Seeker

By: Arwen Elys Dayton

Narrated by: Katharine Lee McEwan

Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's Summary

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.

©2015 Arwen Elys Dayton (P)2015 Listening Library

Critic Reviews

"Fans of Veronica Roth's Divergent, Marie Lu's Legend, and Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games series: Your next obsession has arrived." ( School Library Journal)

slow story development

you don't get to know the people in the story until the end. in the end it was just boring.

Overall, Bad Story.

Would you try another book from Arwen Elys Dayton and/or Katharine McEwan?

May be. The first book I listen to 'Resurrection' was good.

What was most disappointing about Arwen Elys Dayton’s story?

The main character 'Gwen', was a selfish little brat that could not see beyond herself or come up with a better solution to her problems.

Any additional comments?

The story drags on... I only completed it hoping for a miraculous ending... no joy.

Narration is "over acted"

Storyline is ok but I found the performance too strident for my likes. It seems that the entire book is read as though every line is a chase scene. Exhausting to listen to.

Loved This Book

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. Was hooked almost instantly and went straight on through with book two and three.

The narrator is also fantastic. A great voice and great performance.

Umm...I think some details are missing...

This book had the potential to be great. But the complete lack of details and random POV jumping makes it fantastically nonsensical and dull. Even the locations and time are barely understandable. The world is a bizarre mix of steampunk, futuristic, and the Karate Kid. Some SPOILERS ahead...beware.

The biggest problem with the story is that, from beginning to end, I had no clue what was going on. Apparently, there are three kids in Scotland training to be Seekers. What is a Seeker, you ask? I wish I could tell you. It is NEVER explained! It appears to have some kind of lofty, noble purpose, but the realities are something far more sinister. That's about all I could get. There's some fighting and some very jarring POV changes that also make no sense. Then we jump ahead in time by 18 months and things make even LESS sense.

Now the characters:
1) Quin, the idealistic, doe-eyed FMC, who has an idealized view of what her life is going to be, and yet she blindly follows her (apparently) blood-thirsty father and his quest for...whatever the hell he's questing for. Then she jumps ahead 18 months with a new life and no memory. Wow.
2) Shinobu, the afterthought. Again, he has a lofty idea of his future as a Seeker. But when things don't go his way, he dives into drugs to forget the girl he professes to love and the life he had fought to have. Sure.
3) John, the love interest of Quin. Claims to be madly, passionately in love with Quin, yet he apparently has no qualms about sending men to physically brutalize her, even taking a few shots himself, just to get what he wants. He wants what he believes is rightfully his (again, we're given ZERO details about what those things might be).
4) Maud (aka, the Young Dread) is a spineless, brainless mook. Oh, are you wondering what a Dread is? Me too. From what I can glean, they're a trio of normal folks who sleep for a few centuries at a time and wake up to act like the Archbishop of Canterbury to knight a few Seekers every now and then.

The writing is very weak. The dialogue is clumsy and feels very forced at times. There’s a lot of telling, and not enough showing. There are so many strange happenings with such little explanation that you remain frustrated from beginning to end. If you're looking for a synopsis of this book, here it is: Shiny stone knife thing. Distant cousin love triangle. Abusive murderous father. Drug-addictive, prostitute mother. Physical abuse. That's about about it.

Confusing Plot Premise But Still Entertaining

This book was entertaining but it was also very confusing. The story had quite a few holes that distracted from the events unfolding in the plot. Some of the questions I had were eventually answered but not nearly enough and certainly not early enough for things to make sense.

Inspirational masterpiece.

This book provides a pragmatic approach to all of our most important life questions. It gives a new integrated approach of all of the best characteristics of current fictional books of this kind. Makes you wonder about family, love, determination, addictions and death. Great read. Will love to see it made in a movie. And hope to read the next one soon.

great book i loved it. its so full of adventure!!

i cant wait for the next book to come out love u. i hope u keep writing more books

Seeking a Shorter Exposition

It wasn't until part two that things blossomed into a story that just takes off. After that, nonstop interweaving of three lives that revolve around another. From China-to - Scotland, this book is filled with huge character development