I was first intrigued by the cover of this book, then read the synopsis, then saw there was an audiobook version- and now here we are…

I quite enjoyed this book, it’s not too slow as to get bored but not too fast that you don’t know what’s going on at any one time- with the exception of the ending. While I did like that it was all tied into a little bow, I have to say the bow wasn't the best. It felt rushed and as if <i>some</i> parts came completely from nowhere.
The narrator was nice to listen to if we disregard the male lines, but that could be because that's not how I imagined them sounding.
Also, as many other reviews mention... 'christ that was' is wayy overused and became annoying at points, breaking the flow and putting my rating at 4 stars.

Though the review sounds mostly negative- the female MC was a cool rebel teenager on the verge of death, the plot was interesting and typical but the good cosy kind of typical, and the sprinkle of romance was sweet.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and Kate Dylan for the arc.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I started Mindwalker. I went in with an open mind and without much information on the plot. Well, WHAT A RIDE. I really enjoyed it, it was a massively fastpaced book with a cast of colourful, interesting and not all likible characters. I would like to re read it just so I can slow it down and pick open the story further.

If you're looking for a fast paced sci fi novel, with a splash of romance and a bucket full of sarcasim then look no further.

"Mindwalker" had an interesting premise and I liked the protagonist, at least when she was acting like an idiot. The plot got by on too many coincidences and the ending was too saccharine to really fit the rest of the novel.

I can’t stop thinking about Mindwalker. To be quite honest, it’s rare these days that books stick with me for days after I’ve finished them. But I keep coming back to this one. I’ve thought about the fun world-building in the shower, contemplated character arcs while doing laundry, and kept coming back to the questions Mindwalker asks.

Besides my love of sci-fi, one of the things that attracted me to Mindwalker was that it kept being compared to Marvel movies. I love superheroes so naturally, this made my ears perk up. Did it hold up to that comparison? Overall, I’d say yes! Our main character, Sil Sarrah, is not really a superhero. But in a different story, she absolutely would be. The girl has a supercomputer in her brain that gives her abilities that are arguably superhuman! However, what really makes Mindwalker worthy of the Marvel comparison is the style and pacing. If you love exciting action scenes that are balanced with emotional moments and humour, Mindwalker checks those boxes.
From page one, Kate Dylan delivers a novel that’s fast-paced but never rushed. I listened to the second half of the book in one sitting because I just couldn’t stop! Reading Mindwalker was the equivalent of getting sucked into a videogame for hours on end, a truly engrossing reading experience. Kate Dylan won me over very quickly with her writing style. She perfectly captures a particular brand of sarcasm with a strong character voice. Basically, I immediately fell in love with Sil.

She’s smart, snarky and just a little too cocky for her confidence to be entirely real. There were so many layers to her character, so many beliefs she held about her life and the world she lives in, that made her an interesting character to follow. I particularly loved reading a sci-fi story from the perspective of someone who, for the majority of the story, is loyal to the Evil Corporation. And it makes sense! Yes, this is a story about resistance, but that hits even harder when we understand how Syntex operates, and why Sil believes in them. We can see the systemic abuse and how deeply unethical a lot of their work is, but we also get to see the good parts of Sil’s experience.

Sil’s character arc and her journey through her own beliefs and ideals are complemented by the characters around her. I loved getting glimpses into other experiences through these side characters. Sil’s experience of her world is incredibly specific and in many ways privileged. Being confronted with characters who are fundamentally against what she has represented her whole life made for interesting points of conflict. Overall, Kate Dylan wonderfully uses the cast of characters around Sil to add depth and nuance to the themes Mindwalker explores.

At its core, Mindwalker is a book about bodily autonomy and consent. And it isn’t a shallow exploration of consent either! It’s woven throughout the book, in big ways and small ones. As a Mindwalker, Sil consented to have a computer installed in her brain. In turn, she can only take over someone’s body with their consent. At least, that’s what she thinks. Mindwalker explores how quickly the lines of consent can become blurry, and how institutions purposefully shift and abuse those lines.

A central question that I kept coming back to while reading was “is consent even possible under these conditions?” When your survival depends on giving up your autonomy, can that ever be consensual?

