REVIEW: Dark Seeker (Seeker #1) by Taryn Browning

Author: Taryn Browning

Series: Seeker

Pages: 298

Genre: Young Adult / Paranormal

Amazon: Dark Seeker

Dark Seeker was kindly provided to me by the author, Taryn Browning.

Synopsis. (Goodreads)

For 17-year-old Seeker, Janie Grey, ridding the Baltimore streets of the undead is an inherited duty passed down from her Cherokee ancestors. Seeker Training Lesson #1: Never trust the undead. After her father’s tragic death, Janie creates her own life lesson: Love isn’t worth the risk. Both lessons are easy to follow until she encounters the flawed Kai Sterdam. At first, she believes he is the hybrid she is trained to hunt. But, when he has human traits, she determines she doesn’t know what he is. As Janie’s intrigue over who Kai is pushes her deeper into his mysterious past, she discovers a shocking truth that is even more harrowing than the evil they are up against. It’s a secret Kai wants to keep hidden, especially from Janie.

REVIEW: 4 out of 5 stars

Dark Seeker was kindly provided to me by the author Taryn Browning in exchange for my honest review and is the first book in the Seeker series.

Janie Grey is a 17 year-old Seeker, a job which entails her ridding the streets of the undead of Baltimore - a duty which has been passed down from her Cherokee ancestors and one she takes quite seriously. When she has a run-in with who she assumes is one of the undead - a daychild, she is hesitant to kill him and is rather intrigued and curious as to why he is hunting his own kind and has also saved her on occasion; he has scars, a heart-beat and beautiful green eyes, certainly not the norm with the undead.

Kai is a gorgeous mystery; he is sarcastic and stubborn and has a knack for showing up wherever Janie is. His guilt weighs heavy on him and I was eager to learn more of his past and secrets.

Ms Browning has added a whole new spin on the undead, we have the vampires who we have come to typically know - they can’t withstand the sun and are dead throughout the day and we have the daychildren who are vampire/demons who can walk in the sun. I loved the concept of the daychildren and how they came to be, a nice twist and great to see the vampires not portrayed as the worst of their kind.

Janie gets caught in the middle of a battle between the Vampires and the Daychildren when they uncover the daychildren’s scheme to turn the local school athletes into another form of vampire. The plot was intriguing and creative and the action ongoing, Janie and Kai seriously kicked some butt. The villain behind everything was certainly evil but also extremely powerful so I am eager to see how his plan unfolds.

Janie was not only having to sort out the daychild drama’s but also the fact she may have imprinted on the school’s star wrestler, Matt when she saved his life. I wasn't such a fan of the imprinting storyline so am curious to see how it all pans out and in which direction the author will take it.

I liked Janie as a main protagonist, she is a smart, feisty and determined; I feel she really grew as a character throughout the book and I thought her interactions with Kai showed vulnerability as well as a rare trust; he bought out not only the worst in her but also the best. Kai for me was a wonderful male love interest for Janie and I really liked his little bouts of jealousy.

The relationship aspect was enjoyable and progressed at a realistic pace, there were no immediate declarations of love (thank goodness!), there were some major dramas and hurdles they needed to face and overcome and there was also a possible love triangle with Matt on the scene who I think could be the one to cause any future dramas with the imprinting, I don’t think he’ll walk away easily.

The secondary characters were likeable, Abram who is Janie’s guardian was certainly fascinating and I was intrigued by her mother Isabel’s back-story. Her close friends Luke and Amy were also written well.

I would have loved more information on the Seekers, their history, the council, how they came to be etc. I found these details to be lacking and I was quite curious to find out why the cycle of Janie being a Seeker had to be repeated over and over again, I could never really grasp this aspect of the book.

Dark Seeker is a wonderful debut novel for author Taryn Browning, I found the world she has created to be fascinating and unique and I am really eager to read the sequel.

If you enjoy your YA Paranormal filled with non-stop action, drama, mystery and a really sweet romance then Dark Seeker is definitely for you!

Obtained: Author