Seeker by Arwen Elys Dayton

Title: Seeker
(Seeker #1)
Author: Arwen Elys Dayton
Length: 448 pages
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Classification: Young Adult, Fantasy, Science Fiction
Release Date: February 10, 2015
Source: e-galley via NetGalley (Thank you Random House!)
Read: February 2015

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.

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***I received an e-galley of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

I have mixed feelings about this book. 

For me the book started off strong, I was pulled in and interested to find out what was going to happen. Then the farther I got into the story, the more confused I became. 

I feel like there was a lot of information, yet I didn't really understand what was really happening.
I am not sure if this story classifies as Fantasy or Science Fiction, I personally found elements of both in this story so I think it is a mixture. Though I do get more of a Sci-Fi feel from it. 

This story is told from four viewpoints. Quin, John, and Shinobu are all training to become Seekers. Which is basically their family destiny. They were all pretty much raised to become Seekers. The fourth viewpoint is told from Maud, she is a Dread. Quin takes her Oath and becomes a Seeker only to discover that it is nothing like she thought it would be.

In all honesty, there were a couple times while reading this book, where I considered putting it down. I was confused and I was having a hard time really caring about the characters. But there was quite a bit of action and it did help me want to figure out what was happening. 

I read this book slowly. Trying to figure out what a Seeker is, what a Dread is, and where THERE is. Now that I am finished, I am not sure I really figured those out completely, but I do think I have a little bit of an idea. 

I really started to become more interested and intrigued around 70% into the book. I don't think the pacing was bad, or slow, I just had a hard time really getting into the story until then. Once I reached that point, I started to really care about finding out what was going to happen to these characters. I started reading the book more quickly, and it became harder for me to put the book down.

The characters for the most part were interesting. But as I mentioned earlier, I did have a hard time connecting and caring for them for the first half of the book.
One of the things that I do like the most about the characters and the story is that I had a hard time figuring out which side people were on. Though characters would come across as being part of "the good guys" that were several times I thought "Nope, that person is NOT one of the good guys." Every character has different motives for wanting the thing they are all fighting for. Those motives might be good, evil, or in the gray area. And even now, I am not entirely certain where each character falls.

There is a little bit of a love triangle going on. But the romance isn't that big of a part in the story. (It is there and it is mentioned several times, but I still feel like it is on the back burner when looking at the story as a whole.)

Though confusing and slow at first, I do think that I enjoyed the story enough for me to want to read the next book when it comes out next year. The ending was action packed and I am curious to see what will happen next and find out more about the complex world and characters.

My Recommendation:

I found myself almost giving up on this book, but I am glad that I didn't. I might not have fallen in love with the story or the characters, but I do find them interesting. I want to learn more about the world and the characters and plan to read the next book in the series. If you enjoy reading books that start off a little slowly, keep the reader guessing (and a bit confused) but also has a very complex world then I think you may enjoy reading this book. 

My Rating: