Book Title: Exiled- Kenly’s Story (Talented Saga #5)
Author: Sophie Davis
Publisher: Dabber & Baeh (Kindle edition)
Number of pages: 428
Genre: young adult, science fiction, dystopian, fantasy
Release date: September 2nd 2014
Favorite Quotes:
“The silence between us was never awkward; neither of us felt the need to fill the nonverbal space with mindless chatter. Instead, it was comfortable, even enjoyable.”
““True betrayal leaves permanent scars.””
“Since we’d met, I’d noted how the platinum expressed each of his emotions, but I was unfamiliar with this one.”
“Pint was going for the only thing that would hurt more than a bullet through my own heart.”
Goodreads Synopsis:
Kenly Baker is alone. TOXIC has been defeated. Her friends from the McDonough School for the Talented are scattered to the wind. Even Kenly’s only living family member cannot hide the scared teenager from those who wish to contain her. Because Kenly is one of the Created.
For her, it’s a future worse than death.
She travels across the Atlantic Ocean, to the slums of London. There, Kenly finds tentative acceptance among a group of outcasts. They have spent their entire lives dodging shadows, barely staying alive. Kenly thought she knew what horrors haunt the night, but her new companions reveal predators far more alarming than anything she’s ever faced. Suddenly, she is brutally aware of the dark side of humanity.
Kenly’s biggest concern was the UNITED trackers, who round up and capture the Created. But there are adversaries in this new world who are far more terrifying. And unfortunately for Kenly, now their sites are set on the Created.
My Review:
3.5-4/5 stars
First things first. Thank you so much to Sophie Davis/Barbara for sending me a free ebook copy in exchange for an honest review!
I first fell in love with the Talented Saga since first being introduced to it and Sophie Davis when I attended BookCon 2014. Originally, Exiled: Kenly’s Story was set to just be a short novella, but instead was made into a 200+ page book.
So here’s my honest review:
It did take me awhile to truly get into this story (sad face). At first, I just could not connect with Kenly’s character at first. The beginning was very slow and Kenly was talking about events from the previous book that left me wondering what was going on ( if you’ve read the other books in this series, I would recommend reading Created-book #4 right before starting this to be less confused). I thought too much of the beginning of the book was spent on Kenly’s thoughts about everything that happened since escaping the events in DC, as well as talking too much about being on the run from UNITED. Since this book focused more on Kenly, you were of course given a chance to get to know her.
Another reason why Kenly was driving me crazy at first… was her absolute HATRED for Talia. It drove me absolutely bonkers! I know from my standpoint, I knew what Talia went through to do everything that she did, but Kenly just needed to relax and think things through, I mean isn’t that her main Talent?
Due to my love for the series, of course I was going to continue reading, because I was still interested in finding out where the story would go (I was unsure in the beginning). These were the main reasons why I rated this book at 3.5 stars (sad face).
I then rated this book at 4 stars based on the following:
Once Kenly meets the people that become her ally, I was finally hooked. Things started to break down and the story was finally making sense. I thought the relationships Kenly had with each of the four people that became her allies was very naturally written and each of the characters fit nicely together. I enjoyed the dynamics among the group, and is very reminiscent of the dynamics between Talia and her friends. Little by little I grew to appreciate Kenly and what she was going through. Little by little I grew to actually like Kenly’s character. I liked her tough nature, but also her willingness to allow others to protect and care for her.
Once again, just like the previous four novels, there were so many twists and turns I didn’t know what to think. You will definitely be reeling from so many emotions you won’t know what hit you. There were many moments of things being at ease and things seeming completely normal, and then you are just thrown into a wall and major events happen. You will think everything is fine and Kenly and her friends will be okay, and then, yeah, not so much. I had several moments where I was flapping my hands and quietly shouting “What?! Oh my god! Did that just happen?!” After reading Exiled: Kenly’s Story, I was even more excited to read the next book in the series. I am glad that I stuck with this book. I am crossing my fingers that the characters in this book will also be introduced in the next book in the series. I would absolutely recommend this book! Even though it was a bit of a torture (sorry!) to read in the beginning, you must must must must read this book, you will NOT regret your decision!
(And this review is different from my others because this technically is a review for the ARC of Exiled: Kenly’s Story, I had to leave out certain specific details about characters Kenly meets in order to not reveal too much… because I really want you to read this story)
Happy Reading!
Author Websites:
Living in a World of Book Quotes 