Official Review: The Deserving by Efren O'brien

Please use this forum to discuss historical fiction books. Common definitions define historical fiction as novels written at least 25-50 years after the book's setting.
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kemp1kor
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Re: Official Review: The Deserving by Efren O'brien

Post by kemp1kor »

I think it’s always difficult to find a balance between giving a reader enough and way too much background or descriptive information. I’m happy to hear that the reviewer enjoyed this book, but historical fiction is not for me.
Madhu14
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Post by Madhu14 »

I love reading historical fictions. This book seems promising after reading your review on it. I am definitely going to read it. Thanks for the review.
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Post by todwyer01 »

An interesting Western post-Civil War fiction. A good read that draws the reader into that era. Sometimes it was more history than fiction, but still well done.
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Mildred Tabitha
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Post by Mildred Tabitha »

Thanks for this review. At least I have got a little idea about Emile and his abusive father. I have also learned about McGrath and Carmen. I have never enjoyed reading history books since highschool and so I will take your advice not to start with this book. :D I feel I'm so new to historical fiction.
Do good to others on your way up because you will meet them on your way down.
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Dee_7Reichardt
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Post by Dee_7Reichardt »

Thank you for the review. It was good to know that those who have not read much historical fiction may find this book difficult to digest. I think that your description is helpful because historical fiction should be based on actual history. It's gratifying to know that the author has a strong basis in this history. I am looking forward to trying this book out in the future, even if the story is hard to follow.
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Post by LV2R »

Thank you for your very thorough review of The Deserving. I think I would like to read this historical fiction book because learning history through a story is a bit more interesting than otherwise. You stated that there are many characters and it may be difficult to sort fact from fiction. This helps me know what to expect. I will give it a try.
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Trixie Mandap
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Post by Trixie Mandap »

It looks like interesting, to be honest I love Historical Fiction genre so I got interested in this book.
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Post by jennyd2003 »

Great review. I like some historical fiction. This one sounds like one I would like. I'll have to give it a try.
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enojojoseph
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Post by enojojoseph »

The story about Emilie has an interesting unfolding plot, however I am not a fan of native history, thanks for the review.
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Post by Julehart1 »

I really liked your review as it helped me to understand the book better. I'm not too much of a fan of historical fiction but it seems like an interesting book. I like that there's a lot of details and history information in the book but it's sad to hear that all of the details overwhelm the actual story. It's tough to find the right balance between telling a good story and providing details and historical facts. Thanks for your review.
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Post by CaitlynLynch »

Sounds like the history buff needed a fiction editor to buff up the dramatic tension in his story! At least it's historically accurate. There's nothing worse than Bad History in novels!
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Post by tamdlyte »

LOL I felt like the reviewer kept saying, "It's great! But it's got a lot of characters..." "It's great! But it's a little dry..." "It's great! But hard to follow..." Sounds like it was a hard book to review! Thank goodness, most of the times, these books are still easier to read than to review! ;)
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Post by charmaineperit »

I like how the author did thorough research. Reader might as well be careful in reading this because of the fiction that might be mixed with history. It sounds interesting but I don't think I'll be reading this book because the story is hard to follow and characters are hard to track.
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Post by dragonet07 »

Historical fiction can certainly be tricky to handle when comes to the balance between excitingly fictional and dryly historical; one must be entertaining but also accurate. The time period and location intrigue me and I'm able to tolerate a higher amount of dry narrative, so I might give this a go. Thank you for the insightful review!
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Iemaixiong
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Post by Iemaixiong »

:o

This sounds like a very interesting book. I would like to read more about it.
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