Exile (Keeper of the Lost Cities Book 2)

While looking for some literature I could share with my rapidly growing grandchildren, I took a chance on this series. I am now up way past my bedtime writing this review. It is the very human emotions and behavior of Sophie, the heroine elf, that keeps this fantasy real. Ms. Messenger is a storyteller and she is skilled at creating chapter by chapter "cliffhangers" that leave readers sure they can give up just a "few more minutes" of sleep time.

Our heroine is not without her side kick hero friends making this a book to be
equally enjoyed by both sexes. It is an intriguing story - full of believable characters, constantly moving plots and the angst of fitting in, making choices, and growing up. The clean language and healthy relationships portrayed are icing on the cake! Read,and share with the grandkids! Ages 9-10 to adult.

This fabulous novel written by shannon messenger is full of excitement, adventure, and nail biting suspense. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it and can't wait to read the next in the series. This fully deserves a perfect five stars.

This was absolutely amazing and I loved it and hated the part where Alden's mind broke and Fitz almost hated Sophie and gosh it made me cry. The thing with these kind of books is that I usually hate the endings, I don't why but I do. But with this book I loved the ending and it was nostalgic especially for me considering just two days ago, Sophie was in the healing center after burning her mentor's cape in alchemy so it ended smoothly and nicely. The only sad part for me has always been that it's not continuing. There's no more books after this and if there is—I have a strong feeling there isn't, but I can dream right?—I'll probably love it like I loved the first and second. I'm also gonna check out her other books as well.

This book is absoulutely WONDERFUL! Just warning you now, I will be spoiling parts of the book later in this review. So if you have not read the first book, stop reading this review immediately and buy it.

Our tale starts out with our main character, Sophie Foster, encountering Silveny, the first female alicorn ever seen in the Lost Cites, and getting ready for her first full year at Foxfire, the elvin academy she attends. But all is not well with Sophie, between her mysterious headaches, learning about her friends and family, a new goblin bodyguard, and most importantly the crypyic messages from the elusive Black Swan group, she has a lot on her mind for a thirteen year old girl.

Shannon Messenger does an amazing job describing the world and Sophie's emotions with vivid writing that makes you feel like the scene is being transmited into your mind. Messenger's stunning descriptions of the characters emotions had me laughing out loud, made me want to throw my book against the wall in anger, feel heartache and sadness that made me want to cry, and yet made me feel hopeful and curious and intrigued, and yet other scenes made me want to root for these characters to fight and succeed, while others made me melt into a puddle of happiness. I HIGHLY recommend this series to any fantasy lovers, or anyone who loves strong female leads who can kick butt.

*WARNING: I WILL START GOING INTO SPOILERS HERE*

The character and world development in this book were PHENOMINAL.
Starting off with world development, we get a lot of answers (and albeit, more questions) about things mentioned in the first book, mainly pertaining to things connected to the books namesake, Exile. We learn what Exile is actually like, and it goes deep into the mindbreaking process and how it is done, and how one gets it as well as the effects. We also get more information on limbium (the substance Sophie is HIGHLY allergic to) as well as other elvin abillites. Getting more infornation on Elvin culture was highly pleasing, seeing how death is handled in the world, as it is rare, and the political unrest was a well needed touch. We got a better sense on how the nobility works and hiw characters get their family pins. I really liked seeing how grief and guilt affected elves.

I am happy to say that EXILE gives some much needed character development to characters who needed it.
Grady and Edline, I feel were given a more prevelant role in the story, as we FINALLY GET SOME ANSWERS ABOUT JOLIE, PRENTICE, AND THE BLACK SWAN.

Grady and Edaline become better characters learning to trust Sophie more, and helping the Vackers helps them through their grief, and they eventually accept what has happened and are ready to join the nobilty once again. This was wonderfully done and really fleshed out these characters.

But who really stole the show for me was Keefe Sencen. At first, he was the main source of comic relif and his flamboyant personallity made him a biy annoying, but by the last quarter of the first book and in this one, he ABSOULUTELY redeemed himself as a character in my eyes. He makes so many jokes because its his way of copeing with his difficult family life, and seeing the people he considers to be his family wracked by grief, breaks him and he becomes desprate to help Sophie to fix eveything, and shows that he truly cares for Sophie and his friends. He has easily become my favorite character, tying with Sophie at number one. He is a wonderful character I cannot wait to see more of.
*SPOILERS OVER *

All in all, this is an amazing series with equally amazing characters and author, and will have you emotionally invested in this tale. I highly recommend. Plenty of twists and turns and mystery that will keep you glued to the pages and on the edge of your seat. I cannot wait to read the next book.

Disclosure: I received an arc from the publicist in exchange for a honest review.

