Review: Watcher

Watcher by A.J. Eversley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Watcher is the first book in A.J. Eversley’s Watcher series, and I’m interested in seeing what book two brings. Although this wasn’t quite a full four-star rating, it was so close I had to round up. It’s one of those books that slowly works into you, slowly leaves you wanting more, until you’re sucked in so deep and cannot wait to see how everything comes together.

I’ll be completely honest and say it takes a few chapters before you’re completely sucked into this one. Things start off with action – which is great – but it is a while before all the pieces of the puzzle start to come together. We had a world we do not understand, a character I did not like that much, and I was tentative for the future of the book. However, sticking with this one quickly pulls you in much deeper, and gives you so much in return.

Like many young adult dystopian novels, this book is filled with action and the work of bad guys. What makes this book stand out is the different topic – usually it’s just a case of overthrowing the government because the kids are in a precarious situation, but such is not the case here. We have a clear threat to the world, a clear evil that needs to be dealt with – while human evil is part of this, there is also something more. It certainly makes this one stand out amongst the other young adult dystopian novels on the market.

Of course, there are some necessities of the genre throughout this one. We have the romance, the deep friendship, the heartbreak, and a number of the other tropes – however, they are so well mixed into the story that I found myself uncaring about the occasional cliché element. I think, in part, this is because so much occurred throughout this story. From the very first page, something is happening in this one – events are non-stop, leaving you sucked in throughout.

Without a doubt, this one ended up surprising me. I wasn’t sure at first, but by the end I was addicted. There is no doubt of me diving into Carbon, book two.

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