Book Review: The Mind Trap
The Mind Trap. Padmaja Khanna. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, July 20, 2014, Trade Paperback and Kindle, 296 pages.
Reviewed by Deanna Francis.
The Mind Trap by Padmaja Khanna is a young-adult adventure and science fiction novel that takes place primarily in the dreams of 17-year-old Jack Treole. The Mind Trap is the second installment of Khanna’s The Dream Hiker trilogy, and it follows the story of Jack Treole and his new friends, Selenia and Eddie, as they meet in real life and continue their dream discoveries.
The novel begins with the three friends meeting each other for the first time, in real life, at a science summer camp in Chicago. In Khanna’s first novel, The Dream Hiker, the three students meet on a collaboration website that is set up by Jack’s teacher at school. The students discover that they can join together within their dreams, and they begin their own adventures in the dream “thought world.”
Soon after their first live encounter in the real world, Jack and Eddie discover their friend Selenia has gone missing in the dream world, which has caused her physical body to remain unconscious. The two boys know that if they cannot find and rescue Selenia in the dream world, her body may die in the real world.
With the help of Selenia’s twin sister, Zeta, the three meet in the dream world and begin searching for Selenia. The trio comes across a wide range of problems standing in their way, including a mysterious young man named Mario, who they met in the first novel but still continues to run away from them and hide secrets that are crucial to Selenia’s discovery. The group also encounters friends on their way that might be able to help solve who is holding Selenia captive.
The Mind Trap is a novel I truly enjoyed. Even though I am not very familiar with science fiction, I enjoyed Khanna’s use of both the realistic world and the fictional “dream world.” I enjoyed the adventure and the friendships Khanna created with her characters. As a young adult myself, the characters seemed like people I might have been friends with in high school, and that made the reading experience even more enjoyable and relatable for me.
I enjoyed the distinction between the two different “worlds” in the story. It was an intriguing idea to think that the students could merely speak about a place in real life, and then meet each other in that place in a dream and communicate and live as if it were a real place.
I also enjoyed the character strengths and weaknesses and how well the three students blended with one another. Jack has the characteristics of a naturally curious and adventurous teenage boy, and he had the leadership skills to help his friends in even the darkest of times. Eddie, on the other hand, was able to provide comedic relief in times of pleasure, pain, and sorrow. Selenia and her sister Zeta added the “brains” of the trio, and always had plans for anything that went wrong.
I believe that Khanna has written two novels that a wide variety of readers can enjoy. These novels opened my eyes to the world of science fiction, and I have a newfound appreciation for the style and genre. I believe that any readers that are fans of realistic fiction, science fiction, or young adult novels will enjoy The Dream Hiker and The Mind Trap. I am looking forward to the third installment of Khanna’s The Dream Hiker trilogy.