Oasis certainly makes the reader ponder: What would one do if they could control their destiny? If we had the choice to choose our destiny, to change the patterns of life around us, would it really be for the better? I believe this is the general focus of the story, which led me to three hypotheses for what the actual purpose was. 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.

I need to admit that I have a soft spot for Dystopian YA stories, and I haven't yet been able to decide exactly why. I heard this book was being compared to the Divergent series, and even though that series wasn't all gold that blinks, I felt like I had to read this book as well. But, as it turned out. The covers are the only things that are alike. 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? Due for release in early 2020, I am sure this book will be well received among the YA readership. If you’re someone who enjoys fantasy reads set in contemporary times with accurate referencing to science and technology with great suspense and mind boggling mystery, then this is the one for you!

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? 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. Deluxe collectors editions featuring individual Noel and Liam covers, Jill Furmanovsky end papers, plus a pull-out Knebworth section and exposed spine binding. Overall, I'm in love with this book. Everything about is absolutely fantastic from the characters to the writing. If I could change one thing about this book, it would be the ending. I felt like it kind of ended in a bit of a hurry, and I would have liked some more information before it ended, but this is also a great way to get you hyped for the next book. I definitely recommend this book to all dystopian fans, especially fans of The Giver, Hunger Games, and Under the Never Sky. I can't wait to continue this series, and read more from this author.

More Than Just A Bookshop'... The Oasis Christian Centre is the retail outlet of the interdenominational Oasis Christian Trust; Registered Charity No. 1171906. 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. This kept me on edge the entire time, trying to figure out who was messing with whom, and who was the sinister mastermind if there was one. There's so much strangeness that every time you think you've got something figured out, it changes again. The storyline was unlike anything ive ever read before, and I was really enjoying it. Supernatural plots arent my cup of tea, but I do like them from time to time, especially if they're well written or semi realistic. Which, overall, Oasis was. As I said earlier, up until about the 60% mark, it was on its way top being a 5 star book. Then came a series of low reverberating coos - one, two, three. Hush. One, two...The pauses between the cooing sounds felt significant somehow.” Why? Also, the pauses never are significant. Nothing happens with the birds, so why mention it?In a dystopian/post-apocalyptic society known as Oasis we meet Theo. Theo is a twenty-three year old that thinks he is going crazy as he's begun to hear a voice in his head who calls herself Phoe. Theo thinks that Phoe is a figment of his imagination but she knows things that Theo himself couldn't possibly know. The answers turn Alif and her friends against one another, and they begin to wonder if they’ve truly been saved. And while it was easy to walk into the oasis, it may be impossible to leave . . . Oasis is a gripping genre-bending story that will be appreciated by those who like a good adventure book set in a fascinating location. Oasis follows Alif, who along with some close friends (and a very cute research assistant) are working on her father’s archaeological dig over their summer break. When a sand storm wreaks havoc on their camp, the group are forced to fend for themselves out in the unforgiving desert – until they come across the oasis, which provides them with much-needed food, water and shelter. The secondary characters add to the overall ambience of the dystopian story, creating a sense of exclusion as experienced by the protagonist.

Oasis strongly reminded me of a cross between Ready Player One by Ernest Cline and The Giver by Lois Lowry. Really if I hadn't read these two books within the last two years I'd probably have rated Oasis at five stars but due to the similarities I went with a solid four stars. The name of the book alone brought to mind Ready Player One but there is an element of Virtual Reality involved in this story too. And the society of Oasis is very similar to The Giver where the citizens are not supposed to have certain emotions and feelings or memories. That being said it still had a life of it's own though and went to places I didn't expect. Oasis are one of the biggest bands the world has ever seen. Here, in Supersonic they tell the story of the their beginnings from dive-bar hopefuls to global superstars. They themselves talk us through the pivotal moments in their phenomenal trajectory, from the day Noel Gallagher joined his brother Liam's band, through their first crucial five years culminating at their landmark gigs at Knebworth Park in 1996 - the pinnacle of their success. Oasis has left me with more questions than answers. I’m typically fine with having some questions at the end of a book, depending on the book. When a book ends, and leaves me high and dry with figuring out “the moral of the story,” that’s when I have real issues with it. I can’t help but think: Why go through all of that to not have a point? Certainly, to only invoke questions doesn’t give a thorough-enough idea of where the story is leading the reader. I liked this story, it’s writing, style, and content, but I just needed more answers in the end.I’m a huge fan of dystopia reading, so this book was right up my alley. It had all of the adventure that your typical dystopia novel does, along with all of the societal changes that you could get your feel of. It felt like an interesting mish-mash of Wall-e and The Giver (you’ll especially get the Wall-e reference towards the end of the book). It was similar to The Giver in the way that the society manages the emotional state of its residents, although Oasis doesn’t accomplish this quite as well as The Giver.

The people are considered "Youths" until they're 40? So you're telling me everyone acts like a child until they're miraculously enlightened? And I'm assuming they don't die or they live until they're ridiculously old? I stg nothing makes sense in this book. After reading What the Woods Keep by the author, I knew I had to get my hands on Oasis. The summary along with the cover had me absolutely intrigued. And did somebody say desert? My, my, yes they did! The book range is extensive, not least the bibles in various versions and bindings, from the major publishers. The children's area is home to a big selection of books for all ages, plus bibles and stories suitable for new babies and christenings. Theo thinks he's going crazy because he can hear a voice inside his head. The voice known as Phoe, can't possibly be an imaginary friend, Phoe knows things, like where his friends are at all times, and information he can't possibly make up on his own. When Theo's friend Mason disappears after confessing his love for a girl (which is strictly not allowed in society), Theo happens to be the only one to remember that Mason even existed. Theo and Phoe have to find out what happened to Mason, why only they can remember who he is, and who Phoe really is. 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.I felt like the ending of the book gave us a lot of answers that we were looking for, while leaving us completely confused. Main point of confusion for me – Why Theo? What about Theo himself is actually special? In the end, it didn’t feel like there was anything really that special about Theo. It boiled down to more of a right time, right place kind of situation that led Theo to being the “hero” of the book. I just don’t know what I think about my heroes being chosen simply by chance. It left me a little disconnected from him – especially since in the end, he’s a 23 year old man with the mental capacity of a 16 year old boy (literally… I had to keep reminding myself that he was 23 because he was written as a 16 year old teenager). While I understand that that was part of the way that the society was set up, so that people didn’t reach their actual adulthood until the age of 40, it still doesn’t make sense that they were able to keep people’s innate makeup so suppressed that they were acting years younger than their actual age. It was very disconcerting for a large portion of the book. There were several aspects that I really liked about the book. One part of the book that I truly admired is that is character development. Before reading, I expected there to be multiple characters, but there are only a few, which actually worked out nice. Theo is depicted as a normal young adult, expect for his strong attachment to Phoe. Theo is a loyal, heroic, and street smart. With the help of Phoe, he is able to navigate his way though challenges and crises that threatens his world. There is nothing that annoys me more in a book than awful writing. I can handle some plot holes, too tidy endings, inconsistent characters but bad writing will kill me. For this one, the bad writing combined with ridiculous plot combined with annoying characters all made me hate it. I felt like it was written by a teenager trying way too hard to make their writing interesting and in the process, making much of it pointless and overdone. There were so many similes and foreshadowing and phrasing that were just weird. A few random examples: Many a times I was almost too distracted wondering where the story would head to pay attention to the many nuances and references to the popular culture and cult classics.