Mindwalker is an incredibly fun sci-fi novel, the kind that’s propulsive and exciting from page one. It’s fun and engaging and there are so many little world-building tidbits that are exciting to explore. But Mindwalker is also a book that holds space for bigger questions, emerging organically from the story. I find that books with such big and heavy questions are often hard to balance, it’s easy for them to feel too forced. However, this is not a problem for Mindwalker in the slightest. Kate Dylan manages to effortlessly weave together a multitude of plot strands, themes and elements, coming together in a truly well-balanced and expertly crafted story.

Stephanie Cannon's performance in the audiobook takes an already immersive story and elevates it to another level. She effortlessly makes the world and characters of Mindwalker come to life, taking Kate Dylan's quick and witty writing style and turning it into a performance filled with nuance and rich texture. She perfectly captured Sil's humour and I couldn't imagine anyone else narrating this story!

Full disclosure: I don't usually read Sci-Fi, it's just not usually my kind of thing but I was lured in by the enemies to lovers aspect and I have no regrets whatsoever! In fact, I think this is one of my favourite books of the year so far!

I got sucked into the story very quickly and found it really hard to stop listening to it. Every time I had to pause it, all I would think about is when I can get back to it to see what would happen next. There's so much action with a lot of brilliantly written fight scenes and so many twists throughout this that it was almost impossible to put down and some of those twists had me absolutely yelling! That's not to mention said previously mentioned enemies to lovers romance which was just *chef's kiss*. There was even a little bit of spice going on as well so in short, this book was a perfect blend of a lot of things that I love in a book!

Sil is an absolute badass and I loved her so much, she can really hold her own and I actually found myself getting really sad for her towards the end when I thought things were going to go a certain way! I also really loved Ryder and the way they bantered was on point, not to mention their chemistry! Not gonna lie, as soon as he popped up I was like 'oh HELL YES' because he was so obviously the love interest and so very well suited to Sil as well as the fact there was going to be some brilliant friction between the two of them as Sil was determined to put on her little act. I was sitting there like, oh sweetie. How the tables are going to turn for you and I can't wait!

The writing for this is very smooth and very slick, there's no info dumping or overly flowerly language or anything like that. Everything is to the point and Dylan doesn't waste words, yet this isn't at the expense of world building or character development. The world that Dylan weaves is one that I easily found myself slipping in to and what was particularly chilling about it and Syntex actually, is that it seems all too plausible. Sil also goes on quite the journey as she navigates the world she's always thought that she knew but it turns out there's quite a lot she didn't know about it. Or perhaps she didn't truly consider as there didn't seem to be anything wrong with it at the time.

Her world view changes as she encounters the various issues brought up within the book by Syntex and the Walker programme, like consent given that a child only needs to consent to become a Walker. There's also the issue of companies and corporations becoming involved in government and politics, or just generally gaining some kind of dominance as well as technology and the advances made with it. Namely whether they're good or bad because there's a lot of cool tech in this book but there's also some tech that is a bit less so and actually kind of terrifying.

What I'm basically trying to say is that this book is like a good action/thriller film but in book form. The prose is tight and slick, it helps to build up a world around you and create a plot that will grip you right through to the end. Not least because Sil is such a brilliant main character and her journey is an interesting one, even without all the fight scenes and the romance going on. But it's also got depth to it with the issues it tackles and explores on the page.

Mindwalker is honestly such a brilliant book, with so much to offer and I absolutely fell in love with it! Kate Dylan is certainly going to be an auto-buy author for me and I look forward to seeing what she has to offer next!

Thank you @netgalley for providing me with an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Sil is a Mindwalker and determined to be the best one that has ever lived. She commandeers minds of people from afar to extract them from dangerous situations, but this technology comes at a great cost. 🤔

I enjoyed the ride this book took me on, but I cannot say it was a very surprising one. 😅
The world building and science-fiction technology were explained well enough in a not-boring way. 🤓

I was intrigued by the politics of a big enterprise, but like I said, it was not surprising in any way. 😄
There are attempts at twisting and turning the plot, but I predicted 90% of it. 🧐

Quite a typical YA book, but that is absolutely not a bad thing. 😁
Sometimes I crave a YA book filled with tropes and betrayal. 🤩
So I would recommend it if you are in that specific mood! 😉

Many thanks to Netgalley, Hodder and Stoughton and the author for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was quite the ride. It was truly as the blurb claims a Marvel movie in a YA book form. The story follows the countdown days of the life of 18 year old Sil Sarrah, who is a machine enhanced human, trained to participate in mission which might be tricky and even impossible for a normal human to complete. You ask how? by mind-walking. yeah she literally steps into the body of another person as consciousness and uses that body like a puppeteer. She has been the best of the best with a 100% record for the last 10 years of her career at Syntex corporation and with one year left to literally live, she is determined to die a legend!

