
• 
  ♥ Rebecca ♥

  This book was pretty meh. At first I thought it reminded me of
  Ready Player One minus the nerd references and the humour. But as it went on it reminded me of Ready Player One less and less. I don't know if I will continue this series or not. I'll see if I ever get in the mood for it again in the future or not.
• 
  Leah

  (1.5 stars) I mean... it had an okay story line and the signature Dashner twist was at the end... I just didn't care much idk. It felt really long.
  
  It was very similar to the movie Ready Player One, I haven't read the book of it yet though.
  
  It's such an interesting concept to meet your friends in VirtNet and chow down on whatever feast your heart desires. You think you're chowing down on poutine and cupcakes, and it tastes like it but in the "waking world" you're actually eating pure healthy nutrients intravenously lol
• 
  Bárbara

  What a ride... Of awfulness.
• 
  Will M.

  
  Kindly skip the sentences that were underlined as they will contain spoilers.
  
  
  Before I get into the review of the novel, I'd like to point out that I was expecting this to be a bad rip off of Ready Player One. RPO's one of my favorite novels, so I had mountain high expectations for The Eye of Minds.
  
  Just like James Dashner's The Maze Runner, this one literally started with a mystery. I kinda like that about Dashner. A mystery at the very beginning tends to make the reader speculate possible events, although with that style, consistency is a must.
  
  Honestly there were a lot of problems with this novel. Some that cannot be overlooked.
  
  Michael, Sarah, and Bryson are best friends, but only in the VirtNet, not in the real world. That's not the problem though, the problem was that they were described as the smart ones. Sure, conceitedness is very evident in most novels, but like I said, consistency is necessary. They were introduced as smart kids, so I was expecting them to actually be smart. But blindly accepting VNS' mission/forced task was clearly stupid . Yes, I know they threatened Michael, and also cut him off VirtNet, and that triggered his choice to accept the mission, but, if he's really smart, he could've found a way out of the threat. But instead, he dumbly followed VNS. Thus causing havoc in his life.
  
  Another terrible thing I noticed was that Dashner didn't explain a very important concept well, and that's tangent. I understood tangent as something from my Trigonometry class, those who aren't computer nerds would be unsure of the meaning. I did use my context clues skills and decided to conclude that the meaning of tangent here was something that exists because it was made, and something in a computer. I wanted to be certain though, so I decided to check it out on the net. Here's what I got from Urban Dictionary:
  
  Mathematician who got back from the beach.
  
  Noun: A completely and utterly worthless computer company that sells blocks a shit, aka laptops, to college students.
  
  one that is
  a. radio disc jockey that touches a circle of toenails at one toenail
  b. a polar bear
  c. an idiot of the 270th degree; three pie halves in radians
  
  My point being, the author should've clearly described what the hell tangent meant. I'm sure that some people would say "use your common sense, it's so obvious that it's all about computer shit", well, that's your opinion of it. I did speculate about it having to do with computers, so I guess I used my common sense.
  
  Now, to talk about things that I liked about this, as to support my 4 stars.
  
  Kaine. He was very likeable, especially this being a YA novel. Most antagonists in YA tend to become boring and weak. Kaine on the other hand, proved to be the monstrous devil he clearly was. In fact, I liked him more than all of the protagonists combined. That's not necessarily bad in a novel, one liking the antagonist more, but clearly the author intended Michael and his friends to be superior.
  
  The huge plot twist in the end, and the one near the end were very good. I did not see them coming, that being said, the rating from 3 moved up to 4. Without those plot twist of Kaine being a tangent, then Michael being a tangent, this would be one hell of a mediocre novel.
  
  One more thing that I liked would be, believe it or not, the somewhat non-existence of romance in this novel. That was a huge thing for me, as I was expecting little romance, if not none because of the blurb. Most, if not all, YA novels revolve around romance, and most of the time, it should be called forced romance. I guess most YA authors write for the ladies, and that's why I really filter out YA novels, and only read the ones that were meant for both genders. This novel was not chick-lit, not even a little. It was also not romance-YA-lit. That being said, this actually turned out to be a good novel for me, in terms of that standard. The only hint of romance would be of Michael and Sarah in the end, where they promised each other stuff. But that could also be interpreted as a best friend gesture, idk, it depends on the reader I guess.
  
  Another thing I'd like to point out before ending this review would be the ignorance of people when it comes to the blurb/synopsis of the novel, or even the genre at all. Kindly read it first, and decide if you really want to read the novel. Don't just read something because of the hype it's been receiving, because if the blurb bored the hell out of you, what more would the novel. I'll be honest and say that I tend to read novels without really reading the blurb, and end up hating the novel. Although if a person didn't like the blurb, but ended up loving the novel, then that makes the author a really good writer. A very difficult thing to achieve, so I'd suggest the reading of the blurb properly part.
  
  The huge plot twist would result into an obvious sequel, and I heard that this was going to be a trilogy, and I can't wait to read the next book. This had an original plot, and I guess I really liked this one. I didn't mind the "writing style" of Dashner, that everyone seemed to hate. It was bearable, for me at least. A solid 4 stars, and I'd like to point out that this may bring back hope to the YA genre(alongside Steelheart- Brandon Sanderson), for me at least. If you're a Sci-Fi fan, I'd give this one a try. It was a good short read, not disappointing, but also not amazing. Kindly remind yourself that this is a YA novel, so don't expect much. Bad world building, and mediocre character development. In terms of YA though, this could be considered amazing, especially when compared to others of the same genre.
  
  
• 
  ⭐Anny⭐ (Book Princess)

  This wasn't bad, but it wasn't especially good either. The Eye of Minds was a very quick read though, and I can see teens, especially boys, liking the book.
  
