Book Review: Oath of Servitude by C.E. Wilson

My Rating: 

Book: Oath of Servitude (The Punishment Sequence #1)

Author: C.E. Wilson
Page Numbers: 159 pages
Publication date: September, 2012

Synopsis:
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.

My Review:

** Disclaimer: I was privileged to receive a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review **

Wow! Its been actually a while since I read this wonderful book, but unfortunately due to my needed hiatus I never came around to actually publish this review on my blog! Hereby a big apology to the author and I hope you can forgive me for my tardiness! 
Now let's get started on the review!

The Oath of Servitude had a very interesting plot and and contained very unusual characters, Pixi's and 'giants' to be exact. I don't think I have ever read a book like it. When I was first introduced to this book by the author, I was informed it was a story about a pixi and a human (aka the giant) who's lives were intertwined through fate. I wasn't too sure about the nature of the characters, but the story itself was what pulled me in to give this book a chance. And I'm happy that I did! The story was unique and refreshing from other books which seem to tell the similar kind of story over and over again.
There are many likable aspects of this book and there are also certain things which were not as convincing for me, which unfortunately led me to not rate this book a full 5/5 star rating. Nonetheless, this book still deserves a good review, so as always, let's go over the points!

At first I was not sure what to think about the main characters. I have never read a story about a relationship between a small pixie and a human being. I was unsure how their relationship would work and how any romance or affection could exist, but C.E. Wilson convincingly made it work.
Cailin is a very outgoing, brave and unique pixi. She wants to stand out from her society by painting her hair dark red, wearing heavy makeup, and wearing clothes which in her society are frowned upon. She has interests in humans and talks about them whereas her society prefers to keep this as a taboo. Unfortunately, due to her braveness, and perhaps ignorance, in talking so openly about her society's greatest taboo, she got her self in quite some trouble, trouble for which she will have to pay for. Instead of being put in the Darkness, which is every pixi's greatest fear, she is punished by being sent away to a human family who needs her help desperately.
Cailin is reluctant to help a human boy who needs her help more than he knows himself, and she eventually finds herself caring for this boy and faces twisting decisions in her life which she never thought she would have to face.

I loved Cailin, she is a very spunky, stubborn, carefree, character. Her curiosity and brave quality gets her in trouble but she is willing to face any consequences which may protect those who she loves the most. Even though the story is as fiction as can be, if this were really to happen to a pixie like Cailin and a human like Teague, I would genuinely believe that the story would play out as it did in the book.

Teague, the human boy, seemed to be quite the opposite of Cailin. He drank his miseries and traumas away, blaming everyone for the cause of it. His father purposely moved him away from his old life to help him forget about what happened to him, but it seemed that there was nothing the father could do to save his son. Hence, he called upon an old pixi friend who still owed him a favor. And there came Cailin, the small but strong pixi.

I found it very realistic how a pixi like Cailin was the only thing capable of helping Teague out of his misery. Even though she did not realize it herself, the way she interacted with Teague which was often very humorous, actually helped Teague crawl out of his misery pit and alcoholic habits. Many readers wondered how the dad, who knew him all his life, could not help him but some pixi could. I truly believe that sometimes something out of the ordinary needs to happen for us to change our ways of doing, and this is exactly what happened to Teague.

The plot was refreshing and unique. Once a day passed in the book I was sifting through the pages just to find out what would happen next. This unfortunately led to my personal slight disappointment of the book as not much really happened throughout the plot. Mainly the story took place in Teague's house where Cailin and Teague had their brief interactions. The story also shifted to the pixi world, where Cailin's sibling was desperate to save Cailin out of her Oath of Servitude to the humans.
It was not until later in the book that a major twist occurred which shifted the slow paced plot into a sharp turn. I was hoping there would be more of these eventful twists, however this did not occur. The book however did focus a lot on the background of the characters, which was really magical and entertaining to read. I could understand that C.E. Wilson chose this has the focus point of the first book. I believe this story has so much potential, and I am sure C.E. Wilson will develop the story with more adventures in her second book.

I look forward to the sequel and to what will happen next now that Cailin is forced to continue serve her oath to Teague!