AJ Eversley

I do really like this book. It fits the dystopian genre well. In fact, it is the world building that is what really got me excited for this book. It felt like a mixture of Ready, Player One meets The Matrix.

Although, I will admit that in the beginning I did get a little lost with all of the various characters introduced to me right away. It was bit hard to keep them all straight. However, once I was able to do so, I did enjoy reading this book.

Both Sienna and Jayla are both strong personalities. So, at times they did clash. The rest of the group felt like main characters as well. Fast pacing book that moves along really good. I will continue this series.… (plus d'informations)

Can the Watchers win through?
Even though Dystopian Fantasy is not usually my genre of choice, they can make a good change if well done, and not too far for my belief to stretch. This one was definitely an enjoyable listen and such a relief after a bunch of poor books lately. The narration was excellent, some of the best narrators I've come across recently, and this helped to push a 4* up to a 5*.

The adventure takes place after World War 3 and only two known cities remain. Humans are struggling to survive against Bots (large robots) and Carbons (copies of humans but with super-powers, including rapid recovery from injury).

The main character is Sawyer, who lost her parents at the age of eight and has been training to become a Watcher for the ten years since then. She is extremely fit, super strong and a sharp shot. She is ready to give her life to save humanity.
The other main character, who we meet a little way into the book, is Kenzie. His narrative is in third person, which was a bit strange in the audio version because he is read by a separate male narrator, yet not in first person.
For the first half of this book I was totally blown away. I'm less of a fan of the adventure bits, shooting and running and narrowly escaping, so I lost interest slightly in the second half, but that's just me.
The dog was an interesting feature, I realise I don't come across so many pets in novels.
All in all this was a great read and I hope I will get the change to listen to the next few books in the series.

(Just a note: I would have preferred not to have a good half hour of the next book at the end of this audio. I would have skipped this if I'd been reading, but it's hard to be sure what it is on audio. I heard the word Prologue, but part of me assumed I was still in Watcher. I never see the point of the beginning of a book you can't continue...)… (plus d'informations)

Note: This is Book 2 in the series and you really do need to check out Book 1 before jumping into this story.

Sawyer Russo and her dog Chevy are sharing a small cabin in a sub as they hunt for the United Isles in hopes of finding an ally. Max Murphy is with her and she’s pretty irritated with him. Sawyer’s short fuse was starting to annoy everyone, including myself, by the time she reined it in. The first 3-4 hours of this book has a lot of teen angst and that made it a slow, dull start for me.

But then we get some action! Yay! The pace picks up and the story becomes a lot more interesting. Some new characters are introduced and they provide some new challenges for Sawyer, both good and bad. Max also grows as a character and becomes a much more integral part of the story.

I especially liked the scenes in the dark forest with dangerous beasts. These were some of the most exciting scenes. And I like that Sawyer is smart enough to leave her dog at home, unlike that time she took him on a mission where bullets were flying.

Coleman is still the main bad guy and we get to see his madness as he obsesses over Sawyer. Also Kenzie has been subverted and this is an especially hard blow to Sawyer. While the bad guys are still one dimensional, I feel they make worthy foes for Sawyer, helping drive the story forward.

The story does leave us on a bit of a cliff hanger, but Book 3 (Savior) is out, so no need to wait! 4/5 stars.

The Narration: Chelsea Stephens & Steve Campbell provide great narration for this story. Stephens is perfect for Sawyer and I like her snotty attitude for Max at the beginning of the story. Her male voices could use a touch more masculinity. Campbell does great with all the male voices, especially the maniacal Coleman. 4.5/5 stars.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by AJ Eversley. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.… (plus d'informations)