Jan 21, 2013

4

Watcher Book Tour: Review, Intiverview, & GIVEAWAY



Welcome to our stop of Audra Middleton's Watcher book tour, hosted by
































































I really, really, really liked this book. It's a perfect example of the epic fantasy genre (or as one of my friends (you know who you are) keeps telling me its called, high fantasy), but it still has a little bit of that contemporary feel to it. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely adore authors like Tolkien, but is it too much to ask for just a little dry humor? Maybe even some sarcasm?

Oh, and yes, I did just compare this book to Lord of the Rings. The one and only, multimillion dollar grossing, seemingly never ending trilogy that is an icon for all things fantasy. But where Lord of the Rings is your adventurous, quest-riddled journey, I'd consider Watcher to be more of a true story at heart with pieces of that woven in there.

And what a story it was. The novel starts off when our two main protagonists, Watcher and Benaiah, are just kids, goes with each of their separate journeys until they unexpectedly meet each other (which is undoubtedly the best scene in the book), and then continues with them together for the rest of the novel to play out in every epic proportion imaginable.

It was interesting to really watch the characters grow up instead of having to make due with only a few flashbacks to childhood at best. Little Ben stole my heart from the very first time I met him, and I was about ready to take out Imala or anybody else who tried to corrupt the inherent goodness that lived within him. Having to see him go through battle at first almost killed me, and I deeply regretted what he had to deal with in order to grow up, along with the incidents that led to his aunt having to raise him alone (even though Marta would find a way to make me smile pretty much every time she opened her mouth).

Watcher intrigued me from the very beginning, but I never really connected with her until she started spending time with Ben and her past was revealed (in pretty much the coolest way possible, I might add). Her selective naivety and very understandable questions on many overlooked topics (such as the necessity of clothing) were always much appreciated.

And then there's Kitty. Kitty's just so awesome that he deserves his own paragraph. Honestly, how many friendly bears do you know named Kitty? Yes, a bear named Kitty. How awesome is that?! He is extremely protective of Watcher and is the best friend she could have ever asked for, even though his concerned licking has disturbed quite a few. Kitty is the literal epitome of being a big teddy bear, and I absolutely loved him for it.

I can't wait for book two!

Rating: 5 stars

 

The Excerpt


War threatens to destroy the world of Anthelion unless the holy man, Goran, can solve his prophecy riddle. For every clue he finds, another obstacle surfaces. An orphan girl, Watcher, becomes his responsibility. As if parenthood itself isn’t daunting enough, she keeps a bear for a pet and transforms into her forest surroundings to avoid socialization. Hope momentarily emerges when Goran finds Benaiah, the Chosen Son of the prophecy. Only he soon discovers Benaiah is a social pariah on the verge of embracing darkness. 

When Benaiah and Watcher unexpectedly meet, the two outsiders find in each other a sense of belonging they’ve never known.  Now their emerging love promises to bring about the very war Goran is struggling to prevent.





Goodreads          Amazon          Burst Books           iBookStore          Kobo








January 20 - Meet and Greet at Reading Addiction Blog Tours
January 21 - Review & Interview at Marked By Books
January 22 - Interview at Mom with a Kindle
January 23 - Interview at A Dream Within a Dream
January 24 - Review at My Reading Addiction
January 25 - Interview at Wintry Words
January 26 - Interview at Love in a Book
January 27 - Review & Interview at My Cozie Corner
January 28 - Interview at Lovely Reads
January 29 - Promo at Intriguing Reads
January 30 - Review & Interview at Stressed Rach
January 31 - Review at Emily's Bookshelf
February 1 - Interview at Brooke Blogs
February 2 - Review at Say it with Books


A copy of the novel was provided for us in exchange for an honest review.

4 comments:

  1. What a great way to start my blog tour! So glad you enjoyed Watcher. Thanks for having me!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're welcome, I loved it! I hope you enjoy the rest of it too!

      Taylor

      Delete
  2. Thanks for the information. And the contest.
    JWIsley(at)aol(dot)com

    ReplyDelete

Hey guys! We love to hear from you all. Thanks for reading!

Gabby & Taylor