Book Review: Blind the Eyes by K.A. Wiggins
Genre(s): YA Science Fiction / Fantasy / Paranormal
Content warning: There are several scenes depicting death and elements of horror that some may find disturbing. There are references to kidnapping and a few scenes with domestic abuse.
Cole lives in a world of regulation. It’s to keep the people safe from the Mara, they say. Creatures that eat human desire, dreams, wishes. She obeys, goes about her assigned duties, does as she’s told without question—until one day her routine changes unexpectedly. She is summoned for a field mission, something she’s never trained for. While going about her mission, she uncovers a dead body and overhears horrible truths from a superior. A truth that upends all of her beliefs and leads her to question their motives, the Mara, everything…
This book oscillates between eerie, disturbing, and just plain weird. The concept of dream-eating monsters (the Mara) isn’t something I’ve come across often, and it lends a layer of uncertainty to the character’s journey as she attempts to survive and work toward her own goals.
In the beginning, she’s in Refuge: a place where people are taken, made to work, relegated to set schedules and (for lack of a better term) brainwashed. She’s led to believe the only way to keep safe from the Mara is to submit her dreams to them. If they devour her dreams and leave her empty, she’s still alive.
Then she finds herself in Freedom, the opposite of Refuge in terms of its beliefs. If everyone is going to die anyway, why not make the most of life and enjoy every moment? Yet the Mara plague people even there.
And throughout, Cole is followed by Cadence, a ghost who offers her insight and advice even when it’s not wanted. Cadence seems to believe she knows what’s best for Cole, yet Cole rarely believes her.
What I really liked about this book is it kept me guessing. Every time I thought I was starting to figure out what was going on (with one major exception), I learned I was wrong. That exception comes near the end of the book and has to do with Cadence – I’m not sure if it was supposed to be a big reveal, or if the reader should figure it out early on, but I was one of the latter (I’ll leave the reader to learn for themself what I’m talking about. I don’t believe in spoilers.) There are a number of unexpected plot twists.
For the first 60% of the book, there isn’t a lot of action. There’s a lot of buildup, but the end chapters make up for it. There’s a big showdown with the Mara and several other key players, and Cole finally learns something of what she’s capable of.
I enjoyed this book. It started off relatively slow, but there was enough unknown that it kept me reading—even when Cole was being frustratingly stubborn without good reason. (Yes, she has her moments, but in the end, she makes up for some of her mistakes.)
I’m not sure if I’d classify this book as science fiction or fantasy. To me, it has more of a sci-fi feel up until the end, where it leaps a bit towards fantasy. Maybe science fantasy? Regardless, if you’re a fan of either genre, you’ll probably enjoy Blind the Eyes.
Author website: kawiggins.com
Amazon link: Blind the Eyes
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