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2.9 AVERAGE
2.9 AVERAGE
When I first heard about Seeker, I went back and forth about whether I wanted to read it. I sat on it for a few days and then read the synopsis again immediately wondering what my hesitation in the first place was. (Still don't know.) When I had read the synopsis I thought Seeker to be a fantasy novel, but it is actually a science fiction story. While this did surprise me, I enjoyed it because I don't normally read science fiction and it took me out of my comfort zone.
Seeker is an interesting new story. Growing up in a small village, Quin has been taught from a young age to be a Seeker, an individual who goes out into the world and dispatches of those who have wronged the innocent and need to be stopped. Of course, nothing in this world is what it seems and despite a vague warning from her mother, Quin takes her oath and learns the horrifying secrets.
Arwen spans her story over the course of two years so we see development within our characters. Quin, who doesn't start out as a strong character, eventually becomes someone who fights and stands up for what she believes. Shinobu, who initially comes across and more of a "sidekick" turns into a rather impressive front man. And John . . . okay, John didn't really evolve in my opinion. He pretty much stuck to one course and that's that. Outside of these three, I love Maud/Young Dread but I won't go into detail about her because I love the surprises that came with her story and honestly, she's probably my favorite.
I've seen people reference a love triangle between Quin, Shinobu, and John but I wouldn't classify it as one. The relationship between these three characters evolve in such a fashion that it's not an instance of "Oh whoa is me - who do I pick?! I love you both so much, please stop fighting over me." Besides, John sucks. I don't mean as a character, but as a person, he sucks.
The beginning of Seeker started out a bit slow and it took me a bit to understand what was going on. The beginning also has a feel of taking place in the past, but then there was talks of guns and television. I would have appreciated more background and world building in the first half of the book as well. Once I understood what a Seeker was and what was going on . . . Oh, wait. Maybe this is the English teacher in me, but now I'm wondering if this was intentional. Quin doesn't really know all that being a Seeker entails, only what her father has told her, until it's too late. So she's pretty much in the dark about everything and while we know something bad is going to happen we don't exactly know what the deal is until Quin does. In a way, Arwen is getting us to connect with her characters by putting us in their shoes. Allowing both us and these character to misunderstand and be confused with the world around us and introducing us to the lies and reality of the situation, along with these characters, until it's too late to turn back. Clever little author.
Seeker has the markings as the first in what will be an intriguing series. I found myself wholly wrapped up in the story once things started moving, the battle at the end is a real page turner!, and I'm looking forward to finding out what happens next in Traveler.
Seeker is an interesting new story. Growing up in a small village, Quin has been taught from a young age to be a Seeker, an individual who goes out into the world and dispatches of those who have wronged the innocent and need to be stopped. Of course, nothing in this world is what it seems and despite a vague warning from her mother, Quin takes her oath and learns the horrifying secrets.
Arwen spans her story over the course of two years so we see development within our characters. Quin, who doesn't start out as a strong character, eventually becomes someone who fights and stands up for what she believes. Shinobu, who initially comes across and more of a "sidekick" turns into a rather impressive front man. And John . . . okay, John didn't really evolve in my opinion. He pretty much stuck to one course and that's that. Outside of these three, I love Maud/Young Dread but I won't go into detail about her because I love the surprises that came with her story and honestly, she's probably my favorite.
I've seen people reference a love triangle between Quin, Shinobu, and John but I wouldn't classify it as one. The relationship between these three characters evolve in such a fashion that it's not an instance of "Oh whoa is me - who do I pick?! I love you both so much, please stop fighting over me." Besides, John sucks. I don't mean as a character, but as a person, he sucks.
The beginning of Seeker started out a bit slow and it took me a bit to understand what was going on. The beginning also has a feel of taking place in the past, but then there was talks of guns and television. I would have appreciated more background and world building in the first half of the book as well. Once I understood what a Seeker was and what was going on . . . Oh, wait. Maybe this is the English teacher in me, but now I'm wondering if this was intentional. Quin doesn't really know all that being a Seeker entails, only what her father has told her, until it's too late. So she's pretty much in the dark about everything and while we know something bad is going to happen we don't exactly know what the deal is until Quin does. In a way, Arwen is getting us to connect with her characters by putting us in their shoes. Allowing both us and these character to misunderstand and be confused with the world around us and introducing us to the lies and reality of the situation, along with these characters, until it's too late to turn back. Clever little author.
