Evening Everyone,

Hope you’re all keeping well and have had a good few days. I had another weekend off from reading as I had a friend to stay for the weekend. We had the best time hiking and exploring waterfalls, it was worth every word of reading that I missed. It’s encouraged me to do more exploring and walking and we’re already planning our next adventure.

Book 📖

Thank you to @AMShineWriter and @AriesFiction for this advanced copy of The Watchers in return for an honest review. The Watchers is due to be published on 14th October 2021 and you can get a copy here.

Description 🔖

This particular forest isn’t available on a map and it holds many horrors. Anyone that comes to it’s treeline ends up breaking down with no option but to go into the forest. This is exactly what happens to Mina. She’s stranded, trying to find a way out of the forest when she is confronted by a woman screaming at her to run towards a concrete bunker and get inside.

The bunker houses others that have met the same fate. It’s a viewing chamber for the watchers. The humans can’t see the watchers, but they can see them. Every night, they come out in large numbers to watch the captives. Anyone who doesn’t make it to the bunker in time is going to wish that they’d moved faster.

General Thoughts 🤔

I decided to read this book due to the time of year. Who doesn’t love some horror in October?! It’s not my usual kind of book but I didn’t absolutely hate it. I struggle with books that don’t feel “real” in the most part however if they have a strong storyline, I can find myself lost in them. Unfortunately for me, The Watchers just missed the mark and I didn’t fall in love with it, but I certainly didn’t hate it.

The concept of the story was really interesting and it could have been really good rather than just good. I didn’t feel like I empathised or grew to know the characters enough to become invested in their plight. I don’t think I cared about them enough to completely and unconditionally want to see them to safety.

Characters 👫👬👭

Mia was the main character in the book and the one I learnt the most about. I admired her for her bravery and I think she was courageous enough to not go along with the status quo that had been established within the coop. However towards the end of the book, there was so much more I wanted to know about her and her life.

Daniel could have been such an interesting character, but again, I didn’t feel like I knew enough about his background to really understand him and his actions. His life prior to the forest is touched upon, but fleetingly. I think that this could have been developed upon to add depth to his character and his story.

Writing Style ✍️

As I mentioned, horror isn’t my usual genre but I do think horror books encompass many of the same things as thrillers. They should build tension and make the reader feel on edge. I think that A.M. Shine did a good job of doing this. During the scenes in the book where the watchers were present, I did have a shiver run down my spine and I was eager to see what was going to happen.

Conclusion & Scoring 🎖️

Reading back my review it sounds like I really didn’t get along with this book but that isn’t really true. There were sections that I really enjoyed and they were spine chilling I just think that some more character development and bit more depth to the storyline would have ramped this book up to the next level.

😍😍😍😩😩