But when a critical mission goes south and Sil gets blamed for it. She has to do everything in her power and more to win her employers trust back and possibly live till her determined tech life. This means she has to infiltrate the enemy, by befriending Ryder, the leader of the Analog army who is fighting to bring down the tech giants. With her tech degrading at a much faster rate than expected and away from the only life she knew Sil has to save herself and her friends while Ryder might have other plans for her.

This book!! this book was brilliant, all elements of the story was right in place and it was one hell of a ride. the twists, the turns and the final reveal was perfect and right in place. The side characters were a blast and so was the setting, I enjoyed every bit of it and could not put down my kindle until I found out what happened.

My only 2 grievances were, well fist of all, Insta love (not my Jam), but we were racing against time here folks, so forgiven and second, I wanted much more of the world building, to understand the storms and the particles and the extent of future we travelled to in this book. That said again, this would have impacted the pace of the book. This book had the potential to be made into a duology at the very least.

I really enjoyed the narration with the narrator being on point, about the frustrations that sil was facing!

This book is perfect for anyone looking for a fast paced, action and emotion pack thrilling ride!! Also Jervis!!

Interesting concept. Good narration. Will read/listen to more from the author. Enjoyed the plot and characters. Cover art would benefit from updating. 4 stars.

Everything I love and expect from a sci-fi novel !! Addicting and compelling, I enjoyed the world and the characters !!

WHAT A RIDE
I am a fan of pacy thrilling stories, especially with a little romance thrown in on the side. And MINDWALKER does not disappoint. We meet Sil Sarrah, 18 year old enhance human with a ticking time bomb computer implanted in her brain… and then her world is turned upside down not once but many times over with all the twists and bends in this rollercoaster of a story. The blurb says it reads like a Marvel movie, and it does! Though I thought it was more Fast & Furious does Blade Runner. So. Much. Fun!

Thank you Netgalley for giving me this book for review.

Set in a very slight dystopia full of evil corporations and corruption, this is a post apocalyptic cyberpunk action-packed read. It is a fun scifi world full of crazy technology and we follow a snarky heroine through it. It has all the tropes and a snarky love interest to boot. I did find that at some points you will have to suspend your disbelief for the plot, there were some situations where events/constrictions happened purely for the sake of the plot - rather than a logical progression. Like humans have invented nanite technology that can be implanted into your brain to work on cybernetics - BUT some technology will fail after a few years and theres ABSOLUTELY nothing we can do about it lols.

This book was not for me for a few other reasons too but I do think its a great read for its younger YA Audience.

The narrator did an amazing job of bringing characters to life, as well as the technology and name pronunciation

Headlines:
Strong women in sci-fi
Adrenaline was a-pumping
Fast-paced thriller that felt light-hearted

This book was a whirl of a read, it developed and progressed quickly and that pace didn't let up right until the culmination. The protagonist Sil had all the knee-jerked decisions of an eighteen year old alongside the heavy responsibility her transplanted tech and job brought to her world. Talking of her world and job, they turned on their heads and this story was Sil's journey to unveil the truth and salute with her middle finger to her previous bosses.

There were a lot of themes to unpick in this book beneath the fast-pace of the storytelling. Ethics in a futuristic age were at the forefront, the thought of 'even if we can, should we' prevailed. Sil uncovered some nasty stuff and her enslavement in the organisation and overall purpose was brought into question.

Sil was brave and stupid in equal measure. I liked her and wanted her to slow down and consider things more. The light-hearted feel to her dialogue didn't always sit with the overall tone of the piece for me but I was able to rub along with it.

Overall, this standalone was worth the read and it was a pleasant sci-fi distraction without heavy world-building. The audio narration was great.

Thank you to Hodderscape for the review copy.

