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winniefreddie939's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
mnvandertoots's review against another edition
2.0
Too many inconsistencies. I really liked the first half. Then it seemed rushed; as if the author wasn't sure which direction to take it in and so took it in every possible one.
someonetookit's review
4.0
Coming off the back of What The Woods Keep (which I loved) I had super high expectations for this one. Let me start out by saying, Oasis is nothing like WTWD but not in a bad way. It centres around Arif and her friends who have all travelled to an archaeological dig to spend time with Arif's father and research assistant, Stuff happens in the desert and things get weird.
So for the first 25% this kind of dragged. It was all about introductions and pining with unrequited love - it was a little contemporary romance but in the desert After a weird guy stumbles in from the desert and a sandstorm hits the camp, everything starts to take off.
When the group gets lost and stumbles on an oasis in the desert, the story really starts to pick up. There's dead bodies and intrigue, a hidden goddess and an ancient tablet. But then theres a point within the final 5-10% where its gets realllllly weird and I kind of didn't love how it ends.
Overall it was a spooky read that mostly ticks all the right boxes. Just need to get over the falter in the dismount
So for the first 25% this kind of dragged. It was all about introductions and pining with unrequited love - it was a little contemporary romance but in the desert After a weird guy stumbles in from the desert and a sandstorm hits the camp, everything starts to take off.
When the group gets lost and stumbles on an oasis in the desert, the story really starts to pick up. There's dead bodies and intrigue, a hidden goddess and an ancient tablet. But then theres a point within the final 5-10% where its gets realllllly weird and I kind of didn't love how it ends.
Overall it was a spooky read that mostly ticks all the right boxes. Just need to get over the falter in the dismount
mnboyer's review against another edition
4.0
Book of the Month Club: January 2020
PopSugar 2023 reading challenge #3
It starts off as what should be a fun archaeological vacation with several friends -- Alif is taking her friends to her father's dig site (which is near Dubai but certainly not 'in' Dubai so her friends may be confused on what kind of a vacation this is). However, there's a sudden sand storm that obliterates the camp and the group ends up in a mysterious oasis where they encounter.... oh yeah, I cannot tell you! But it is a fun adventure that will have you asking tons of questions.
PopSugar 2023 reading challenge #3
It starts off as what should be a fun archaeological vacation with several friends -- Alif is taking her friends to her father's dig site (which is near Dubai but certainly not 'in' Dubai so her friends may be confused on what kind of a vacation this is). However, there's a sudden sand storm that obliterates the camp and the group ends up in a mysterious oasis where they encounter.... oh yeah, I cannot tell you! But it is a fun adventure that will have you asking tons of questions.
eowyns_helmet's review against another edition
5.0
Alif is just the kind of heroine I love: smart, flawed, generous, funny. On her father’s archaeological dig, things start to go wrong -- and then a sand storm destroys their camp and forces Alif and her friends to figure out how they can survive. I love archaeology and I LOVE the sense of impending doom. As others have said, Oasis is a real page-turner!
anna_louise014's review against another edition
1.0
I’m sure someone will like this book, but I certainly did not. These people are idiots.
naomireadsworld's review against another edition
1.0
Oasis is about a group of teenage friends who go on a summer archaeological dig, get lost in a sandstorm, and find an oasis. Once in the oasis, they have a hard time discerning dream from reality, friend from enemy, and must figure out how to survive.
It was one of my January 2020 YA Book of the Month picks, and to say I was disappointed is an understatement.
First: The author’s writing is nondescript, bland, unexciting. She writes in cliches (i.e. “can of worms”), and her talent for description is virtually nonexistent. She can’t write dialogue well, so a lot of the time, she doesn’t. Instead, the main character will often tell the reader what was said (i.e. “he finally gave in”).
At one point, the main character is rereading something they wrote and is shocked at how terrible the writing was, and honestly, it felt weirdly meta to me.
Second: Character development is sorely lacking. You are supposed to be invested in this group of people as friends, and from the first chapter, the main character is voicing doubts that she really knows what her friends are like. When things start falling apart, it dulls the impact of the tension, because who cares? None of these people seemed to like each other much anyways.
There is a non consensual kiss that the main character could have gotten a lot madder about, but that’s just a preference I suppose. That may have been the point at which I developed a dislike for the MC.
The main character “predicts” a lot of other things - she thinks to herself, “He’s never really shown an interest in me.” And whaddaya know? He’s asking her to make out.
Third: With each introduction of a character, there’s a cataloguing of their race/ethnicity, which has no bearing on the story whatsoever. It serves as tokenization, as if the author is checking off “diversity” on their writing checklist.
Fourth: The ending was predictable. I read the last 100 pages because it felt like I should finish, because I was hoping to be surprised. I wasn’t.
TL;DR
The writing style of Oasis is incredibly weak, the character development is nonexistent, there is a tokenization of the different races and ethnicities of characters at the beginning of the novel, the main character sucks, the ending is predictable. I have no idea why this was a YA BOTM.
Do Not Recommend
It was one of my January 2020 YA Book of the Month picks, and to say I was disappointed is an understatement.
First: The author’s writing is nondescript, bland, unexciting. She writes in cliches (i.e. “can of worms”), and her talent for description is virtually nonexistent. She can’t write dialogue well, so a lot of the time, she doesn’t. Instead, the main character will often tell the reader what was said (i.e. “he finally gave in”).
