Sunday, January 25, 2015

BOOK REVIEW: Seeker by Arwen Elys Dayton

This is a review for Seeker by Arwen Elys Dayton. I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my review. The publication date for the book is scheduled for February 10 of this year.

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.

In the Amazon synopsis, this book was compared to Marie Lu's Legend, Veronica Roth's Divergent, and Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games. I loved every single one of those series so I had high hopes for this one. I was very interested in this book for the first two or three chapters. It told of Quin's training and her desperate desire to become a Seeker. I thought that the author would reveal what a seeker was at some point. Once Quin completes her training, there is a very mysterious task they have to complete right before actually taking oath. No one knows that task (even Quin) except for current seekers. I thought the author would reveal what that was at one point. I was wrong on both counts, although later in the book they do hint at what they had to do. But never do they say why they had to do it.

The chapters bounced between Quin, John (her love interest who wants to become a seeker at all costs) and Shinobu (another trainee who takes the oath with Quin and also is in love with Quin). Later Maude is introduced. Maude is the Young Dread. What is a Dread and what is their purpose? After reading the book, I am still not sure. But judging by Maude's chapters, I don't think even she knows what the purpose of the Dreads are. Later in the book, they start talking about the athame. What is that? Like everything else, I have no idea. I gathered that it is a royal dagger. But the author never explains why this is so important. What we do know is that everyone is after this dagger and some people are willing to kill to get their hands on it.

The author does try to introduce a love triangle, but it isn't well done. First of all, the romance is very minimal. Second of all, I have no idea why Quin continued to have feelings for John even after all the horrible things he did just to get his hands on the athame. Another reason why this love triangle was not well done is because I just didn't care about any of the characters. The character development was just as minimal as the romance. And maybe it's the way the chapters were structured and all the questions the author never answered. There were so many unanswered questions that I had a really hard time figuring out the motivations behind anyone's actions. I think this is only series I have ever started in which I have no interest in reading the other books.

My recommendation for this book: Skip it. There are just too many questions in this book that are never answered. 

22 comments :

  1. Oh no, sounds like a lot of information dump and poor world building. Seeker is next in line on my TBR, I really hope I'm able to connect with the MC so I can enjoy it to a degree.

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    1. Symphony of Words. yes I hope you enjoy this book more than I did!

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  2. It's like the book set itself up for disappointment. Why would you even compare yourself to all those well-loved, popular YA series? Le sigh.

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    1. Ha, you are so right Joyous Reads. I need to stop even listening to the comparisons because I am usually set up for disappointment.

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  3. Ugh, this sounds so disappointing! Info dumping is the worst. Hopefully you enjoy your next read a lot more!

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    1. Thanks youngwriterscafe, I am reading The Darkest Prt of the Forest right now and it is much better. :)

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  4. Erk, yes, I think I would rather skip it. Sounds SO confusing and I haaaate it when books are full of mysterious plot points and twists and questions that don't make sense and never get answered. Just from your blurb and the review I don't think it sounds ANYTHING like Divergent or The Hunger Games. >.> I hate it when books are compared like that and just don't even match. *sigh*
    Thanks for stopping by @ Paper Fury!

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    1. Cait, yes I wish they would stop comparing books in the summaries. They always set my expectations way too high.

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  5. Ugh, yeah I think I will skip this! I'm just glad that I never requested it, as I was thinking about it when it first came up on Netgalley but something kept me from it and with the all the things I've heard of it I'm glad I don't have to read it.

    I'm sorry you didn't enjoy this one, I've heard that it's just confusing and most people seem to be having issues liking the characters.

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    1. Nobody, yeah by the time I saw all the mixed reviews, I had already been approved for it. I was s excited when I saw the premise. Oh well.

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  6. YES to all of this. Seriously, WHAT IS THIS BOOK ABOUT!? The comparisons to Divergent and THG are really off base too.

    I didn't even talk about Maud much in my review, mostly because I don't know who she was, what she did, where she came from... I was so lost, I couldn't even formulate an opinion!

    I really want to find someone who "gets" this book to explain it to me, because maybe I am just missing something? I don't know, it was so strange! I am sorry it was a miss for you too.
    Shannon @ It Starts At Midnight

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    1. Haha Shannon, I am so glad I am not the only one who was lost! There was part of me that thought maybe I didn't get something or maybe I missed a whole page with an explanation. And I agree with you about Maude. After so many chapters about her, I still have no idea what her purpose or goal is. I have seen some 4 star reviews on Amazon. I do want to ask those people WHY? Haha

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  7. I think when you mass up too many good things - it can taste bad and that's what it sounds like happened here. This isn't a genre I read on a regular basis anyway - so I will skip it!

    That sucks it wasn't up to par!

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    1. Thanks Tonya! Yeah if you aren't a fan of dystopian I don't think this book would help. And comparing it to books that I love just raises my expectations. Most of the time when that happens I am disappointed.

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  8. I'm so sad that I requested this book when there are so many amazing books to read. Still, it's my own fault for requesting it without doing a bit of research first. Sigh ...

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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    1. Nicole, I feel the same way! I didn't read all the mixed reviews until I had already been approved for it. I kind of wanted to quit it a couple of times but I had already put too much time in it. :)

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  9. This is really disappointing, I've been dying to read this one! I just hope I like this one more.
    -Jon from Bookish Antics!

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    1. Jon, I know. I was so excited about this one! I didn't read all the mixed reviews until I had already been approved for it. I hope you enjoy it more as well!

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  10. That's too bad! I'm sorry this book didn't deliver. I had high hopes for this one, but yours is actually the third negative review I've read on it, so I think I'll skip it. There are too many great books out there to spend time on books your don't love, right?

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    1. Bookmark Dragon, YES there are way too many great books to read the bad ones! And I don't know about you, but my TBR is already long enough. Haha. I didn't read all the mixed reviews until I had already been approved for the book. Otherwise I would not have bothered to request it. Oh well!

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  11. Ugh. I was kind of reading it now but I'm not liking the beginning so far and I'm seeing a lot of negative reviews around that are totally putting me off.. I have a feeling I'll DNF :/

    Ps. I have a blog as well, if you want to stop by I'd appreciate it so much! It's both in Italian and in English :3 -> http://frannieinthepages.blogspot.com/

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    1. Yeah Frannie I almost marked it as DNF but I just forced myself to keep going. I know others who have marked it DNF so if you did that, you would be in good company. :)

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