Isle Of Night (The Watchers #1) by Veronica Wolff

book cover of Isle Of Night by Veronica Wolff

Title: Isle of Night (The Watchers #1)
Author: Veronica Wolff
Release date: September 6, 2011
Publisher: NAL Trade
Pages: 302
Source: Bookstore
Reading level: YA

Is life offering fewer and fewer options? Then join the dead.

When Annelise meets dark and seductive Ronan, he promises her a new life-if she has the courage to chance the unknown. Now, she’s whisked away to a mysterious island and pitted against other female recruits to become a Watcher-girls who are partnered with vampires and assist them in their missions. To survive and become a Watcher, Annelise has to beat out every other girl, but she’s determined to do so, because to fail doesn’t mean dishonor-it means death.

Isle of Night has been said to be Vampire Academy meets The Hunger Games and I definitely think that perfectly describes this book.  It is a unique take on vampires and a strong start to The Watchers series.  I can’t wait to see where the story goes in the next book.
The plot was the weakest point of the book.  I wasn’t sure where things were going for the first six chapters or so.  The beginning of the book was by far the most boring part but I am happy to say that it took off about 80 pages in and quickly became a very compelling read.
The vampires were not a huge part of this book but the story about them that was given was very unique. Only males become vampires and women are trained to be their Watchers.  Not a whole lot of background is given as to why the Watchers are needed but they are pretty much being trained as assassins.  The back story needs to be fleshed out a bit more but I am sure that will happen in the following books.  

The characters were another weakness, in my opinion, but not a huge one.  Annelise (Drew) is a bit whiny at times and for someone so smart she sure does some stupid things.  She does get better as the book goes on and by the end she is very intense and kick-ass.  (Also kind of crazy.)  Ronan was very aloof and mysterious.  He was sexy but his reasons for being on the Isle of Night needed to be explained.  Emma was a very one dimensional character who I never understood as was Josh.  Yasuo was the only one with any real personality or depth.  I think all the characters need to be developed more in the following books.

Overall, Isle of Night is a promising start to The Watchers series.  If you are looking for a new take on vampires I would definitely recommend checking out this series.

Looking for more reviews of Isle of Night?
The Book Smugglers’ review
Nina Reads’ review

Series:
Isle of Night (#1)
Vampire’s Kiss (#2)
Blood Fever (#3)
The Keep (#4) – June 2013

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5 comments

  1. Vampire Academies meets the Hunger Games? Very intriuging. When I get the time I’ll have to check this book out. It seems like it would be a nice read for a snowy winter day.

  2. So glad you enjoyed this one – I still haven’t reviewed book 2…or read book 3…but I need to, as the first two books are AWESOMESAUCE. 😀 Trust me. And the end of book 2 introduces someone very sexy into the mix….

  3. Love it when authors reinvent vampire legends and lore. This one does sound completely different, and I’m glad it picked up in terms of plot 🙂

    Lovely review 🙂