SEEKER by Arwen Elys Dayton / Traveler by Arwen Elys Dayton / Book Reviews #SeekerSeries

By: Arwen Elys Dayton
Published by: Random House Kids
Released on: February 10th, 2015
Series: Seeker #1
Purchase from: Amazon | B&N
Add it to Goodreads
Rating: 4 Stars
Source: book from publisher to review

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.

SEEKER is not at all what I was expecting. This is a story that didn't suck me. Instead it's a story that kept me intrigued the entire time I was reading. It's unpredictable with an unexpected storyline that was hard to put down. Normally I'm not a fan of books that are set at this pace, but it worked well for this book. 

My favorite aspects of this book are it's rich mythology, beautifully detailed settings, and the well crafted characters who I found myself constantly questioning the motives. I loved the way each of these elements is tied together. I loved the lush, and vividly detailed settings. From Scotland to Hong Kong, and London, I loved the detailed imagery from each country and city the book is set in. The mythology was well done, and really fueled the storyline. 

The characters make this book. They are all complicated, layered characters. I liked that along with learning more about the book's mythology, you learn more about them. The characters and the mythology are all tied together. I liked that while there are plenty of surprises, there are some characters I liked from the get go, and others I couldn't stand. Regardless of whether or not I liked a character, I loved that I was able to see each character's journey, and how much they changed over the course of the story. Whether for good or evil.

Romance wise, I really liked what Dayton does with the romance. It was totally not what I was excepting, but it's one that totally makes sense. It will definitely be interesting to see what happens in the next book. Though I'm pretty sure this is one romance that can withstand anything the sequel is going to throw at them.

SEEKER is an intense story that takes it's time being told, and it's oh so good. It's one that at times feels confusing, and at other times you feel like you're along for a ride you don't want to end. By the time the book ended, I was torn between feeling relived over everything making sense, and wanting to have the next book already. I really enjoyed this book.

By: Arwen Elys Dayton
Published by: Random House Kids
Released on: January 12th, 2016
Series: Seeker #2
Purchase from: Amazon | B&N
Add it to Goodreads
Rating: 3 Stars
Source: book from publisher to review

Quin Kincaid is a Seeker. Her legacy is an honor, an ancient role passed down for generations. But what she learned on her oath night changed her world forever.

Quin pledged her life to deception. Her legacy as a Seeker is not noble but savage. She was trained to be an assassin. And the boy she once loved is out for vengeance, with her family in his sights.

Yet Quin is not alone. Shinobu, her oldest companion, might now be the only person she can trust. The only one who wants answers as desperately as she does.

But the deeper they dig into the past, the darker things become. There are long-vanished Seeker families, shadowy alliances, and something else: a sinister plan begun generations ago with the power to end the legacy forever.

And it might destroy them all.

Dayton wastes now time jumping right back into the Seeker world with this sequel. Picking up where Seeker left off, readers get a deeper look into the history of this world, and are introduced to new characters. Like Seeker, this story is told from Quin and John's point of views, as well as Shinobu, and a few other characters. 

Dayton has created a mesmorizing world with this series. I loved getting a deeper look into the history of how it all began, and how things begin to become corrupt. There was a lot that happened in Seeker, and some of the questions I still had are answered. My favorite part of the story was with Catherine. This is where the history of the series is told. It's told through a series of journal entries written by Catherine, John's mother, 18-20 years prior. It's so richly detailed, and allows the reader to understand so much more of what's been going on. 

I enjoyed being back in the Seeker world, and the over progression of the story. However, there were some things I didn't enjoy as much. I love the third person narrative, but I felt having 6 different points of views to tell the story, took away from the story itself. Dayton does a great job at making sure the reader knows who's part of the story you're reading. However, I felt like with too many points of views, took more from the story than they added to it. To the point I wanted to skip over their parts. 

One of my favorite things about this series is Dayton's world building, and her vivid imagery. Her settings, the incredible world building, and the progression of the characters's stories were my favorite parts of this story. Had I not felt it was overkill with too many povs, I would have loved the story even more. Over all I thought this was a good read. I'd recommend picking up, especially if you read Seeker. There's so much that this book ties to that one, that you can't not read it.