Getting what you want isn't always what you want.

Quin Kincaid is of the assumption that once she becomes a seeker, she will finally have everything she has always wanted. Only, not.

Quin, John, and Shinobu are to fight together to protect the weak and the wronged. Together they will stand as light in a world that so desperately needs it. Only. Who can Quin trust? Who are her friends? Are family ties binding?

This novel is the first in a complex family saga. Buckle up.

"Seeker" by Arwen Elys Dayton presents an exciting premise but falls a little short for me in its execution. Dayton's vivid descriptions bring the settings to life, but for me the narrative occasionally felt disjointed and confusing. While "Seeker" has its moments of intrigue, I struggled to stay engaged.

Seeker Seeker series Book 1 by Arwen Elys Dayton

450 Pages
Publisher: Random House Children’s, Delacort BFYR
Release Date: February 10, 2015

Fiction, General Fiction, Teens, Young Adult, Coming of Age, Sci Fi, Fantasy

The book is set in Scotland where Quin Shinobu, and John are apprentices training to be Seekers. The training is violent with whipswords but they are simulated instead of actual injuries. After their final virtual training, they have a real battle with Briac Kincaid, Quin’s father making the pass/fail decision. Quin and Shinobu pass and prepare for their Oath ceremony. Briac takes John to see a empty shell of a person to show him what happens if a person is not prepared enough and lets down his other Seekers. Quin and John were at the budding stage of their relationship and Briac does not approve.

The story jumps 18 months to Hong Kong. Quin is a healer with no memory of her past. Shinobu and his friend, Brian, spend days salvaging items for money then evenings in drug clubs. On one dive, he brings up an item he recognizes from his pass, an athame with a fox carved into the handle. The customer for the athame is none other than John. This event brings the three apprenticed back together again but now they are on different sides.

The book has a steady pace, the characters are developed, and it is written in the third person point of view. The story does not end at a cliffhanger but a step off to the next book in the series, Traveler. If you like young adult competition type books, like the Hunger Games, you may enjoy this book.

I'm reading old books in my queue. This is the first of a series that was published following the hype around other popular young adult series. I really tried to get into this one, but it did not captivate me like others did. I likely won't read the next. I did appreciate the characters, and the writing was decent. Thank you to the publisher.

Sadly this one just didn’t grab me as much as I hoped it would. I tried a few times but it fell flat.

DNF @ 33%

I have listened to a third of this book and I am so confused. Not only am I not exactly sure what is going on, I don't have the energy to find out. There appears to be a bit of a love triangle which I can deal with but one of the boys is the female character's 3rd cousin, so that's a nope from me. I did think that the narrator did a great job with the story but it's just not one for me.

ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley and a copy of the audiobook was borrowed from my local library.

I received this free eARC novel from NetGalley. This is my honest review.

This has been on my TBR pile for so long, and I'm glad I finally got around to it. I really enjoyed the storyline and seeing the characters change throughout the story was a great character development. The plot was great and kept my attention. I'm glad I got the chance to read this and will be on the lookout for more in the future!

This is an engaging first novel of a young adult series. Excellent exploration of young love and the being torn between doing what is right and doing what the person you love wants you to do.

This was an interesting premise. I struggled to finish it, as I had a hard time concentrating on it. It didn't really hold my attention. I'm not really interested in reading the sequel.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this book. I am sorry I did not get to read it before the archive date.

I received a free copy from NetGalley. I still don't know where or when this was suppose to take place. The mix of past and present and magic and science is just confusing. The love triangle made me say ick. And the ending just sets up the next book instead of really tying up anything in this one. I also kept thinking it was a second book in the series because I felt like there were things I should know/understand and I didn't. It just wasn't a win for me and took a long time to finish as a result of me putting it down to do other things.

So I was really excited to get approved for an ARC for Seeker and couldn’t wait to get started reading it. I haven’t been this disappointed in an anticipated book in a while!

Oh where to begin…Seeker began in an intriguing way for sure with plenty of potential for there being a fantastic story, however I waited…and waited in vain for things to get good. Quin, Shinobu, and John have trained for years together to become infamous Seekers, a rare and honored role! However, when the day finally comes for them to be officially initiated, they are horrified to discover what it truly means to be Seeker, and what is required of them. Soon relationships are torn apart and things get out of control as the true enemies are revealed.

Sounds like a pretty good premise right? Well it slowly spiraled into a emotionally torturous experience. There was romance right off the bat between John and Quin that I found enjoyable. Until. It. Wasn’t. Let’s just say the lines of love were very blurred! So blurred, that Quin switches romantic interests at the last, most improbable and unjustified moment!! Quin was a frustrating character from the start, she just couldn’t own up to her mistakes, face them and do something about them. She had to wallow in self-pity and play cat and mouse for almost the entire story with John. Then there’s John who directly contradicts what he feels by acting in the opposite way. Of course there are other minor characters whose perspectives are given throughout as well, that didn’t add to much to the story.

