gabs_myfullbookshelf 's review for:

Seeker by Arwen Elys Dayton
1.0

The best part of Seeker was turning the last page of this god-forsaken story and feeling the headache that had begun to form slightly dissipate. This book was not fun to read.

It seemed that this book had some promise but with all the undeveloped characters, the weird love triangle, the abandoned worldbuilding, the random switching of settings, and the fact that this book LITERALLY TELLS YOU HOW TO PRONOUNCE THE MADE UP WORDS WHILE YOU ARE READING DO YOU KNOW HOW ANNOYING THAT IS, I didn't care for it.

-Undeveloped Characters
Quin: The blurb made Quin seem like a real kickbutt character. She wasn't. I'd be fine with that, if it didn't mean that half the time she's crying or acting borderline psychotic or making excuses for her dousche of a boyfriend John. I get that she's been through a tramautic experience...but we really didn't get anything beyond that from her for a lot of the book. And it gets tedious if the portrayal isn't written well...which, in this case it is not.

John:
No matter how the book tried to redeem John's character, I HATED him. From the very beginning, I could tell he'd be a suckish character. I was right. Usually I like the messed up misunderstood characters, but John is such a dousche and so freaking stupid I couldn't even sympathize with him. He's downright awful to Quin, despite proclaiming to love her, and quite selfish besides.

Shinobu:
Where, oh where, did Shinobu go wrong? He had the ability to be such a loveable person, and yet, what he became was a drug addicted I-don't-even-know-how-to-explain-what-happened type of character. And I'm sorry, but I'm not shipping him and Quin. He can stay in the extremely distant cousin zone.

-Weird Love Triangle
Well, I already kind of touched on this, but bottom line, it's blegh. And none of the relationships feel like actual love to me; John and Quin seem really dysfunctional, and Shinobu and Quin is just plain weird...I'm not feeling any chemistry from them.

-The Abandoned Worldbuilding
I still cannot explain what the heck an athame or a seeker is...I know seekers are supposed to be good, but apparently they're actually bad, and I guess they're like some kind of futuristic fantasy hitmen? Which brings up the question, where the heck does this story take place? Futuristic Earth which has somehow become fantastical? Or what? Even the most basic elements of the world didn't get fully answered, and it annoyed me to no end.

-Setting Change

This went from taking place in Scotland to going to Hong Kong with little warning and no transition. Not only was it drastically different from Scotland...it takes place like a year(?? I've forgotten how much time had passed, but it was long enough that Quin and Shinobu have like COMPLETELY changed personalities and that was just another layer of confusion) later and it was really hard to get used to.

-IT LITERALLY TELLS YOU HOW TO PRONOUNCE THE MADE UP WORDS WHILE YOU ARE READING DO YOU KNOW HOW ANNOYING THAT IS

Well, I mean...^^^. Read above basically. Please, if you are a fantasy writer making up words in your stories (though honestly usually it turns out better if you don't) USE A GLOSSARY if you need to tell readers how your words sound. Don't tell us in the actual text.

So. In the words of Simon Cowell....it's a no from me.