Tristen wakes to find a man watching him from the mirror…
A chill runs through Tristen’s body as the familiar robed priest stares at him longingly. The priest struggles to open his mouth; the stitches that lace his lips together slowly rip apart and jut raggedly from his mouth. His bloody lips stretch wide as he leans towards Tristen, trying to suck him into a deep black hole.
Ever since Tristen, a sixteen year old teenager, is assigned to work with Ailey on a school project, his life takes a thrilling and alarming turn. Tristen can’t stop the inexorable pull he feels toward Ailey; just being around her draws him in completely, blindly and with disastrous consequences. At the same time, an evil priest invades Tristen’s dreams and threatens to kill his mom.
Soon, Tristen and his friends find themselves magically transported to Fifteenth Century France and Tristen discovers that he is the last-born Seeker – destined to save the past and the influential figures who shape it. When someone tries to kill him, Tristen must make a choice: embrace his destined purpose and risk loosing everything or be stuck in the past running for his life forever.
This is not a novel about vampires, werewolves or ghosts. This is not your regular romantic, time traveling, coming-of-age story. This is the first book in a magical, paranormal, fantasy series about a regular kid who finds out he is destined to become the new Seeker to save the world from a bloody ending. If Tristen had known that pairing up with Ailey would trigger a magical ancient prophecy ushering in the beginning of the end of the world, he might have stayed in bed that day.
***
My thanks to the author for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.
This was another book I’ve had lined up for a while, and thought it fit Spooky Reads Week perfectly! Tristen: The Last Seeker is the first in a YA fantasy series, and I think it’s gonna be one heck of a series.
This first instalment is a bit of a coming-of-age type story, despite the description saying otherwise, but I can see that the series as a whole will be much more than this.
Tristen is a regular teenage kid, struggling with his feelings for Isolda, who he’s crazy about, but confused by his connection with Ailey, which seems to get in the way, but he is unwilling to give up. His mum is sick, and we see what a sweet and caring boy Tristen is.
He certainly has enough confusion on his plate as it is, before he and the girls are sent back in time to 15th Century France with no understanding of how or why. One thing Tristen does know, is someone – something? – is trying to kill him. The evil priest is down-right freaky as sin. With his ripped stitched lips and a face like stone, he was a seriously creepy villain. Tristen is in big trouble, but is still struggling to work out what this all means.
I really enjoyed the story line, full of mystery and intrigue. I adored the relationship between Tristen and Ailey, especially when this was delved into further. Ailey herself I really liked, and there’s an afterword to leave you begging for the next instalment.
I wasn’t overly keen on Isolda, if I’m honest. She seemed a little petty and flippant. There were moments I really liked her, but others were she annoyed me. Tristen had such a pure and honest love of her, and there were times she just didn’t seem to trust him and seemed petulant. However, I think there’s a lot of potential for growth going forward.
I also sometimes found Tristen a little too deep…it’s hard to decribe, but as the narrative is in his voice, but there were times I just couldn’t fit that voice with a teenage boy. He could be a little too deep – almost poetic. It’s tricky as it made for lovely writing, but just seemed a little too ‘flowery’ for Tristen’s character. I particularly found this in the earlier parts of the book; I enjoyed the narrative much more as I got deeper into the story.
Overall, it’s a great YA read, with an original storyline and I’m excited to see where the story goes.
Rating: 
Paris Baker's Book Nook 