Sophie and the gang are all back in EXILE, the second installment in the Keeper of the Lost Cities series by Shannon Messenger. The story begins with Sophie discovering a rare creature that the councils have been searching for millenniums, an alicorn (unicorn with wings). The alicorn is put into Sophie and Grady’s care for rehabilitation in time for a timeline reset celebration and eventually the alicorn home in the sanctuary (where all rehabilitated rare animals go to). Meanwhile, Sophie is still trying to learn more about her abilities and worrying about her second year at Foxfire Academy. Days leading up to Sophie’s return to Foxfire, she discovers cryptic messages from the ‘terrorists’/rebellion’ group The Black Swan urging her to find answers to her past by visiting a particular person…Prentice, the keeper for the Black Swan except Prentice is locked away in Exile, an undisclosed location that only a handful of people know about.

EXILE, is a terrific follow-up book in the series. Messengers definitely delivers in this sequel as she takes readers from a school setting to explore other dark and mysterious parts of the Elvin world. The book focuses mainly on Sophie’s endless abilities and her relationship to the Black Swan group. Readers discover alongside Sophie what really makes her different from the others (genes), how and why the Black Swan Group created her in the first place (one of their many goals/tasks that they need her to fulfill).

The main theme of family and friendship is once again present in EXILE, and just as heart-warming. Sophie has a strong support system, but ties are strained when someone close to Sophie is on the brink of death/destruction. Sophie learns to rely on her amazing guardian/parents that care for her dearly and friends particularly Keefe this time around. Trying to do everything on her own and keeping secrets started to take a toll, but eventually Sophie was able let other help shoulder the burden.

There were some characters from book 1 that took the back seat this time around only popping up for a few scenes here and there, but I was glad to see a character that we met at the end of book 1 make a solid addition to book 2. Sandor, Sophie’s goblin body guard literally shadows Sophie wherever she goes and their bickering with one another was just hilarious. I was also happy that we got to see more of Keefe, he was a comical relief during the more dark-serious scenes (but he was serious when it mattered).

I love EXILE, and after reading it, it has cemented itself as one of my all-time favorite series. Messenger weaves another amazing adventure with characters you can’t help but love and care about. If you’re looking for a series you can get lost in, this is it. I’ve written this in my last review but I’ll say it again; this may be a middle-grade series but it WILL appeal beyond its core audience, definitely a book/series for all ages. I highly recommend Keeper of the Lost Cities & EXILE, you will not be disappointed! I can’t wait for book 3, dying to know more about the Black Swan, Prentice and of course to see more of Sophie and her wonderful friends and family.

I had an interesting experience with KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES. That was one of the few times a reader contacted me for more detail, because they'd read a negative review, but trusted my judgment - and my review was positive. I told them that I thought the criticisms were fair, but that I'd had a more positive reaction to the book. Thus, I was definitely willing to read EXILE and see where the story went. I think Shannon Messenger is taking her series in the right direction.

EXILE is the continuing story of Sophie, who grew up in our world before discovering she was an elf. Now she's struggling to learn how to use her powers and caught between the Council and the Black Swan, a possible terrorist group. There also appears to be a third group in the mix.

There are less Harry Potter comparisons in EXILE. Sophie is still attending magic school, but the new year is just starting up, so she isn't very busy with classwork and most of the story takes place after school. The romance is also shut down to all but a few hints, thankfully. Instead, Sophie's friendship with the three boys is emphasized. She spends time building real relationships with them.

Sophie is still a special snowflake, but in EXILE, her special powers aren't the answer to everything. In fact, sometimes they're a problem. She's also learning to work with other people's strengths, because one person never has the answer to everything. I did quite enjoy this passage:

"You are normal, Sophie. That doesn't mean you can't also be exceptional."
"You realize those two things are opposites, right?"
"Actually, someday you'll find that when you stop equating normal with acceptance, the two are far more similar than you think." -p. 173, ARC

I flip-flopped between liking the worldbuilding and finding it too strange to hold. The servant gnomes show signs of being less obedient than expected, which was nice. The Council is vaguely sinister and draconian, but I don't get a real sense that I'm supposed to suspect them of villainy. Their zoo that is supposed to save the world sounds like the worst thing ever. And I just can't figure out whether that's on purpose. But the strange bit is that the elves can't handle guilt. Even after it being integral to the book, I haven't quite figured it out. I feel guilty for jumping when someone startles me. Totally nice people who don't do bad things feel guilt. Maybe I need to be a kid to go with it.

I think that EXILE moved faster than KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES, even though they're about the same length. There's more adventure and mystery, less setup. At the same time, I am a bit miffed that there's been two books and zero keeping of lost cities. I feel like this series is still finding its footing, but I'm willing to stick with it because the books are fun. They have a telepathic unicorn! (Okay, alicorn, but it's really a flying telepathic unicorn.)

Sophie begins receiving mysterious messages from the Black Swan, while dealing with a new school year, new classes, and new professors. Sophie must decipher the messages to find out what further secrets are hidden in her memories and what further abilities the Black Swan engineered her with.

A good read. An interesting mix of her dealing with really heavy and complex matters (as well as she can as a young person) and also dealing with school stuff and her friends and the difficulties of their relationships.