It was a great concept and idea but it could have been executed better which is why I rated it so low.

Cole lives a dreamless life – both sleeping and awake. Dreams are not allowed, for they will call the Mara, who will first eat the dreams – and then kill the dreamer. So everyone in the Refuge wears the same color and style of clothing, wears masks to hide their faces, eats a food-adjacent paste called Noosh (that also turns them grey), and is forbidden to even acknowledge the existence of others. Cole, however – she struggles to fit in, to blend…to NOT DREAM. Until the day she steps into someone *else’s* dream.

Blind the Eyes takes place in some nameless city somewhere. Though honestly, very little about the city is known, including its name. The reader learns there was flooding, one day, but not too much else. The story itself is pretty much contained within one building – an apartment? Skyscraper? – within the city itself.

Cole is the main character, though she has a ghost that hangs out with her. She’s young, naïve (though “stupid” crossed my mind more than a few times), and stubborn – none of which tends to work out well for her. She’s flat as a character – and starting about halfway through the book, she drove me crazy. She makes the same choices over and over again, she was oblivious about things that should have been obvious, and she never really managed to mean enough to me to really care about her outcome. Honestly? I liked her ghost better. The other characters were similarly flat – their motivations hard to parse out, and their strands woven together in, oftentimes, nothing more than a confusing mess.

The story itself started out GREAT. I was excited, and eager to read more. But as mentioned above, about the halfway mark, I started getting frustrated. There was a sense of déjà vu with the constant mistakes, and the absolute blindness her character exhibited to things happening around her. I won’t give any spoilers, but I will say that parts of the story could easily have been left out and NOTHING would have changed in any significant way. Honestly, I sort of stopped caring at some point what anyone’s motivations might be, and just wanted them all to GET ON WITH IT. *sigh*

This is the first in a presumed series, and it had so much promise. It still does, if things can get ironed out in book two. The premise is interesting, and as I mentioned – the first half of the book was great. While I will keep my fingers crossed that the second book makes it the whole book, I won’t be rushing out to read it to make sure.

NOTE: This review will appear on vampirebookclub.net

DNF- Couldn't get into it due to the writing style and it was just too confusing for me. Didn't keep my attention long enough and I didn't feel a connection to the characters enough to find out what happens.

I received an ARC of this from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was really excited to read this because it sounded like such a cool premise. Unfortunately, it didn’t follow through. I felt like the storyline kept dragging and went around in circles. A few of the details are a bit fuzzy for me as well regarding the Mara, Ravel, the mayor, and the outside but you know, I tried to go with the flow so I could finish this. I’m also a bit confused on the setting. I thought initially they were under the ocean, but now there’s a roof....in a giant building....I think??? I really have no idea which was another problem because I couldn’t imagine where all of this was taking place.
I was really confused throughout the book and I don’t think I’d recommend it.

I really tried to like this book. The writing is good and plot is interesting BUT... and it’s a big BUT... it’s all so confusing. I waited a long time and gave it many chances but after half of the book, when I thought that I already understood something at least, one character reacted out of character and suddenly I had enough.

The cover is gorgeous and plot sounded promising but it’s all so confusing, I lost interest and didn’t finish the book.

Blind the Eyes is a dystopian sci-fi/fantasy about a society called Refuge in which dream-eating monsters threaten the population. Our main character, Cole, is a probation worker and is herself haunted by a ghost by the name of Cadence. As the death toll rises in Refuge, Cole makes the decision to join a resistance group called Freedom and finds an ally in a fellow rebel...or so she thinks. Cole then has to begin making her own decisions on whether to be a follower or an independent thinker, and the story takes a true strong turn from there.

This was probably one of the most unique "young adult"-labeled books I have read. The beginning is extremely confusing. There are about three chapters of head-spinning "what the heck is happening?" and it honestly took me a long time to get through, and several "I am not finishing this book"..."No, I'll give it one more try"...."I'm really done this time"..."It's going to get better, it HAS to" to get things sorted. But once that was all over, things were straightforward and honestly, very well-written.

I enjoyed almost all of the characters. I thought Cole was a good protagonist who I liked and cared for. Her arc and her flaws were all reasonable, and she was great to read. Cadence was a very unique character and even provided some much needed snarkiness from time to time. Ravel (I love these musical names!) was sort of our Prince Charming but was also a bit suspicious for a while. Controlling and desiring, yet masculine.

Overall, I thought this was an incredibly unique story I just didn't feel that it is very accessible to the entire YA audience because of its writing. So I suppose I'd say I wish that this was either written a bit more accessibly for teens or written a bit moreso with adults in mind. BUT, me being an adult who tends to read YA a lot really enjoyed it!

The beginning of this book made me feel very uncomfortable with talking about the splotches on the main character's skin. Having a character with a skin discoloration and making it seem like the most disgusting feature on their body is a big no in my book. Sorry but I just couldn't read this. It sounded promising and maybe someone else could look past it, but it was just too much of an issue to me.

I was so confused with this book. Even trying to write this review, I can't figure out what there is to say.

There were a ton of strange moments in the beginning where I couldn't tell how the world was structured around the characters. There are mysterious ghost-like characters that come out of nowhere, then they're gone. Then there are these creepy 'people' or test subjects that the main characters come across.

Ultimately, I had no idea where this book was trying to go.

The concept within the plot seemed very interesting. When I had a hint of an idea what was going on within a particular scene, I found myself invested. But the feeling didn't last long.

I gave this book 2 out of 5 stars. There were many moments where I wanted to call it quits with this book, but like I said, there were micro moments when I was invested in attempting to figure it out. Sadly, I won't be continuing on in the series.

I was so excited for this one but the flowery writing made me re-read the first few pages so many times that I lost count. I have no idea what is happening, and I have no intention of re-reading my way through this book.

