Official Review: The Deserving by Efren O'brien

[Dixon_John]

You can tell the author spent some time researching a lot of facts and did very well to include them in this story. He did well to honor the real men that battled in this war and also nurtured his main character to play a very outstanding role in the story.While the reader might have some knowledge about the Civil War, this story is completely unpredictable throughout the narrative right to the last page! To me, this makes this book a great read as I did not just jump to the last Chapter to confirm I had already figured out the storyline and conclusion. Also, some of the history and antiquities of the New Mexico Territory as described throughout the story-line inspires me to take a second look at visiting New Mexico!

[Quinto]

I like historical accounts and I will be reading this. Thanks for a wonderful review.

[Jomullyz]

i too do like an historical account ..i cannot wait reading the book assap ..
i must also share to my colliques who like historical accounts too ..
nice review mr

[kate_nguyen]

I love historical fiction and quite fond of the way Efren O’brien’s puts his words together. Emile sounds like an interesting character.

[Jomullyz]

yeah ..he is a good character in that book

[Kathryn Price]

Books that are on specific time periods in history should have a good quality of factual information, but not to the point where the characters are swallowed up in the details. The short blip of information given by the reviewer on the main characters does not peak my interest in wanting to read this book. She finds the book too scholarly for the average reader. Words like 'mind-boggling' and 'the story felt a little bit dry' make me a little apprehensive to read this book. Then the reviewer states clearly: "my only major complaint is that it’s hard to follow the story". Then in her ending paragraph tells us that "this is historical fiction at its best!" So did the reviewer like the book or not. I find the review contradictory.

Thanks for pointing that out! Yes, I did like the book as a whole. So many historical fiction books I've read are in reality only loosely based on the historical period or event in question, even going so far as to twist the events to fit the story, while this book was very solidly the opposite. But I wanted to warn potential readers that there is SO MUCH history involved that unless you are very academically-minded or very determined, it will take a while to wade through it. I'm normally a super-speed-reader, and it took me almost a month to finish. This is the reason for the apparent contradictions. I hope that makes sense. Thanks for reading my review!

[Kathryn Price]

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!

That's exactly what it felt like LOL! It took me quite a while to figure out what to say about this book because while it had some major issues, like you pointed out, I did genuinely like the story! Thanks for reading my review!

[carneysm50]

I like historical fiction and this review of "The Deserving" by Efren increased my interest in this story of the Civil War. The tragic era description leaves you with feelings of doom and hopelessnes.