Review : Exile by Rebecca Lim

Posted by Kay on April 6, 2013 2:30 am in 3.5 stars reads | 2 comments

Exile by Rebecca Lim
Pages : 292
Genre : YA, Supernatural
Series : Mercy, book 2
My Rating : 3,5/5

What it’s about :

My Thoughts :

When I read Mercy a few weeks ago, I felt the kind of excitement I hadn’t felt in a long time for a YA paranormal series. It was offering me something new, a unique voice, and a mysterious setting. As soon as I finished reading it, I made plans to read the next book really soon.

This is to say that, I went into Exile with high expectations. And it’s not that the book let me down, exactly. It was actually quite good; just not on the same exact level as Mercy. For one thing, this book clearly suffered of being the second in a series; while it does have a story that starts and ends between its pages, I still felt it was really trying to build a bridge between the previous book and what would come in the next one(s).

I also didn’t like how obvious some of the “hinting” was. If someone is being shady and mysterious, show me : describe how twitchy they are, how they won’t look the narrator in the eye, how they keep looking at the clock. But please don’t tell me, multiple times, how John is acting strange today! That kills the suspense. I’d rather have subtle clues here and there; if I pick on them, great! And if I don’t, the ending will be all the more surprising.

However!

Exile had some really strong points, too, which should probably be the main focus of this review. First of all is the beautiful imagery of Mercy’s angelic dreams. She travels through infinite dimensions, from body cells to the cosmos, and it was such an amazing reading experience! I haven’t read something quite like that before. That, right there, was some of my favorite reading this year. Loved it.

I also love Mercy’s personal story. The memories she can’t keep, her strange relation to Luc, her quest to find Ryan. She has such a strong presence while being so lost. She definitely doesn’t feel like a teenager, and I feel that Rebecca Lim writes her with a lot of maturity.

Also, some very strong scenes. There was definitely some foreshadowing to the ending along the book, but really, I never thought it would end this way! Wow, that was a shocker! It was written in a shocking yet beautiful way, revealing more about Mercy while concluding Lela’s story.

There is so much to love about Mercy’s story, but also about Rebacca Lim’s writing. It’s unique, therefore refreshing. Maybe not for everyone, but I definitely appreciated her beautiful prose. It’s incredible how a character like Mercy, cold and detached for most of the time, can make me feel so much.

So I guess I could say that, while Exile wasn’t as good as Mercy for most of the book (though the ending was really stronger), it was definitely a good sequel that made me look forward to the following novels. Lucky for me, they are already on my shelf!

Series Reading Order :

1. Mercy
2. Exile
3. Muse
4. Fury