Seeker has the markings as the first in what will be an intriguing series. I found myself wholly wrapped up in the story once things started moving, the battle at the end is a real page turner!, and I'm looking forward to finding out what happens next in Traveler.
ARC copy from Netgalley, comes out in February.
Pretty good teen fantasy, but I thought there were some pacing problems. Also, I didn't love the characters enough and some of the romance seemed forced. The world building is cool and I liked the varying narrators.
Summary: Quin has trained her whole life to become a Seeker, only when this actually happens, things aren't what she expected.
Pretty good teen fantasy, but I thought there were some pacing problems. Also, I didn't love the characters enough and some of the romance seemed forced. The world building is cool and I liked the varying narrators.
Summary: Quin has trained her whole life to become a Seeker, only when this actually happens, things aren't what she expected.
ARC provided by NetGalley for an honest review.
There was so much potential with this book, but the characters, world-building, and plot were underdeveloped. It was difficult to follow along with the setting and time jumps with no warning - chapter titles only told which character on which it'd be focusing. Back stories and character actions didn't make sense. Overall, this was a disappointing read.
There was so much potential with this book, but the characters, world-building, and plot were underdeveloped. It was difficult to follow along with the setting and time jumps with no warning - chapter titles only told which character on which it'd be focusing. Back stories and character actions didn't make sense. Overall, this was a disappointing read.
Really fell apart for me about midway through. Had such potential...
Quin, Shinobu and John have been training for years to be “seekers” which they believe to be protectors of the innocent, but on the night of their final test and initiation, they realize it’s not exactly what they had in mind.
It’s been a few days since I finished this one and I’m still having a hard time deciding how I feel about it, let alone expressing my thoughts. While there are some really great ideas within the pages, it didn’t quite deliver.
It’s just a very long book. At over 400 pages, it still felt much longer than that. Not necessarily because the story dragged on, more that there was just so much to it. There’s drug addiction, prostitution, amnesia, murder, & time travel. It’s set on Earth, but sort of a scifi, near future world and there’s a fantasy element thrown in. There’s even a floating ship. I was interested enough to keep reading, but I always had a feeling of wanting to get it over with. It didn’t really feel exciting until the last 25% of the book where the action picked up.
Just like the rest of the story, the love triangle had its highs and lows. Thankfully, this love triangle is not all about Quin being in love with two different guys at the same time, but I found myself not really liking either of the guys for various reasons. There’s John who obviously loves power and vengeance more than he does Quin, and then there’s Shinobu who is awkwardly her cousin… they kept making it a point that he’s a discount cousin by marriage, but still. I wanted to like the idea of Shinobu/Quin and it was obviously pushed, but I couldn’t help going back to the cousin thing.
In the end you’re left with so many questions. What is a seeker supposed to be anyway? We learn what they’re not supposed to be. How many athames are there supposed to be again? Wait, there’s a book now? What’s in that? Isn’t Briac supposed to be scary? Can we have more of Maud now please?
The real question is whether or not I will read the next book. Right now I’m leaning heavily towards no. I don’t think the struggle through this one was worth it in the end. But I’ve definitely read much, much worse.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
It’s been a few days since I finished this one and I’m still having a hard time deciding how I feel about it, let alone expressing my thoughts. While there are some really great ideas within the pages, it didn’t quite deliver.
It’s just a very long book. At over 400 pages, it still felt much longer than that. Not necessarily because the story dragged on, more that there was just so much to it. There’s drug addiction, prostitution, amnesia, murder, & time travel. It’s set on Earth, but sort of a scifi, near future world and there’s a fantasy element thrown in. There’s even a floating ship. I was interested enough to keep reading, but I always had a feeling of wanting to get it over with. It didn’t really feel exciting until the last 25% of the book where the action picked up.
