Mindstormer

March 1, 2018

Gr 9 Up-When readers last saw 18-year-old Lain Fisher in Mindwalker, she was headed to Canada to join the resistance movement against the all-powerful Institute for Ethics in Neurotechnology (IFEN). Now, three months later, she is a prisoner at IFEN and her memories of the past several months have been erased, including all memories of Steven, the boy whose story of abuse and trauma turned her away from IFEN in the first place. The majority of this fast-paced second novel is devoted to exploring Lain's introduction to the resistance, known as the Blackcoats, her time training with them as a soldier, and the events that led up to her capture and memory modification by IFEN. Throughout, introspective Lain grapples with right and wrong, sacrifice and necessity, duty and ethics, and must decide how far she is willing to go to fight for the Blackcoats' cause. At center stage is Lain's relationship with Steven, which is strained by their induction into the Blackcoats' ranks. To complicate matters, Lain's best friend Ian also joins the resistance, creating a love triangle that is sure to appeal to teen romance fans. The ending seems to set the stage for a third entry in the series, but an awkward tacked on epilogue suggests that this is the end of Lain's story. This sequel poses some interesting ethical questions about human rights and war tactics. VERDICT Recommended for fans of romantic dystopian novels or those who enjoyed the first installment.-Liz Overberg, Zionsville Community High School, IN

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2018
Can an uprising continue when one of its public faces has her memories altered to believe it's terrorism?In this sequel to Mindwalker (2015), Lain, now 18, wakes up in a white-walled room with no memory of how she got there. Soon, unfamiliar people in holomasks, claiming to be her allies, come to rescue her. The truth emerges: Dr. Swan, Lain's guardian, wiped her memories so she would forget the atrocities his organization, IFEN, committed. After taking a pill to restore those memories, Lain escapes to the Citadel, the Canadian stronghold of the Blackcoats, a majority-teen resistance group. There, as Lain learns more about government-sanctioned IFEN's illegal experiments and the Blackcoats' plans for catalyzing political upheaval through violence, Lain questions which group really has the best interests of the United Republic of America at heart. Is freedom "the easy choice" or "a contract signed in blood?" Part Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, part Hunger Games, this plot-driven, romance-laden tale of youth empowerment will surely please genre fans. Though characters remain on the extreme side, Steiger (When My Heart Joins the Thousand, 2018, etc.) better develops the sequel's dystopian United States and more deeply interrogates the systems of oppression it uses to isolate its citizens based on mental health. The cast assumes a white default. The Blackcoats' leader, Zebra, uses a wheelchair but is rarely seen.A relevant read for the youthquake generation. (Dystopian romance. 12-adult)

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