Oasis: What's the Story

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Alif was the perfect protagonist because she was imperfect and you loved her, and you wanted to ask her what she was doing at times, and you were right there along with her wanting to know what was going on in this desert! And Tommy! Swoon! I loved him! Inside the oasis, Alif and her five friends encounter things where it makes them hard to trust each other, where it breaks them apart, where it creates new bonds, and it utterly had my pulse accelerating. Second, as previously mentioned, the story is written in the first person where Theo is the narrator. When a book is written in the first person, it makes you feel more engaged in the story. In addition, the in depth world building transports the reader further into Theo's world. Irgendwie reizt es mich aber dennoch zu erfahren wie es nun weiter geht … mal sehen ob ich mir die anderen beiden Teile noch hole 😇 The book takes the reader on so many twists and turns, it is hard to put down. I read it in one day because I just had to know what was happening next! Resurrection trope - Readers are told Rowen died in the cave/temple, but he magically reappears and no one besides Alif remember him dying. In my opinion, the resurrection trope is terrible... when characters die, they should stay dead.

When a search party rescues them, they return to a world that seems pale and dim by comparison to the vivid intensity of the Oasis. A stolen artifact from their ordeal fractures the group even further when the power of the Oasis follows them home. I tried so hard to read this book, I really did. I hate DNF-ing a book, but I couldn't get through this one. From the beginning, I noticed that I had to force myself to continue reading. By 26%, I realised I still wasn't into it and what's the point reading a book that I have to force myself to read, right?I received a copy of this book from Macmillan via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! In no way does this affect my rating or review. In the tradition of The Twilight Zone or Tales Of the Unexpected, De Becerra skillfully presents the reader with the known world with its laws of nature, time and space then carefully bends reality, drawing you inexorably deeper into a narrative both terrifying and irresistible. Tense, electric storytelling that makes you wonder what you would be willing to sacrifice to have your deepest longings fulfilled. In this novel, our protagonist, Theo, is chafing against the societal and physical constraints of Oasis, which is the last outpost of humanity after an epic technological disaster. An underlying theme here is the tension between what was best for Theo and what was best for the greater good of the inhabitants of Oasis. We are a part of a great community and are supported in so many ways. Currently we are raising funds to repair the roof , upper floor windows and part of the cellar, so thank you if you have contributed!

Seeing how this is a thriller, this element may be slightly more obvious than the others. When people are presented with crisis situations, how they act reveals some ugly truths that they perhaps didn’t even know about themselves. Is this book to show how instincts can take over any human when survival is at stake? Or, can logic prevail? The desert, it’ll treat you like an equal if you are prepared, if you are strong enough, but it’ll devour you whole if you display any sign of weakness. I at least thought the parts about archaeology were going to be interesting, but there wasn't really enough time spent on that, which is a shame. I really enjoyed the writing style in Oasis. It was surprisingly beautiful for a thriller. Upon reaching the conclusion of the story, I was left with one question: What was it all for? Oasis did not give me a sense of finality and understanding in the end. I found the story to be thought-evoking and enthralling, yet, I couldn’t make sense of what message was trying to be delivered to the reader.

My Personas

Content warnings (general): mention/descriptions of blood and injury, turbulence, mentions of bullying, mentions of violent behavior, smoking, swearing, physical & verbal fighting, mentions of divorce, mentions of racism and racist micro-aggressions, experience of injury/strain, dehydration, drinking alcohol I was hooked from the very beginning of the novel when we meet Theo and he is not sure if he is going insane, has an imaginary friend or some sort of ghost talking in his ear and reading his thoughts all of the time named Phoe, pronounced "Fi".