MIndwalker is an interesting concept sci-fi book that was a fun read but wasn’t quite for me overall.
Many Thanks to NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for an eARC Audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Overview:
18 year old Sil lives in a world where humans exist with nano-technology to keep them alive. A company called Syntex Corporation produces the technology and trains selected few people to become walker- this allows them to remotely access field agents minds to recue them.
The issue- walkers rarely live past 18, and Sil has not lost anyone yet so when she is pressured into a mission that has her running away it will feel like a completely new world.
Review:
Plot- I predicted a lot of the plot, even the twist but honestly the story itself was satisfying. Pacing wise was a bit all over the place but honestly having this as an audiobook genuinely helped with that a lot- a physical copy I might not have finished. First half was really fun, second half dragged quite a bit.
World building-This was actually done really well, the concept intrigued me. The world was expanded throughout as the plot developed, without being too much or overbearing.

Characters- Now for something I could take or leave. I liked them all yes….but they felt so similar to other found family sci-fi characters I wasn’t really invested in any of them
Narrator- Shout out to the audiobook narrator Stephanie Cannon for this, 10/10 kept me invested in the story to the point I mainly finished it due to their reading.
So found family- great trope and very popular in Sci-Fi YA and NA books. This felt really rushed, like close to just accepted without any real bonding moments which I thought was a bit strange. I will admit I did enjoy every single character.


Final Thoughts,
A genuinely intriguing Sci-Fi read to try if your into AI, Cyberpunk and great characters. It wasn’t quite for me but I can easily see this becoming a top pick for Sci-Fi recs in the coming months.

I am reviewing the audiobook of Mind Walker which I was kindly given an ARC of to review honestly.

I absolutely loved this Sci fi tale of Sil an 18 year old Mind Walker who's job it is to enter the minds of people in need of help and guide them to safety.

In the introduction I Initially did not like Sil, she had a high opinion of herself and a very low opinion of those she was tasked to help but as her story unfolded and it became clear what the life of a Mind Walker involves I warmed to her. Her character had a very satisfying arc.

The story was interesting and the pacing was fantastic, I just had to keep on listening. I really enjoyed the twists and turns as they unfolded.

In terms of the narration itself, I was unsure of the style of the narrator (it was laid back to the point of sounding lazy) but as I progressed it actually really suited the story and the main characters voice.

A really enjoyable YA Sci fi tale and a great audio book.

4.75🌟

I absolutely loved this audiobook, so much so that I'm now ordering a physical copy of the book for my shelf, to annotate.

This story was very fast paced, and the character development, the mysyrty, the ENDING were all so perfectly written that I was HOOKED.

I also have to give major props to the narrator as they managed to make each voice distinguishable, even at x2 speed, with emotion and clarity which some narrators just cannot pull off at all!

The -0.25 stars is literally just because of the pace really, I kinda wanted more filler in the middle, more exploring of the relationships and a teeny bit more conflict, but as a whole, this book was fantastic!

This was one of my most anticipated reads this year and I am so glad that I was approved to receive a NetGalley review copy - thankyou NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton! 

All thoughts are entirely my own.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed Mindwalker. I don’t read a lot of sci fi, but I liked the premise and decided to give it a try.

Mindwalker immediately dragged me in, and I finished it in two sittings. The technology the story is based on was interesting, and the mystery that unravelled was intriguing.

I found the characters very likeable, and I enjoyed seeing their relationships unfurl. The plot was fast paced and pleasingly complex for a YA book.

I throughly enjoyed Mindwalker, and would recommend it even to those who don’t usually read a lot of sci-fi.

An amazing post apocalyptic sci-fi. The plot concept is strong and well executed with great characters and immersive dystopian world building. You quickly come to empathise with the protagonist Sil, who is a fantastic main character, a young woman who has been part of the mindwalker program for most of her life having tech implanted in her head since the age of 8. She is feisty, determined to get to the truth no matter what and has the strongest moral compass.

 (I do wish they would stop saying ‘Christ that was’ every minute though, it gets rather repetitive)



It reminds me a lot of Scythe by Neal Shusterman in places and also Divergent. I will definitely be looking out for more works by Kate Dylan.



The narrator is excellent making it believable and differentiates well between characters, which makes it easy to follow the storyline.

At eighteen years old, Sil Sarrah is determined to die a legend. She's been a field agent for Syntex Corporation for ten years and in her time as a mind walker (commandeering minds from afar and leading them to safety) she's never lost a single life. With twelve months left until the supercomputer grafted to her brain kills her, a mission goes very south, forcing Sil to flee the company which has become her home. With nowhere to go, she infiltrates an activist group in the hopes of bringing them down from the inside to prove she's no traitor and to win back the trust of her former employer. With her tech rapidly deteriorating, dangerous secrets being unveiled and time running out, Sil's last mission is her biggest one yet, but can she really bring down Syntex after all the good she has helped them bring to the world?

If you love ya sci-fi then this is definitely a book you want on your reading list! It's futuristic and fast-paced with a little romance thrown into the mix. The world as we know it is over, tech implants/upgrades are mainstream and the environmental damage we've done to the planet has taken its toll. Whilst realistically this kind of future is terrifying, in novel form it's such a fun world to explore. I really enjoyed all the different technological modifications that people could have, especially as they ranged from life changing advancements to aesthetic preferences. Conspiracies, betrayal and a twist towards the end tied together for a very enjoyable story.

I also need to throw some love Sil Sarrah's way! She was such an easy main character to root for. She takes no crap, tears it up in a fight, is headstrong in the best way, loyal to a fault and has snark for days. What's not to love?

I maintain that high-octane storylines are perfect for audiobooks and this one definitely supports my assertion!

Thank you Hodder and Stoughton and Netgalley for my eARC! Audiobooks have been keeping me going whilst I struggle to find time to read!

I am absolutely obsessed with this book. I honestly requested it solely because I kept seeing all these neon pictures on my feed and I was intrigued by the cover, but it ended up being an incredible read that I marathoned in one sitting. I listened to the audiobook, but I definitely want to get a physical copy for a reread soon.

I will absolutely be reading more from Kate Dylan in the future, the writing was so readable and accessible that I sat down to listen to ‘a chapter or two’ and then I blinked and I’d read the whole thing. It had the kind of cinematic feel that I love in YA, and it worked so well for the sci-fi/thriller genre. This would make a spectacular movie, and I need it immediately in front of my eyeballs. The premise itself also felt very cinematic. It was creative, pulling in some fascinating ideas from across sci-fi and combining them in a way that felt very unique. The world-building was straightforward and easy to understand without overloading the story at the front. I’m a big fan of a book dropping us into its high concept and explaining as we go, and MINDWALKER absolutely nailed that in the first few chapters.

The futuristic elements were really well handled too. I read a *lot* of sci-fi, and a lot of Star Wars novels, and I love them a lot but I’m well aware that futuristic elements in a book can end up being…. a bit silly. That didn’t happen in MINDWALKER, I was totally immersed and committed from the first page to the last and I felt utterly convinced the whole way through that this could really happen. I don’t think I’ve read many books that had sci-fi settings but thriller pacing, but I know I want more. It worked so well, keeping me on the edge of my seat until the very end.

I loved the characters, and - and this is rare for me in a YA novel - I loved the romance. The romance in this book really hinged on the fact that our main character and her love interest came from completely opposite sides of the conflict with completely opposite beliefs. I’m very used to YA books having their main character always quietly opposing the system, but Sil is fully entrenched at the start of the book. This was so much more interesting to me, as Sil had to learn to challenge her beliefs and acknowledge her privilege as she was taken completely out of the world she was used to. It made me absolutely adore Sil as a character, and added so much depth to her relationships with the Analog Army.

I had a very good time reading this book. Sil was an amazing character with great humour and sarcasm. The narrator was spot on as well really capturing Sil's voice and bringing life to the piece. I think I would have enjoyed it either way, but I especially enjoyed it as an audiobook.

The world was well built, if slightly depressing. It's sort of post- post-apocalypse. The apocalypse has happened, people survived and the world has been rebuilt. I found it good that it was an apocalypse by bombing the shit out of each other, rather than climate change because if I'm honest, books about climate change have started to scare me.

The mindwalking was really interesting. It really makes you think about consent and the idea that someone could literally take control of your body. Some of the scenes made me really uncomfortable and definitely showed the issues around that sort of thing.

All in all, this was a really good sci fi book.