As the story begins, fifteen year old Quin is training to be a Seeker who will help people and right the wrongs in the world. She soon learns that her job as Seeker does not live up to her expectations. She has been training with two boys (love triangle alert), John, who she is in love with, and Shinobu, who is a distant cousin. The story is told by several different characters and covers the beginning, a year and a half later, and the distant past. There is romance, sci-fi/fantasy, and lots of action in this first book in this YA series. I think that readers of YA fantasy will enjoy it.

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.-Goodreads

This book was hard to swallow. There was a lot going on and the author moved in a few different directions. Let me start off with the positives:

I loved the three different point of views the author provided. It provided a story that was well rounded and it didn't leave a lot of room for what if and questioning. This is not to say that it was a straight forward read either. It wasn't but what I liked about the different point of views, is that it explained so much without explaining everything. 

Another point that I enjoyed about this book is how fast it begins. The author doesn't add a lot of fluff in the beginning and I am alright with that. Some stories do not need to build from nowhere. 

However, with that being said here is what went wrong with that. The author is extremely vague with what happens after Quin takes her Oath. Vague may not be the right word but nonexistence would be better. You know something happens. You know something bad happens but the author doesn't talk about it and it pisses you off because is weak. So very weak. Most of the book is about what happens after the Oath was taken because it changes everything. The fact that the author didn't include that even and beat around the bush around it was the biggest disappointment in this book.

Another issue I had was the love triangle. There was really no need for it and the love did not seem genuine at all. The romance aspect of this read was a let down, considering there was a love triangle. 

Also I didn't like Quin. I can't even give you reasons why but I did not like her. I actually liked John and wished there was more of him as opposed to Quin being the focused. I would totally read a book that was solely John's voice and interactions. 

Beyond those main issues, the story-line went from the present to past to the present. If that is not your thing, then you will not enjoy this read. I wish the transitions were better, I wish the intensity level of this book was on high and I would have preferred a more constant pace throughout the novel. 

Not a bad read at all but not something I was completely satisfied with. 

2 Pickles

My thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children's Delacorte BFYR for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.

This book was kind of a mess. The biggest confusion was WHEN and WHERE this book takes place. Is it our Earth, a similar Earth, the past, the future, some combination of the two? They have these fancy weapons and TVs and stuff, but they are using swords and live in a village by a falling down castle. I assume it is some sort of future, but it's never really explained.

Also what is not explained, what a Seeker is/does. We don't get a lot of the history behind how it started, why it continues, what they once were and what they became. The reader can GUESS, but they shouldn't have to. The world building is rather horrible.

Two of the three MCs were raised to think being a Seekers was the best thing in the world, they were the protector of the weak and stopped injustice, yadda yadda yadda. Then one's mother and one's father, without giving them any other information, offer them a choice to walk away from being, what they think, is the BEST THING SINCE SLICED BREAD. Of course the MCs choose the awesome honorable ninja thingie. They don't have any other information to go by.

Horrible Harry Potter syndrome attack here, not giving the MCs enough info to make a well informed and correct decision.

The mom and father/uncle took a vow? The vow was to not tell the secrets? But what was the penalty if they DID tell the truth? Did that vow hold, even if made under duress or false pretenses? The MCs were FORCED to take the vow. How is that even binding? They will be killed if they don't make the vow. So what, they can't keep the vow, but kill the bad guy later like when he's sleeping? The love of one of the MCs KNEW what was going on, but didn't tell his GF, WHY?!? He hadn't taken the vow. Why not tell the truth??

And WHY didn't the bad guy just raise/brain wash the two MCs into thinking that being a paid assassin was the most awesome thing ever? That would be a LOT easier than lying and then forcing the MCs to do his bidding and possibly fomenting hatred and revenge in their hearts and minds.

Seriously, this book asked the reader to make so many leaps of faith, but there was never anything to land on.

It is pretty bad when I say that the love triangle was the least of my issues with this book. It was barely a blip on my radar, but it was there. And kind of gross too. The whole kind-of cousins thing wasn't really necessary.

I was going to give this two stars, but wrote myself out of it when discussing the issues I had with the plot above. So 1 star it is. The cover is really pretty though. And I read an eARC, so maybe the finished copy is better? I can't in good conscious recommend it, but there is a book for every reader and this one may be for you. Just don't say I didn't warn you. I've read other reviews where the reviewer read more of the book than I did. I got 29% into it and stopped. Apparently it gets worse the further in you go. Again, tastes vary, so don't let me deter you.

Sorry I was not able to read you book but it went to archive before I could get to it. Sorry once again.

I wasn't able to really connect with this title, but hope to do so in the future.

I ended up DNFing this one because nothing was bringing me back to it.

Fascinating perspective. Can't wait to start book two! Though I received this as an ARC, I put off picking it up - and I'm glad I did. Now I can go straight to books 2 and 3! Fascinating world and characters.