Just like the rest of the story, the love triangle had its highs and lows. Thankfully, this love triangle is not all about Quin being in love with two different guys at the same time, but I found myself not really liking either of the guys for various reasons. There’s John who obviously loves power and vengeance more than he does Quin, and then there’s Shinobu who is awkwardly her cousin… they kept making it a point that he’s a discount cousin by marriage, but still. I wanted to like the idea of Shinobu/Quin and it was obviously pushed, but I couldn’t help going back to the cousin thing.
In the end you’re left with so many questions. What is a seeker supposed to be anyway? We learn what they’re not supposed to be. How many athames are there supposed to be again? Wait, there’s a book now? What’s in that? Isn’t Briac supposed to be scary? Can we have more of Maud now please?
The real question is whether or not I will read the next book. Right now I’m leaning heavily towards no. I don’t think the struggle through this one was worth it in the end. But I’ve definitely read much, much worse.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
I'm starting to think it's very hard to write a strong female character for YA fiction. I like the premise of this book and the lore of this world. There is enough there to keep me wanting to find out more. But Quin is a bland character, by her own words, a pawn. At the end, she may have had a break through but the end is too late to develop layers. I may read the next book just because I have a crush on Shinobu.
didn't really make sense. weird dystopia where kids are trained in family tradition of murder i guess?
An ARC of this book was provided to me by Netgally in exchange for an honest review.
I do not make it a habit of not finishing books. In fact, I hate myself for it. Unless the book is so terrible that I can't force myself to continue, I always complete them.
I am extremely disappointed in this book. I actually had very high expectations and it failed to meet them.
The love triangle was distrurbing and repelling. I couldn't understand it. The characters felt very one dimensional and the world building was very unclear and confusing. The book gave the feel of an older time period yet it had very modern things in it. I don't know, Like I said, it was very confusing.
I couldn't connect with any of the characters and found myself not really carrying about them anymore and that's when I knew I needed to stop reading it.
The best thing about it: the cover. That is all.
There isn't really much more I can say about this book that I haven't already so I'm just going to leave it at that.
DNFd at 44%.
If you'd like to read this book, please, go ahead. This was only my opinion of it and yours could be completely different. Every book deserves a chance.
1 star.
I do not make it a habit of not finishing books. In fact, I hate myself for it. Unless the book is so terrible that I can't force myself to continue, I always complete them.
I am extremely disappointed in this book. I actually had very high expectations and it failed to meet them.
The love triangle was distrurbing and repelling. I couldn't understand it. The characters felt very one dimensional and the world building was very unclear and confusing. The book gave the feel of an older time period yet it had very modern things in it. I don't know, Like I said, it was very confusing.
I couldn't connect with any of the characters and found myself not really carrying about them anymore and that's when I knew I needed to stop reading it.
The best thing about it: the cover. That is all.
There isn't really much more I can say about this book that I haven't already so I'm just going to leave it at that.
DNFd at 44%.
If you'd like to read this book, please, go ahead. This was only my opinion of it and yours could be completely different. Every book deserves a chance.
1 star.
Este libro es bastante desconcertante, y no por tener un argumento impactante u original, sino porque no me he enterado de la mitad de las cosas: ni de lo que se supone que es un seeker, ni en qué mundo o época se desarrolla, ni cuál es la personalidad de cada uno... vamos, no he entendido ni el funcionamiento de las armas raras que usan. Además, el mundo está descrito muy por encima y los personajes no tienen profundidad alguna. Entre los paseos para alante y para atrás en el tiempo, las distintas perspectivas de la narración y el hecho de que la mayor parte del tiempo ni entendía de qué carajo estaban hablando ni me importaba... he tenido que abandonarlo más o menos por la mitad.
I read as much of this as I could stand. It was too dark, and the one thing I thought would be the one bright spot the author took away early on. Could not soldier on.
I am sure many people would enjoy this book - it's just not for me.
I am sure many people would enjoy this book - it's just not for me.