Oath of Servitude Review!

Oath of Servitude by C.E. Wilson

This is the story of Teague and Cailin, two teenagers who have been brought together by fate. Teague, a human, struggles to come to terms with the consequences of a recent accident that has destroyed the happy life that he had once enjoyed. Cailin, a pixi, is trying to stay true to herself while fighting against forces beyond her control that have exiled her from her home into this strange world of humans. She fears the darkness. He cannot escape it. But when the two of them are thrown together, they begin to discover the light inside of themselves.

(Cover and synopsis from Goodreads.)







Note: We were given this book by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Natalie: Today we're going to try review the book conversationally, but not spoil anything. Tell us what you think. Hannah, what did you think of the book?
Hannah: This book had a very interesting concept. I really like fantasy books, so I was excited to read a book about pixis.
Natalie: The concept was very original, which I liked.
Hannah: I also liked the humor in Cailin and Teague's exchanges.
Natalie: I liked the way the story was told from many different characters' points of view.
Hannah: Yeah, it was cool how you still could learn about the pixi-world even after the main character had left it.
Natalie: So this was the first book that I've read that was not on paper.
Hannah: And that is the last book I will ever read not made of paper. I can't stand not holding an actual book. (By the way, neither of us have e-readers, so we read this book on computers.) It is just not the same.
Natalie: This was also the first self-published book I've ever read, so I don't have anything else to compare it to, but in my opinion, this book could have used more editing. I know it probably takes a lot of work to self publish, and it's awesome that the author did that, but there were some grammatical, punctuation, and repetition errors that could have been easily fixed.
Hannah: I agree. Whenever I have to write a paper or something for school, I always have a friend look over it because they can always catch those little errors that I skip over because I'm still seeing what I thought I wrote. This book could have benefited from another set of eyes before it was published.
Natalie: Now onto the plot.
Hannah: I really enjoyed the initial plot of the-pixi-in-a-human-world. However, the pixi-politics plot just wasn't my favorite. The pixi government just seemed mean, and I didn't care for any of the politicians enough to get into that particular plotline. There was also a plotline about Cailin's sisters, a plotline about Owen and Nolkrin, a backstory for Owen, and the relationships between the pixis.
Natalie: I think there were too many plotlines being crammed into such a short novel. It was too much to keep straight, and it made it harder to get into the story.
Hannah's sister Emma said that this part won't spoil anything, but it does mention something that happens towards the end of the book. If you think that this might spoil the book for you, skip this part.
Hannah: I was confused by the love triangle at the end. It didn't make any sense to me.
Natalie: It was too out of the blue. You didn't know much about Cailin's relationships with the other pixis before going to the human world, so it was a random guy just proclaiming his love for Cailin.
Hannah: Love triangles have been overdone in lots of YA lately, so they really have to be good for me to get behind them, and, unfortunately, this one just didn't work for me.
Natalie: I thought it was really weird.
End sort-of spoilers.
Hannah: I thought this book had a very intriguing concept, but the execution could have been a bit better. There were funny moments and good characters, just a few too many of them.
Natalie: It was an interesting take on supernatural elements in a realistic setting, but there were too many plotlines and it wasn't as well-woven as it could have been.

Ratings:
Hannah: ✭✭
Natalie: ✭✭

Hannah: Now we're off to go feed a turtle named Lloyd.
Natalie: Yay!!!