I really wanted to like this book, but it was very jarring.
The beginning was confusing, it was to get into the story. There wasnt much world building wich i think led to the confusion i was feeling. I wanted to connect to Cole and her struggle in dealing with her ghost, Cadence. Trying to get through probation in order to become a real worker and receive the band that would protect her from the Mara, a being who haunts dreams.
Overall it was definitely a different style of book than Im used to, just hard to really invest in it.

I struggled to get into this book at first. Mainly because certain aspects weren't explained, so I felt lost till around halfway in, but once everything started making sense I found my reading rhythm and greatly enjoyed the storyline. Cole has tremendous character development and learns to find her own strength, which I enjoyed as well as the interesting concepts the author dreamed up. Will be excited to read the sequel.

I don't know what the author tought about when writing this book... but why would he/she make it that hard to get into??? my god...was the beginning confusing! It took me so long to make out the pièces of what was going on, and when I did, I had lost complete interest in the story.

I really wanted to like this book! I thought the cover was awesome and the plot summary seemed very intriguing-however, I just could not get into this book. I found myself getting confused as to what was happening more often than not and had to go back and re-read portions to try and figure out what was going on. Along with the very complicated story line, I also had a strong disliking towards the main character, Cole.  The authors writing style is very visual and different, I loved that she created such a unique world. I feel I would’ve enjoyed this more if it wasn’t so confusing so with that I’ve rated this 3 out of 5 stars.

Do I Recommend this book? Yes

Notes and Opinions: I really enjoyed this book in the beginning. The plot sounded sooo interesting and K.A. Wiggins has a way with words that just draws you in. But sadly the downside to it was I got so confused. Like why doesn't Cole trust Candace? All she kept saying was that she could be lying but never explained why. After awhile I had to put it down. Nothing was making sense and I wasn't interested anymore. The book could use a little more work on the flow and become such a great book.

I liked this, I just didn’t love it. Here’s the best analogy I can come up with: I like madras and ice cream and pears and roast beef, but I wouldn’t enjoy them if someone swirled them all around on a plate together. Blind the Eyes has some flashes of real brilliance but it mixes too many genres in an unsatisfying way. That’s not to say it can’t be done – Samantha Shannon has done so very successfully with her Bone Season series after all. But the key thing if you’re going to do that is that you must make sure the structural integrity of your world building is sound, and there just wasn’t enough world building here. The prose was exquisite, the author clearly has literary leanings, and I love a well turned sentence. There just wasn’t quite enough substance here for me. So I enjoyed it, I liked the characters and I thought it was highly original but not a new favourite.

I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. I read the blurb for this book several times before I even requested to read it. This the first book by this author that I have read and it will not be the last one. There is just something mystical and a well woven story. The author tells this tale like she weaving right around the reader. I did not realize that I was almost done with the book until some called for me and I looked up from my kindle app and saw there were only a few pages left. That is lost I have become in Cole's story. There is so much I want to say about this tale but I don't want to give away anything about this wonderful and magical tale. So just  grab a copy and read it for yourself.

The premise of Blind the Eyes by K.A. Wiggins was exhilarating. A dark take on a dystopian era. But I felt that this book was quite rushed, and hard to understand what was going on from time to time. I enjoyed the world building but I couldn't connect to the characters sadly.

To start off - I had no idea going into this book that it was a Part I of a series! Now I have to wait until next year to read the next installment which I most certainly will be doing.

When I first started reading this book I had a really hard time grasping onto what was taking place. Wiggins writes the entire story in a "dream-like" descriptive state. You'll understand why here in a moment. There is very little description about the surroundings, with most of the emphasis on thoughts, feelings and only on the immediate interactions.

Cole is a drone worker in a place called Refuge. Everyone in Refuge is conditioned not to have emotions, feelings or even to dream about things. They are told that these dream monsters, the Mara, will eat them if they dream. So, Cole, who is a security technician in Refuge, finds herself tasked to investigate a situation on Floor 16, which is entirely unheard of for someone in her position. As she investigates the floor she finds a body consumed by the Mara. Superior level investigators arrive on the scene looking for her and she escapes into a hallway. As she tries to outrun these men she finds the hidden secrets behind Refuge and the power she has that can save people from the Mara.

Most of the story is spent in suspended animation, a vivid dreamscape sequence of places like Freedom where they dress in vivacious costumes, drink gold flakes and party until they are completely spent. The way Wiggins writes about how the Mara infiltrate dreams and horrifyingly kill those that are dreaming had me in awe.

Wiggins is a truly unique writer that can transport a story into not only a fantasy world, but one that is real in its essence and darkly satisfying at the same time.

Throughout the story, Cole is constantly battling information. She learns something new, challenges the information and over time learns she is far stronger and intelligent than she ever cared to give herself credit for. Oh and did I mention her kick-ass ghost that haunts her? Cadence is her ghost, a subconscious voice that speaks to her, mostly annoying her, but also helping her disseminate information.

I can't wait to read the next installment!

P.S. I highly recommend listening to some appropriate music while reading this book. It assists in creating a feel and ambience for these places you'll be reading about. I found Apocolyptica and dark EDM music to provide the proper setting for me.

This book was very different from many other books I have read before. I found that the idea for the book was very interesting, but the story was not utilized to its full potential. The story had a very complicated idea, but I don't think that it was explained very well. Therefore, during the story I found myself having to guess about certain things in the story or part of the world. I liked the characters in the story. In conclusion, this story was not explained very well, but it had a good storyline and characters.

Received an ARC from #netgalley on this oddly delightful book. I love dystopian ya literature and this one hit all the right bells and whistles. I just was left ferling there could have been more. Glad it is a series as I will be awaiting book two with baited breath.