  What I liked:
  - the action and fast pacing. There was a lot of action that kept the story going.
  - the easy writing style. It made for a really quick read.
  - the overall idea. It wasn't anything new (consider Ready Player One), but I still think virtual reality is am exciting topic to explore.
  - the final plot twist, I didn't see that coming!
  
  What I didn't like:
  - the characters. I didn't connect to any of them. Especially Michael, the MC, struck me as really naive. There wasn't much character development either.
  - not enough world building (both in game and in reality). Some interesting concepts were there, but they weren't explored enough.
  - some scenes were unnecessary brutal, especially for a ya book. There's a reason certain pc games are for certain age groups only.
  
  In conclusion, The Eye of Minds kept me entertained for a couple of hours. The idea was good and well executed, but there wasn't nearly enough character development. I'd recommend the books for teenagers who like gaming and the concept of virtual reality, I myself won't continue with this trilogy.
• 
  soren karimi

  من انتظار نداشتم چیز چندان دندون‌گیری باشه، و اصلاً قصد نداشتم بخونمش، منتها یه نگاهی که انداختم جذب شدم. شروعش واقعاً خوب و درگیرکننده‌ست. خوب هم جلو می‌ره، منتها از اواسطش دیگه برای من جذابیتی نداشت. دنیا و تکنولوژیش رو که بارها توی کتاب‌ها و فیلم‌های دیگه دیدیم و خود داستان هم... پیش‌بینی‌پذیره و چیز خاصی ارائه نمی‌ده. ولی خب داستان خوبیه. یعنی برای کسی که تازه شروع کرده و مخاطب هدف این کتابه (نوجوان‌های زیر هجده سال گمونم) احتمالاً خیلی بیشتر از من لذت ببره از این مجموعه. من هم دوستش داشتم، ولی خب دلیلی نمی‌بینم ادامه‌اش بدم. راجع‌به چیزی کنجکاو نیستم به اون صورت.
  شاید اگر کوتاه‌تر بود، مثل مجموعه ربات آدم‌کش می‌نشستم همه‌اش رو می‌خوندم. ولی خب کوتاه نیست.
  
• 
  Tina ➹ Woman, Life, Freedom

  3.5 Silver Stars
  with Golden Sparks?
  
  (rounding up because the first 60% & the ending)
  
  it began brilliantly, intriguing & exciting & funny. near the end, all these colour & spice was gone & I lost my interest gradually, which is why it took longer than I expected (exactly after the old man & his minions)
  though I once considered the glimpse of the ending (only once in the middle of the story, I guessed that it might be the case, but I forgot), so it surprised me when it happened.
  it was exciting, but sometimes, there were too much action description, without any dialogue or fun. just straight forward action. it bored me sometimes.
  
  Virtual reality & Gaming, so I compare this one with those I've read:
  I liked it better than
  Ready Player One, but less than
  Warcross
• 
  Lilac

  This book surprised me for the better. I didn't expect it to be bad, as I'd already enjoyed the Maze Runner series, but because I'm not keen on video games I thought maybe I wouldn't enjoy it as much. I was very wrong. Whether you like video games or not you can definitely find enjoyment in The Eye of Minds. It's almost like an adventure or fantasy book except that everything that going on isn't actually real, it's all in the world of the VirtNet.
  
  Yes, the plot was very interesting and action packed, not boring in the slightest. And that ending was really mind blowing. I didn't see that coming and for a while after I finished it I was just sat there puzzling it all out. It's been a while since I've read a book with such an unexpected twist.
  
  The characters on the other hand, they were just, well... average. There wasn't a lot of depth to the characters and Bryson and Sarah especially seemed a little stereotypical. Still, the fast paced plot makes up for that. This book is a complete page turner and is perfect for anyone, male or female (especially male) from around 11 years old. It's even better than The Maze Runner and I eagerly await the sequel.
  
  (I won this book through Goodreads First Reads (and am so glad that I did))
• 
  Leahxx

  This was definitely a different kind of book. I didn't love it, but I also didn't hate it. There were parts that were very interesting and parts that kind of bored me. The writing style wasn't my favorite ever and some of the wording and descriptions and such felt weird to me. There was a lack of flow, everything happened very fast. It was kind of hard to follow. The characters were likable, but also sort of generic. Their personalities won't stick out in my head at all. The ending was neat, but didn't entice me enough to make me want the next book right now. I like the originality of the plot, but don't think it's one of the best books I've read by any means.
• 
  Maryam

  چشم ذهن
  همون کتابی بود که لازم داشتم ، تو یه دنیای مجازی و دور از دنیای واقعی ، با آدمای مجازی رفت و آمد میکنی ( این قبل آشنایی با تو بودااا مریم)
  بغل های مجازی ، دست دادن های مجازی ، خوراکی های مجازی ، خلاصه که همه چی مجازیه و این خیلی باب میلم بود ، جلد اول رو باید بازخوانی کنم ، جلد دوم و سوم رو گرفتم ولی متاسفانه درس و امتحان نمی ذاره بخونمشون ، تازه جلد اولم باید بازخوانی بشه🙄
  اگه خدا بخواد این درس و امتحانا کم بشه با کمال میل شروع میکنم به خوندنش:)
  اگه میخوای چشم ذهن رو بخونی ، استخاره نکن ، بعضیا می گن چشم ذهن مثل چلنجر دیپِ که هیچی ازش نمی فهمی ، اتفاقا چشم ذهن یک متن روون و ساده داره ، که همه حساشونم قابل لمسه.