Smada's Book Smack : Audiobook Blog Tour & Giveaway: Watcher (Watcher #1) by A.J. Eversley

Author: AJ Eversley

Narrators: Chelsea Stephens, Steve Campbell

Length: 8 hours and 13 minutes

Series: The Watcher Series, Book 1

Publisher: Author AJ Eversley

Released: Oct. 6, 2018

Genre: Science Fiction; Young Adult

"I knew I was not alone. They would never leave until every last one of us was gone."
Sawyer Russo has sworn to protect humanity, and as a Watcher she's done just that. But the Bots and Carbons that took her city are evolving, and they start picking the Watchers off one by one. One last rescue mission will change everything. When someone betrays them, the line between friend and foe is no longer easily drawn.
Sawyer made a vow, and she will fulfill it, even if it means ending the person who deceived them, no matter who it might be.
It all comes down to one choice...
Who can she save?
And who does she have to let go?

My Review:

3.5 Out Of 5 Stars

Genre: Dystopian, Heart-Wrenching, Survival, Suspense-

After the war, Sawyer has spent the last ten years of her life being the best Watcher that she could possibly be. She trains, she works hard, and she avoids any sort of emotional connection to other people- because why get attached when they will just die anyway? When her team brings back a group of survivors, one of them, Kenzie, keeps popping up in her space. When she is tasked with training him to be a Watcher also, she has no choice but to let her guard down and start to care. But little does she know, her safe little bubble will once again be in jeopardy- from an enemy she never expected.

This was a very fast, action packed (super depressing) shocking read. There I said it! I was expecting some action and maybe a little fatalistic (what do you expect from the doom and gloom synopsis?) but wow was this pretty sad- all over the place from torture, to death of main characters, to betrayals (as long as Chevy survives I can handle anything though!).

I would love more backstory as to how the world got this way because the end result was super unique and completely messed up. Yep, I do love myself some dystopian and a new spin on the typical is just what I am looking for. This was my first read by Eversley and I liked her writing style and concepts so I will be picking up more of her books in the future.

The story was dual narrated by the two main characters, Sawyer and Kenzie. I enjoyed Sawyer as a person, you could really emote with her and experience the struggles she felt. The narrator brought her to life and made her seem like a real person- which, really, is hard to do in a post-apocalyptic fictional world. The male narrator that voiced Kenzie was not my favorite though. Kenzie's voice sounded at times robotic and monotone (which I do wonder if it was done on purpose...) but the narrator's other character voices had lots of feeling and personality behind them. I will say that I am not sure how I feel about Kenzie though in general...(I was holding out for a Kyle love connections).

Keep in mind that this was the first book in a trilogy, where the ending is not really a cliff hanger, but there are still so many unanswered questions and problems- the nice part is that the trilogy is already complete so you can grab the next book and jump right in.

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.

AJ Eversley is the author of the WATCHER series. A true north Canadian girl, AJ currently lives in Central Alberta with her husband and dog. When she’s not writing, she can be found binge watching Harry Potter, quoting various movies in every day conversation, and eating copious amounts of candy.

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Chelsea Stephens has a long time love and appreciation for the performing arts, with experience in on-stage acting, singing and voice over. Her love for reading books and the pursuit of the story led her to narration. She enjoys unfolding characters and bringing listeners into new worlds. Chelsea is an experienced voice actor with a talent for mystery, fantasy and YA novels. She's a mom to a gaggle of young ones living in the Midwest with her lumbersexual husband.

*One and the same as Avery Reid.

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My first priority as a voice-over artist is to convey your thoughts and ideas in an entertaining and insightful manner; not distracting from your message, but enhancing your words. It is my personal goal to help your audience engage with the text in an immersive and memorable way.

As a techie with a passion for performance and a love of the written word, the voice-over industry called to me. I am now fortunate enough to be living my dream of audiobook narration from my home studio, in Calgary, AB, Canada.