Then there’s the whole “what is a Seeker?” “what do they do really do?” questions that aren’t actually ever answered!! It was so frustrating; the thought that my answers to the cryptic explanations as to what atrocities Seekers commit would be answered soon enough is what kept me reading this book. But the answer was never fully explained, I just kinda had to fill in the gaps where I could. I mean, I’m pretty sure I get it, but still, it would have been nice to have been given a formal explanation. Overall, Seeker made for a very slow reading experience, as the action slowed down, characters made idiotic/unreasonable choices, and the POV jumped every chapter. There was so much potential for this book, but it was just executed poorly.

https://escapeinsidethepages.wordpress.com/2015/01/28/review-seeker-seeker-1-by-arwen-elys-dayton/

Thank you for the opportunity to read Seeker. Unfortunately, I did not complete my reading of the book before it was archived in February 2015. I do not plan to finish the book.

Honestly, I was mainly sticking with this to review on Netgalley other than I'm not sure of the appeal of this story. The timeline has gaps and jumps and where the characters were is not explained. It has a weird cousin love triangle. There's a sexual assault involving a tweaking of a breast in too much detail. And yes the main problem being what the hell is an actual Seeker besides someone who kills families for corporate greed. Quin spends too much time in denial and having amnesia that as a reader we don't know the truth of her story either.

This was an interesting premise. I struggled to finish it, as I had a hard time concentrating on it. It didn't really hold my attention. I'm not really interested in reading the sequel.

This book i have three copies of ebook that an ARC a physical copy and an audiobook all before i read a single word and it worth it. I loved this world. There still room for the characters to grow within the series and i really want to know where this series goes that I already bought the next book. now i wished i just got to this book sooner, but such is life and the only reason it a four stars and not five stars read it a little slow in the beginning

I loved this book and it was so worth the hype. I have a hard time reading books that have all this hype around them, but I chanced it for this one and I'm so happy that I did. Seeker by Arwen Elys Dayton is amazing. I couldn't get enough of this book. I stayed up until the sun came up to finish this book. That's how amazing it is.

Being a Seeker has always been the goal of Quin Kincaid. She will fight to protect the weak and the wronged. She will be with the boy she loved and her friend. She will be the light... or so she thinks. It turns out the being a Seeker is not what she thought it was going to be! The world of *Seeker* is fantastic. It took no time at all to become fully immersed in the setting and dimension. This YA fantasy is top-notch and a must read for fans wanting a new series to binge! I can’t wait for more intallments in this series.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the review copy of this book.

I received a copy of this via Netgalley back in 2015 and since then I have tried to read this book two other times before finally finishing it. I guess the third time is the charm? However, I was thoroughly underwhelmed.

Quinn, John, and Shinobu are teens training to be Seekers. They all come from a long line of Seekers and hope to take the oaths that will continue the tradition. This is something they have trained all their lives for and when the time finally comes for the oaths, they realize that maybe being a Seeker isn't exactly what they thought it would be. Suddenly it's a race across the world as ancient artifacts are claimed and stolen while everyone wonders just what it "right".

If that summary feels a little vague it's honestly because I still don't really understand what this book was about. Let's take Seekers for example. What are they, you ask? I have no idea. We are constantly told that they are people who "do good in the world" but there is no other explanation. What is their point? What is their main goal? How were they founded? This was one of the worst world buildings that I have ever read. Nothing made sense, nothing was explained and everything was just vague.

And this makes me sad because when I finally got past the same first two chapters that I've read multiple times, I really started to enjoy it and thought 'this is going to be a great book!'. But alas, I was so wrong and by 50% I was bored and didn't care about any of the characters -they were all kind of horrible. And what was with the "Intermission" section where we went back in time to see them as kids? It felt really out of place and did not flow at all.

I'm giving this two stars because it had so much potential but it got weighed down by its needless wanderings and random history lessons that came at the worst time. I'm unsure if I'll finish this series (I honestly can't even remember how it ended and I finished it last night). For now, I'm just going to leave it at the first book.

Overall: 2.5 - 3, very middle of the road for me. Received as an ARC from NetGalley.

While I finished the book, it was difficult for me to get through - which really surprised me, considering that the description of the book sounded so enticing! The story went up and down... at times, I couldn't put it down and at other moments, I found myself considering not even finishing (which is strange for me!).

I enjoyed it - and would've purchased or at least borrowed had I not received an ARC copy - but I'm not sure that I would purchase for my bookshelf to read again. I was hoping for more, especially given the description that it would be a series similar to The Hunger Games.