This was an interesting jump into the realm of virtual reality. As I turned the pages I found myself thinking parts of the story resembled the movie Surrogates starring Bruce Willis though The Eye of Minds offers plenty to make it distinct and interesting. The opening is quite catching and drives you into the rest of the book though the pacing slows until the protagonist, Michael, starts his mission with the help of his friends. Once the small team of friends engages in their mission the pace quickens.
While there was plenty of action I’m not sure I totally connected with the characters. I liked supporting characters Sarah and Bryson, but I didn’t find myself rooting for Michael, the main character. I was definitely more intrigued with what was happening with the plot and colorful world than I was with the characters. Perhaps that was the purpose. Get caught up in the story and let the characters be secondary to that.
With danger lurking or getting through a “close call” the quips and funny comments between the characters seemed out of place. It made some of the dialogue awkward. The format of the chapters was another small trouble spot for me. While I haven’t read any other Dashner books I wasn’t a fan of the way chapters were broken into multiple sub-chapters. It made the story a little choppy and interrupted the flow since the characters were still in the same scene.
The ending offered a twist that I didn’t expect which was a nice surprise. In fact, I didn’t consider the possibility of the ending though it wasn’t one of those “out of the blue”, pulled out-of-nowhere things. It was well thought out and tied into the rest of the story very nicely. Dashner ties together loose ends and answers questions that were left open throughout other parts of the story without ruining the setup for other books in the series. That’s something I really like.
Overall, I liked the story. It was fast-paced and when it got into the action it really was a quick read. The book stands out by itself whether or not you choose to follow the rest of the series. I’m on the fence about the rest of the series but not disappointed that I picked this one up. You can find it on Amazon: The Eye of Minds (The Mortality Doctrine)