The Exiled by Sarah Daniels | Book Review
The Exiled
Author: Sarah Daniels
Pages: 496
Genre: Fantasy | YA | Sci Fi | Dystopian
Publication Date: July 20, 2023
Buy the Book: Amazon
I’m back with another book review! This series has quickly become one of my favourite reads of the year. It is full of secrets, betrayal, rebellion and loads of action. It’s just great okay. Here is my review for the second book in Sarah Daniel’s YA Dystopian series The Exiled but you might want to read my review of The Stranded first. Or do you know what, just go and read the book!
Synopsis
Trust no one.
It is six months since the Arcadia set sail for the first time in forty years. But this wasn’t the freedom the inhabitants were hoping for. Esther Crossland did what she had to do, but it has left a trail of destruction in her wake. Now the wrecked ship is abandoned. Its inhabitants are in exile, trapped in sprawling make-shift shelters made up of warehouse, tents, shipping containers.
Esther and Nik, architects of the rebellion, are on the run. Esther is in hiding, desperate to do something to help her people, and Nik seems to have abandoned all hope, on a journey taking him further and further from home. And neither of them want to face up to their true feelings about one another . . .
Not only that, there is a new villain in town. With the fall of Commander Hadley, it’s left to the ruthless Admiral Janek to deal with the traitors, and her own past is beginning to catch-up with her.
Then the shaky ceasefire negotiated by General Lall, Nik’s mum, falls apart. Nik and Esther find themselves in a world of betrayals and double crossings – a game of power, with no one to trust but themselves.
It’s time for the final showdown.
My Review
I was super excited to start this book after finishing The Stranded and it really lived up to all my expectations, answered any questions I had after book one and is a brilliant sequel overall. This is a YA dystopian series that you don’t want to miss!
We are thrown back into the chaos 4 months after the rebellion really takes off which left the Arcadia crashed and abandoned on the coast of the federal states. However, instead of being aboard this disorderly ship, we now get to witness the cramped fenced in area where the surviving passengers of the Arcadia have been exiled to. As well as this, the Coalies are still a huge problem, the exiled are now faced with more starvation, destruction and disease among the camp. So it’s not looking good for any of them.
Much like the first book, the world building is so detailed to the point where I could walk alongside Esther down the alleys (not that I would want to), feel the desperation of the exiled passengers in the cramped and diseased warehouses and feel the contrast in this with the luxury that the Coalies & the Government get to experience.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I love multiple povs but this one hits differently. We get to see the world and the mayhem created from so many different views and sides of the rebellion, like the first book. This made it so easy to get consumed by this book and the short chapters really make it easy to fly through.
Overall, The Exiled is as dark and eerie as The Stranded which is the perfect atmosphere for a YA Dystopian. With more evil and ruthless bad guys and more at stake for the fight to freedom, you will not be able to turn the pages fast enough. Sarah Daniels has created such a unique and powerful story that I will find hard to forget!
About the Author
Sarah Daniels is an ex-archaeologist who escaped academia and now writes stories from her home in rural Lincolnshire. Her work has been published in various online magazines and has been nominated for best British and Irish Flash Fiction and Best Small Fictions.
If you want to contact her, you can do so at the following locations:
Buy the Book: Amazon
Thank you The Write Reads, Penguin and the author for a spot on the blog tour.
