Title: SeekerSeries: Seeker #1
Author: Arwen Elys Dayton
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Date Published: February 10th, 2014
Genre: Fantasy, Dystopian
Pages: 448 (Hardcover)
Age Range: 14+
Summary:
The night Quin Kincaid takes her Oath, she will become what she has trained to be her entire life. She will become a Seeker. This is her legacy, and it is an honor.
As a Seeker, Quin will fight beside her two closest companions, Shinobu and John, to protect the weak and the wronged. Together they will stand for light in a shadowy world.
And she'll be with the boy she loves--who's also her best friend.
But the night Quin takes her Oath, everything changes.
Being a Seeker is not what she thought. Her family is not what she thought. Even the boy she loves is not who she thought.
And now it's too late to walk away.
Review:
Honestly, this book felt like it was going through second book syndrome, even though this is book one. Some things felt rushed, other felt too drawn out, some things left me scratching my head asking for some semblance of a explanation. This wasn't a bad book necessarily, but it was so all over the place that I'm wavering between giving it two stars, or one. That is not good.
As usual, we'll start with the characters. Quin was just okay in the beginning. I didn't find her to be the kick-butt assassin type that I was expecting, but she also wasn't much of anything else. She didn't fit into any character mold that I've read of, but that's not a good thing in this story. Quin felt like a bad actor- someone just going through the motions. After stuff hit the fan, and Quin was... indisposed, I liked her a lot more. I actually liked watching her struggle to find herself. After that disgustingly long word vomit, we come to John. I never liked John, and, personally, I find him to be a lazy villain. He just spends time trying to convince people to follow his "evilness". John just got on my nerves. Shinobu was probably my favorite character. I actually really liked reading from his POV, and I found his story fascinating. All of the other characters bled into each other, I hated all of the Dreads, didn't give a single thought towards Fiona, and couldn't care any less about Briac of Shinobu's father.
The plot was super jumpy, and I feel that this story would have benefited from chapter headings. I understood so little about the athame, and powers (are there even powers?), and, perhaps the worst thing, the ambiguous time frame of this book. There are buses and trains and planes, but people live off of the land like crazy people just for kicks. nothing really shocked me, but the plot was something that I enjoyed over-all. Nothing was wildly original, but I have hopes that book two will pick up.
Now, we have to address the love shape in this book. I dislike love triangles- I just do. However, if a triangle is tastefully done, I can definitely get into it. This triangle, though, was pretty sloppy. John starts off being The One for Quin (not a spoiler, this established in the first chapter or so). Later, John gets a little flippy floppy, and Quin is just so, so lost without him. *facepalm* Shinobu is related to Quin (again, addressed in the first chapter or there abouts) very very very distantly, but this is mentioned so many times that I wanted to scream. If they're barely related, he's a love interest, and they may as well not be related for how much blood they share, then why did Arwen make them related? I UNDERSTAND NOTHING. I feel like this is gonna become a get-it-on-with-your-cousin thing-or-be-a-functional-person internal battle, OR that something magical happens to them because of their bond. More powers maybe??
All told, this book is a 2.9, may as well be a three. I just don't even know anymore... Book two? Eh, may as well. I must be a glutton for self-punishment. *facepalm*
As usual, we'll start with the characters. Quin was just okay in the beginning. I didn't find her to be the kick-butt assassin type that I was expecting, but she also wasn't much of anything else. She didn't fit into any character mold that I've read of, but that's not a good thing in this story. Quin felt like a bad actor- someone just going through the motions. After stuff hit the fan, and Quin was... indisposed, I liked her a lot more. I actually liked watching her struggle to find herself. After that disgustingly long word vomit, we come to John. I never liked John, and, personally, I find him to be a lazy villain. He just spends time trying to convince people to follow his "evilness". John just got on my nerves. Shinobu was probably my favorite character. I actually really liked reading from his POV, and I found his story fascinating. All of the other characters bled into each other, I hated all of the Dreads, didn't give a single thought towards Fiona, and couldn't care any less about Briac of Shinobu's father.
The plot was super jumpy, and I feel that this story would have benefited from chapter headings. I understood so little about the athame, and powers (are there even powers?), and, perhaps the worst thing, the ambiguous time frame of this book. There are buses and trains and planes, but people live off of the land like crazy people just for kicks. nothing really shocked me, but the plot was something that I enjoyed over-all. Nothing was wildly original, but I have hopes that book two will pick up.
Now, we have to address the love shape in this book. I dislike love triangles- I just do. However, if a triangle is tastefully done, I can definitely get into it. This triangle, though, was pretty sloppy. John starts off being The One for Quin (not a spoiler, this established in the first chapter or so). Later, John gets a little flippy floppy, and Quin is just so, so lost without him. *facepalm* Shinobu is related to Quin (again, addressed in the first chapter or there abouts) very very very distantly, but this is mentioned so many times that I wanted to scream. If they're barely related, he's a love interest, and they may as well not be related for how much blood they share, then why did Arwen make them related? I UNDERSTAND NOTHING. I feel like this is gonna become a get-it-on-with-your-cousin thing-or-be-a-functional-person internal battle, OR that something magical happens to them because of their bond. More powers maybe??
All told, this book is a 2.9, may as well be a three. I just don't even know anymore... Book two? Eh, may as well. I must be a glutton for self-punishment. *facepalm*
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