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dinosaur_mom's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
It is easy to relate your inner demons to fiction novel about a secretive town and monsters. LOVED this book.
sarcasticelf's review against another edition
5.0
A for originality.
A call back to the old classic fantasy we all loved and adored, and starts at a unique place. Trope, we all love and some times are infuriated with the orphan at a farm. It's there. But we get a little slice of life before getting to the inciting incident at the coming of age tale, which is towards the end of it. This is a slow moving novel with much to promise, and with those promises, we'll hopefully get to see a much wider world that PST has promised us. It reads smoothly. In fact, it kind of reminds me of playing an RPG. Right, you're thrust into a world, and compelled by usually other characters to do something, talk to different people, and that's how he's chosen to build his world and the lore, which is effective without the use of needless expository dumps. It is more effective here because the MC is an orphan, which likely wouldn't have too much knowledge of the outside world, and as an outsider looking in, privy to ask the questions for the reader, and then subsequently have them answered.
Criticisms:
Definitely formatting. There are no single spaces between lines, and those page breaks are noticeably big: this would greatly reduce the page count, and reduce printing costs, and kill less trees. Character development could be better realized with some introspection, and a little more body language than what we get in this book. This book is written in what I typically call Third-Person-First-Objective. To clarify, it is essentially First-person using he/she pronouns without any introspection, which means, you get the events as they unfold without any thoughts as to why these things are actually happening and what the characters think about them. You only get that through dialogue.
A call back to the old classic fantasy we all loved and adored, and starts at a unique place. Trope, we all love and some times are infuriated with the orphan at a farm. It's there. But we get a little slice of life before getting to the inciting incident at the coming of age tale, which is towards the end of it. This is a slow moving novel with much to promise, and with those promises, we'll hopefully get to see a much wider world that PST has promised us. It reads smoothly. In fact, it kind of reminds me of playing an RPG. Right, you're thrust into a world, and compelled by usually other characters to do something, talk to different people, and that's how he's chosen to build his world and the lore, which is effective without the use of needless expository dumps. It is more effective here because the MC is an orphan, which likely wouldn't have too much knowledge of the outside world, and as an outsider looking in, privy to ask the questions for the reader, and then subsequently have them answered.
Criticisms:
Definitely formatting. There are no single spaces between lines, and those page breaks are noticeably big: this would greatly reduce the page count, and reduce printing costs, and kill less trees. Character development could be better realized with some introspection, and a little more body language than what we get in this book. This book is written in what I typically call Third-Person-First-Objective. To clarify, it is essentially First-person using he/she pronouns without any introspection, which means, you get the events as they unfold without any thoughts as to why these things are actually happening and what the characters think about them. You only get that through dialogue.
hi_im_tate's review against another edition
3.0
This book was an OK book by my standards. I do believe that it could have been covered in 200 or 300 pages, not the 500+ it was. There were lots of dull moments in this book, places with absolutely no action whatsoever. And the way that God was suddenly put into the book? That's a big don't. I don't mind the aspect of God and sin in books at all, but you can't just say "oh, you need to find God or you are gonna die". If the aspect of God and sin had been put in earlier and more subtly, it wouldn't have been so bad.
The only reason why this book has more than two stars is because of the action when it picked up. Although, it took awhile sometimes, the action and horror of it were wonderful. Those are the main parts of the book that I remember. When this book did not have action to it, it was quite dull. And it would go on for chapters at a time. You need a little action in every chapter, not just two or three chapters full of action and then five with just conversation and nothing happening.
In the end, this book was not the best book I have ever read. It may be the worst, but I've read so many books that I cannot remember. If you don't mind books with long spaces without action and God suddenly thrust upon you, then knock yourself out with reading it. If you do not, on the other hand, I don't suggest you read this book.
The only reason why this book has more than two stars is because of the action when it picked up. Although, it took awhile sometimes, the action and horror of it were wonderful. Those are the main parts of the book that I remember. When this book did not have action to it, it was quite dull. And it would go on for chapters at a time. You need a little action in every chapter, not just two or three chapters full of action and then five with just conversation and nothing happening.