At one point, the main character is rereading something they wrote and is shocked at how terrible the writing was, and honestly, it felt weirdly meta to me.
Second: Character development is sorely lacking. You are supposed to be invested in this group of people as friends, and from the first chapter, the main character is voicing doubts that she really knows what her friends are like. When things start falling apart, it dulls the impact of the tension, because who cares? None of these people seemed to like each other much anyways.
There is a non consensual kiss that the main character could have gotten a lot madder about, but that’s just a preference I suppose. That may have been the point at which I developed a dislike for the MC.
The main character “predicts” a lot of other things - she thinks to herself, “He’s never really shown an interest in me.” And whaddaya know? He’s asking her to make out.
Third: With each introduction of a character, there’s a cataloguing of their race/ethnicity, which has no bearing on the story whatsoever. It serves as tokenization, as if the author is checking off “diversity” on their writing checklist.
Fourth: The ending was predictable. I read the last 100 pages because it felt like I should finish, because I was hoping to be surprised. I wasn’t.
TL;DR
The writing style of Oasis is incredibly weak, the character development is nonexistent, there is a tokenization of the different races and ethnicities of characters at the beginning of the novel, the main character sucks, the ending is predictable. I have no idea why this was a YA BOTM.
Do Not Recommend
storylinesandstars's review against another edition
2.0
I'm sorry, I'm just not really sure what happened in this book...
The first 50 pages were nothing but a backstory to the characters life and their ethnicity and how their friendship developed. A lot of info dumping that honestly wasn't relevant to the story.
The following 100 or so pages were actually somewhat interesting, following their story at the campsite and the sandstorm that ensued, as well as them being lost in the desert and stumbling upon the oasis.
The make out session between Alif and Luke was interesting, but there was no further development on that front, except that Luke came off kind of stalker-ish. There was no development into Alif and Tommy's story, just all of a sudden they were kissing and interested in each other? But again, no real explanation...
There was a lot of promise for the oasis part of the story, but it seed rushed and all of a sudden their issues were resolved by being saved. Maybe I just don't relate to horror books as much, but I just didn't find myself on edge at all during the "suspenseful" parts.
I figured out pretty quickly that their arrival back into Australia was fake, as it all seemed too... Planned to be true
ALSO, I found it... Awful? that after like, four days, Minh was magically noticeably thinner and light headed and all that stuff? No, food deprivation doesn't hit you like that in the course of a few days. It hits after a few weeks, if not a couple months. It's not an overnight thing that you lose weight and become light headed. Your body goes into survival mode first and foremost.... Like that was just a lack of research on the author's part that a few hours of digging could've fixed.
Then they get rescued and the ensuing 100 pages is just... Mumbo jumbo. I don't know. The tablet wants to be reunited with itself and all of a sudden everyone has a shared pshyadelic moment then they all wake up back in the oasis and realize it's all just a dream then they decide to try it again and then it just.... Ends??
WHAT WAS THE LAST 100 PAGES?!
I don't know. Personally I felt like it had a lot of promise, and I was horribly let down. There was a lot of stuff that could've been really cool, but ended up with no explanation and was just kind of... Theoretical.
The first 50 pages were nothing but a backstory to the characters life and their ethnicity and how their friendship developed. A lot of info dumping that honestly wasn't relevant to the story.
The following 100 or so pages were actually somewhat interesting, following their story at the campsite and the sandstorm that ensued, as well as them being lost in the desert and stumbling upon the oasis.
The make out session between Alif and Luke was interesting, but there was no further development on that front, except that Luke came off kind of stalker-ish. There was no development into Alif and Tommy's story, just all of a sudden they were kissing and interested in each other? But again, no real explanation...
There was a lot of promise for the oasis part of the story, but it seed rushed and all of a sudden their issues were resolved by being saved. Maybe I just don't relate to horror books as much, but I just didn't find myself on edge at all during the "suspenseful" parts.
I figured out pretty quickly that their arrival back into Australia was fake, as it all seemed too... Planned to be true
ALSO, I found it... Awful? that after like, four days, Minh was magically noticeably thinner and light headed and all that stuff? No, food deprivation doesn't hit you like that in the course of a few days. It hits after a few weeks, if not a couple months. It's not an overnight thing that you lose weight and become light headed. Your body goes into survival mode first and foremost.... Like that was just a lack of research on the author's part that a few hours of digging could've fixed.
Then they get rescued and the ensuing 100 pages is just... Mumbo jumbo. I don't know. The tablet wants to be reunited with itself and all of a sudden everyone has a shared pshyadelic moment then they all wake up back in the oasis and realize it's all just a dream then they decide to try it again and then it just.... Ends??
WHAT WAS THE LAST 100 PAGES?!
I don't know. Personally I felt like it had a lot of promise, and I was horribly let down. There was a lot of stuff that could've been really cool, but ended up with no explanation and was just kind of... Theoretical.
luverbyrd's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
A mostly plot driven sci-fantasy story. It was a little hard to feel bad for any of the characters besides Alif, the protagonist. All of her friends come off as not a great bunch from the beginning. Actual sci-fi elements and creepy oasis was a fun thrill ride though!
I kind of wish the author had sat with the characters more at the beginning and made them likeable before diving into the plot.
Otherwise a fun and quick read.
I kind of wish the author had sat with the characters more at the beginning and made them likeable before diving into the plot.
Otherwise a fun and quick read.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death and Alcohol