Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Author: Katya de Becerra

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 3.5/5

Publication Date: January 7, 2020

Genre: YA Fantasy

Recommended Age: 16+ (violence, some gore, some mature scenes, nothing you see is real)

Publisher: MacMillan

Pages: 320

Amazon Link

Synopsis: The oasis saved them. But who will save them from the oasis?

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

With 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, 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 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 . . .

Review: For the most part this was an interesting book. The setting was really cool and the plot was intriguing. The book was well written as well.

However, the characters just felt really flat for me. There wasn’t much about them that I liked and I just couldn’t root for any of them. They also didn’t really engage me as a reader.

Verdict: A pretty good fantasy from an archeology site!