In the end, this book was not the best book I have ever read. It may be the worst, but I've read so many books that I cannot remember. If you don't mind books with long spaces without action and God suddenly thrust upon you, then knock yourself out with reading it. If you do not, on the other hand, I don't suggest you read this book.
rainynovembers's review against another edition
4.0
i couldn't put this book down. i read this book in the span of a day, and i could have not been more satisfied with it. it isn't the best, but it was good enough for me to be drawn to it and to enjoy it *3.5*
ellacgoose1's review against another edition
5.0
I'm writing this about ten minutes after I finished reading this book so I can get all my thoughts out quickly. First off, I'm speechless. I don't even know what to think anymore. Ah but yes, the review. Upon starting to read The Oath, I didn't have much interest in it due to it being a mystery novel, which isn't my usual preference. But as I progressed deeper and deeper into the lengthy novel, I slowly fell in love with it, and my tolerance, if not appreciation, grew for mystery novels (although this doesn't mean that I'm suddenly going to read twenty mystery novels just because I was blown away by a Frank Peretti novel).
Peretti also balanced his personal theology (he's known as a Christian writer) well throughout the book, which is something I admired (in that, 75% of all the characters were not devoutly religious). The only theology went overboard, was in the ending. The main character accepted religion and the symbolism of the whole novel turned religious. I personally don't have a problem with this (I'm religious myself), but I felt as though Peretti could've still written an excelling novel without the entire message being theologically based. But again, this theme is kept in check until the end, so don't let that be a reason for you not to read it, because, again, it really is a fantastic novel.
So, in some form of conclusion, very good novel !!! I'd recommend it to anyone, religious or not. The entirety of the writing is captivating and enthralling. 8.7-9.3/10 :)
Peretti also balanced his personal theology (he's known as a Christian writer) well throughout the book, which is something I admired (in that, 75% of all the characters were not devoutly religious). The only theology went overboard, was in the ending. The main character accepted religion and the symbolism of the whole novel turned religious. I personally don't have a problem with this (I'm religious myself), but I felt as though Peretti could've still written an excelling novel without the entire message being theologically based. But again, this theme is kept in check until the end, so don't let that be a reason for you not to read it, because, again, it really is a fantastic novel.
So, in some form of conclusion, very good novel !!! I'd recommend it to anyone, religious or not. The entirety of the writing is captivating and enthralling. 8.7-9.3/10 :)
udai's review against another edition
2.0
Steve Benson goes to Hyde river to investigate the death of his brother, what starts as a hunting for a grizzly bear turns out to be much more.
In the first two thirds of the book we come to realize that the town is hiding a big secret and Steve encounters an invisible monster. The writing and details are good and the reader gets the classic horror novel he paid for.
In the last third though things spiral down. What could’ve been a symbolic novel starts shoving God in our faces at every corner. The writing gets slobby and Steve beats a dragon by screaming Jesus at its face.
This book is about a group of people with superstitious beliefs who refuse to question their way of thinking. The book marvels at the absurdity of the situation. The fact that this is written as a promotion for religion baffles me.
In the first two thirds of the book we come to realize that the town is hiding a big secret and Steve encounters an invisible monster. The writing and details are good and the reader gets the classic horror novel he paid for.
In the last third though things spiral down. What could’ve been a symbolic novel starts shoving God in our faces at every corner. The writing gets slobby and Steve beats a dragon by screaming Jesus at its face.
This book is about a group of people with superstitious beliefs who refuse to question their way of thinking. The book marvels at the absurdity of the situation. The fact that this is written as a promotion for religion baffles me.
booktalkwithkarla's review against another edition
3.0
Powerful way to recognize darkness and impact of sin and ultimately light of Jesus. Enjoy style of writing and how the story unfolds.
oldmanarnold's review against another edition
3.0
It was a good Christian fiction book. It kept me wanting more. Altogether, it was a great book.