Book Review: Mindtouch

Book #69 for 2025: Mindtouch by MCA Hogarth, 3.5 ★
426 pages / published June 2013 / available here

Goodreads blurb: Seersana University is worlds-renowned for its xenopsychology program, producing the Alliance's finest therapists, psychiatric nurses and alien researchers. When Jahir, one of the rare and reclusive Eldritch espers, arrives on campus, he's unprepared for the challenges of a vast and multicultural society…but fortunately, second-year student Vasiht'h is willing to take him under his wing. Will the two win past their troubles and doubts and see the potential for a once-in-a-lifetime partnership?

My review: What a strange yet compelling book. Distilled down, it’s an almost plot-less journey of two college psychology students deciding their futures and exploring questions about life. However, the worldbuilding is fascinating and the writing almost poetic. It’s cozy but also heartbreaking, heartwarming and existential. The pacing is a bit off-balance, but I still found it hard to stop reading. I’m not committing to the rest of the series (which claimed to be a duology but has continued further), however, I did enjoy it and appreciated the journey of reading something that felt like a unique piece of work.

 

CW (highlight to read): family loss, terminal childhood illnesses (a major plotline), child loss, substance use, mild language, grief