#Review - Oasis by Katya de Becerra #YA #Thrillers #Suspense

Series: Standalone
Format: Hardcover, 320 pages
Release Date: January 7, 2020
Publisher: Imprint
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult / Thrillers & Suspense

This YA supernatural mystery strands a group of teens in the desert, where an oasis saves them. But who will save them from the oasis?

Alif had exciting summer plans: working on her father’s archeological dig site in the desert with four close friends . . . and a very cute research assistant. Then the sandstorm hit.

Their camp wiped away, Alif and the others find themselves lost on the sands, seemingly doomed . . . until they find the oasis. It has everything they need: food, water, and shade—and mysterious ruins that hide a deadly secret. As reality begins to shift around them, they question what’s real and what’s a mirage.

The answers turn Alif and her friends against each other, 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.

This YA mystery/thriller crosses genres—survival adventure, horror, and romance—with twists worthy of JJ Abrams.

"Welcome to the oasis, where sand is life and nothing is as it seems."

Oasis, by author Katya de Becerra, is the authors follow up to her debut novel What the Woods Keeps. Alif Scholl and four of her friends (Lori Bradford, Minh Quoc, Luke Stokowski, and Rowen Syme Jr) choose to spend a summer with her archaeologist father Andreas Scholl in the Dubai desert. There she is hopeful of meeting her crush Tommy Ortiz who is her father's research assistant. Unforeseen circumstances, as well as bad luck or horrible curses, have caused a rift among workers which has affected logistics. 

When someone wanders in from the desert raving about a trove of treasures and curses people mostly ignore him. The man apparently is a French tourist who disappeared 2 years ago. His friend is still missing. After a sandstorm destroys their camp, Alif and her friends, plus Tommy, are all swept away to the middle of the desert. They wander for awhile afraid that they’re going to die from lack of water or food necessary to survive the brutality of the desert. There's also no sign of anyone coming to rescue them. 

To the point of giving up, the group stumbles upon an Oasis in the middle of the desert. This is where things get a bit strange. While they seem to be saved by the food, water, and shelter, they end up entangled in a mystery while questioning if the oasis is actually an illusion or an alternative reality. It soon becomes apparent that there may be no way to actually leave the Oasis and return to civilization. As the friends struggle to hold their friendship together that has already been torn to the point of not going back, it seems other factors are involved that are actually attempting to tear them apart permanently. 

Then, people in 4x4's drive by without actually seeing the Oasis. The group can see their rescuers, but the rescuers can't see them leaving them with little hope of getting out. Alif has dreams about a Queen of Giants. Lori claims she heard talk about a sacrifice needed to leave the Oasis. One of the group ends up dead (no spoilers!). Lori and Alif both find a connection to a Tablet found in a cave that gives them twisted visions. After being in the Oasis for what appears to be 4 days, and believing that one of their own was a sacrifice to the Queen of Giants, the group suddenly finds themselves back in the world. 

They are called the Dubai 6 by the media and flown home to Australia. But, they also brought back a piece mysterious tablet that seems to have a mind of its own. Let me just get this out of the way. If you like books that are creepy, weird and leaves you feeling strange about what you just read, you should definitely read this book. I've had this Twilight Zone feeling about the book and the ending since I finished the book almost 2 weeks ago. The ending tore my feelings into pieces. Just when I thought I had things figured out, the author hit me over the head and said, sorry not sorry, but that's not the way I want to end this book! 

The author posted this to her Goodreads page. "Oasis is my love letter to archaeology, deserts, and genre-bending adventure horror."

 

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#Review - What the Woods Keep by Katya de Becerra #YALit #Suspense

Series: Standalone
Format: E-Galley, 384 pages
Release Date: September 18, 2018
Publisher: Imprint
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult / Thrillers & Suspense

This YA supernatural mystery features two girls alone in the woods as paranormal twists build into a terrifying reveal that threatens their reality.

On her eighteenth birthday, Hayden inherits her childhood home—on the condition that she uncover the dark secrets in the Colorado woods that surround it.

Hayden’s tried to put her past behind her. She lives in a comfy Brooklyn apartment with her best friend Del. But it’s all coming back for Hayden: her mother’s inexplicable disappearance a decade before, her father’s crackpot theories, and Hayden’s own dark dreams of strange rituals in the woods.

Now Hayden and Del must confront the secrets of Hayden’s past in a house that holds all the mysteries of her childhood—and might be the last protection against the dark powers in the surrounding woods.

This YA supernatural mystery with dark fantasy elements features a strong female friendship, a sizzling romance, and terrifying plot twists.

 

What the Woods Keep is the debut novel for author Katya de Becerra. The book is written in first person and is narrated by Hayden Holland. Hayden tried to put the past behind her, and it worked. She's getting ready for college, living in a Brooklyn apartment, and hanging out with her best friend and roommate Del Chauvet. But now it's all catching up with her: her mother's mysterious disappearance a decade before, her father's outlandish theories about a lost supernatural race, and Hayden's own dark dreams of strange symbols and rituals in the Colorado woods where she grew up.

10 years ago, Hayden's mother Ella went into the woods surrounding her childhood home, and disappeared. She was declared dead "in absentia." Thanks to her father, Thomas Holland, Hayden was kept in the dark about Ella's life and her legacy. Thomas is a physicist and conspiracy theorist who believes in something or someone called Nibelung's. After Ella's disappearance, he moved them away from her home, and settled in NYC.  Now, on Hayden's 18th birthday, a surprising shock awaits her. 

Her mother, it seems, left the family estate, Holland Manor, to Hayden with the request to uncover her mother’s darkest secrets, and put her past wrongs right. 

"My first condition is that Hayden goes to the Manor and looks for the gifts I left her. They'll call to her. She needs to listen with her blood.

"My second condition is that Hayden uses my gifts to destroy my darkest secret - my hidden treasure, my heaviest burden.

My third and final condition is that Hayden trusts no one where my treasure is concerned, especially the ravens."

The estate just happens to be in Promise, Colorado which means that Hayden and Del must travel there and uncover the supposed secrets that Ella wants to put to rest. Del and Hayden are quite a pair. Hayden has a dark past which ended with her being home schooled. She also seems to attract animals like moths to a flame. Del, on the other hand, is fashion and makeover obsessed who has tried hard to get Hayden a boyfriend.

As soon as Hayden & Del arrive at her hometown, they quickly realize that everything isn't as it seems, and that there is a deeper purpose behind their visit to the old house. Neighbors whisper secrets about Hayden's mother; the boy next door is now all grown-up in a very distracting way; and Hayden feels the trees calling to her. Something has been hiding in the woods. It is an ancient evil that poisons the sun. In fact, there is a black spot in the forest where Ella disappeared and never returned. 

What the Woods Keep is a curious blend of fantasy, sci-fi, and horror all rolled into one. This book was such a twisted story with a house next to the woods, a creepy conspiracy theory which somehow hinges on what Hayden will do next, and a lost best friend she left behind 10 years ago who returns and is working with, shockingly enough, the person who failed to tell Hayden what he's really been up to all these years, and what really happened to her mother. The author tells her story by mixing Hayden’s first POV narrative with other documents like letters, medical notes, scientific journal entries, and transcripts; each element offering a piece of the puzzle. 

Recommendation: I do, if you are like me who loves a mixture of genre with a creepy as hell vibe and surprises along the way. My only complaint is that the ending wrapped up way too quickly. This is one of those books that you have to use your own imagine to consider what happens next to these characters.

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