Also, the chapters end in awkward and sometimes jarring ways. It's confusing, because often it's in the middle of a scene, and then the next chapter continues the exact same scene, which makes it a strange time for a chapter break, in my opinion. I would understand if there was more than one POV character and we were switching from one perspective to another within the scene, but this is all from Alif's perspective, so it really made no sense. Even though there are a fair amount of swear words, and even though the characters are in their 20s, I found this book incredibly juvenile and would definitely label it as YA geared at 12-14 year olds (boys, in particular). A lot of parts were really eyeroll-worthy… The main character, Theo, and his friends using "cryptic" pig Latin to avoid being overheard, for instance… like anyone with half a brain couldn't figure out what they were saying. And especially how Theo kept referencing things that "ancient humans" used to like. I get that the author wanted to make things relatable to today's audience, but there are certainly more elegant ways to do it than to simply have the main character be reminded of "ancient," "ancient," "ancient" things every time... Theo was also annoyingly dim-witted/slow on the uptake. Even allowing for a certain amount of "I'm a third-party, so of course I can figure stuff out before he does," I still think he was a bit too frustratingly dense. I didn't really like any of the characters - they were all very two-dimensional. The just plot was okay, though not without its gaping craters, and likewise the world-building could've been much improved. The prose itself was nothing special.Let me begin by stating the obvious: Everyone loved this one more than I did. I recognize this. I went into this knowing that it was a YA novel which I have been reading lately and adoring. The premise was based on it being an "archeological horror" which I LOVE. What I got instead was angst ridden older teens not qualified to be in the desert of Dubai who find themselves on the set of Lost, the old television show. Okay, they weren't really on that set but the story line read as though they could have been. The plot line of this book was excellent. There's tons of action to keep you interested in the book, with lots of mystery and twists. I can guarantee you that you will be surprised at one point or another, and the ending will be totally different than what you predicted. I wrote Oasis exclusively on the days of heavy rain in my hometown of Melbourne, while alternating between listening to Ladytron's MIRAGE and London Grammar's NIGHTCALL on repeat.

Setup with thrillers is crucial. Oasis took way too long to introduce everyone let alone develop tension between the friends. However, once the “storm of plot” hit, just after a third of the way through, the supernatural elements made Alif’s experience way creepier than I expected. I will admit that the trek through the desert was something I might not have survived. And I understood the friends secretive and paranoid reactions. Once events in the ruins took their toll on the group everyone got seriously mentally ill. It wasn’t exactly the wild and thrilling ride I as expecting but it was creepy how crazy everyone acted. The secondary characters add to the overall ambience of the dystopian story, creating a sense of exclusion as experienced by the protagonist. Another moment occurs later in the book, when the protagonist is describing something. I'm being a little vague because spoilers, but the phrase itself isn't a spoiler:

So, to sum it up – I probably would read the next book. The writing was well put together, and the experience I had with this book was just about what I expected from a first novel in a series. I am interested to see what happens in the next book since Zales didn’t really leave us with a whole lot to wonder about except what could be next for the world that she created. No cliff-hangers here, no urgent questions that need answering – just a general, what could be next? How will Theo and Phoe move forward with the information that they have now and the blossoming relationship that is forming between them? Der Einstieg ist eine Mischung aus interessant und verwirrend was ganz ok ist da man sich ja erst in dieser neuen Welt zurecht finden muss As well, throughout most the story I was convinced this first book in the series was designed for introductory purposes until two nail-biting chapters and a very satisfying conclusion that kept enough interest for the reader to look for the second installment and at the same time provide enough information to not drive the reader nuts. I was very pleased to be one of the very first readers of this book. Whilst the book is an ARC and still subject to edits, I can safely say that I thoroughly enjoyed the story and if any changes are made to the story, it can only be for the better. I will say that the Video Game that shaped most of the storyline for this book was way too confusing for me to understand. How did Phoe know there was a video game in her system somewhere that, if won, could restore all of her knowledge? If Phoe didn’t remember who or what she was, how did she know this? And how in the world does a video game do all of that? Who set the video game up to accomplish what it accomplished? There isn’t enough development on that part of the story for me and I often found myself skimming those parts of the story simply because they didn’t make as much sense as I wanted them to.