This has a rough start but once the story starts fleshing out it gets much better. I was very confused as what time period this was because at times it sounds archaic but then someone will pull out a gun or a cell phone so I'm guessing post-apocalyptic. I did end up really enjoying this story, there's four viewpoints and they're each very different but my favorite had to be Maud which reminded me of some kind of druid. John, Shinobu and Quin (the other three narrators) have been training for one purpose, to become seekers, an elite squad of protectors for mankind. But, as they progress they realize there's more secrets and the history of these seekers isn't as pure as they imagined. John is also an interesting character as he carries a large burden and a heavy history. The story twisted and turned and dealt with many issues I didn't see coming like opium addiction. I'm really interested in seeing how the rest of the series unfolds as the book ended in chaos.

Quin was fighting a large man she was close to winning. Alistair MacBain was the biggest man Quin knew,and was Quin’s uncle but at the moment that didn’t matter. Seekers did not think when they fought. Quin and Shinoba had started their Seeker training when they were eight and they were both fifteen now. Alistair said they had to prove themselves .John was also training but he was now sixteen but he had got a late start and didn’t start training until he was twelve. Quin is in love with John Quin and Shinoba take the oath and become Seekers. Quin had trained her entire life to do this , it was her destiny,. Quin will be fighting beside her closest friends Shinoba and John and they will protect the weak and those who have been wronged. But being a Seeker wasn’t what Quin thought it would be like. John is not allowed to take the oath yet. So John goes back to his grandfather's. Brais has something John wants. John attacks Braic and Quin and Shinoba escape but Quin has been shot. Quin’s dad wants power more than anything and has an ancient artifact that John wants. Shinoba takes Quin to Hong Kong to heal but Quin loses all her memories. Shinab leaves Quin with Fiona who is her mother. Quin slowly starts to regain her memories At first Quin follow their father's completely. But then Quin hides behind her shell of no memories and Shinoba hides behind drugs. But eventually Quin and Shinoba fight back. Shinoba has always loved Quin but Quin had only cared for John in that way but now they were running from him. Even without her memories Quin knows John is not a good guy and Shinoba is trying to kelp her. So now there is a love triangle.
I have mixed feelings about this story. Some things I liked some things not so much. But it also didn’t WOW me in anyway. This story was slow at times and that was hard to keep me going.as far as reading goes but I did finish this. I also found this story a little boring most of the time. I did like the young dread gave us more history of the seekers and the dreads, this did add to the story as far as I am concerned. I got confused in this story. I didn’t like the changing POV so much. I did think that plot was good just somehow didn’t work that great for me in the story. Toward the end of the story things started coming together but by then my rating of this story had already went down a lot.

Seeker is an exciting and entrancing story for readers of all ages! I strongly recommend this for anyone who enjoys getting lost in adventure!

Quinn, John and Shinobu have been training for this opportunity their whole lives, the chance to join the ranks of the honorable Seekers. But when their leader Briack denies John the chance to become one, he vows he will do whatever is necessary to right his secret family wrong. Quinn and Shinobu become Seekers, but it was nothing like they were told, leaving them broken as to the things they have participated in. The three started on the same Journey, but now have very different paths.

I will admit that I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I started reading this story. Well, let me tell you this was an epic ride that had its ups and downs but overall the story and plot was unique, the characters were very well flushed out and believable and ultimately I was left wanting more.

The book is split into 3 parts, each part a significant piece of the puzzle that led to the ending and the way the characters developed. I struggled for a long while trying to place the time/world the book is set in (is it a fantasy world, is it the past, is it the future?). I am pretty sure (like 70%) that this is a version of the current world, but with some slight alterations that could hint at the future. It was never very specific and that bothered me but not enough to stop reading.

The story narration alternates chapters between Quinn, Jon, Shinobu and the Young Dread. The author used different lengths such as a page or ten pages before switching perspective and always leaving you hanging, wanting to know what was happening with that character but instead going somewhere else. It was seriously the best way to get me to keep reading, using the “just one more” approach. The one thing all the teens have in common is that they are all broken, in different ways and varying degrees, but still broken. They were so developed and real, with flaws and redeeming factors, I felt like I knew them and what they would do. Even the character that I absolutely hated and considered the villain (nope not Briack who was the devil) had a terrible back story and I had empathy for how he fell so far off his path. Hands down, Shinobu is the best, regardless of his bad habits (and the superhero underwear scene was my favorite!).

I have been listening to this audiobook for forever (for at least 2 months which sometimes feels like forever) because it takes me a long time to listen to them since I only play them while in the car. I own a paperback of the book that is signed by the author, I have an ebook version which is my preferred reading format and I checked out the audiobook from the library which I absolutely love. The narrator did such an amazing job of creating characters and the descriptions that I have been fully involved in the story, whether its a five minute drive to work or a half hour jaunt, I kept seamlessly being placed right back in the middle. I will admit that the side effect of listening to the audiobook is the desire to speak in a Scottish accent.

I was pleased with the book, if not at times seriously frustrated (aka part 2!) but I enjoyed the book and look forward to finishing the trilogy, even though I question all the characters motives (except Shinobu) and have no idea what will happen next.

For more reviews visit my blog at http://smadasbooksmack.blogspot.com/

Teen fantasy fans will love this new series. With a strong female protagonist, there are plenty of male characters and enough action to prevent the title from being a 'girl' book. I have already purchased it for my high school library and it is a popular title.