Everybody's Changing - Keane

Exile
Aurelia, Book 2

Author: Anne Osterlund
Pages: 295
Publisher: Speak

Warning:
Exile is the sequel to Aurelia, which I reviewed back in February. This is your warning that, if you have not yet read the first book, this review will contain spoilers for it. No spoilers for Exile though.

Brief Summary:
Aurelia and Robert are off traveling the world together, which is both amazing for her, since she has always been restricted to the castle (even if she snuck out sometimes), and awful because Robert has suddenly gone cold and distant. Oh yeah, and there are assassins still out to kill her. Did Melony send them or does she have some other enemy?

Review:
Exile moved along a bit slower than its predecessor, but still contained many of the qualities that made Aurelia so enjoyable. The beautiful and loving descriptions are definitely still present (my childhood adoration of horses never ended...); I really want to see the Geordian horses! The romance was here, although a bit more frustrating than before. The cuteness of the initial attraction is gone and now Robert and Aurelia are getting all dramatic and overthinking absolutely everything. Plus, there are no juicy descriptions, which is classy but still a bit disappointing.

Aurelia remains a delightful heroine, full of spunk, wit and compassion. She, like all of the best heroines, constantly challenges the world around her, seeking to improve it. There are a number of times where times get tough and she starts to break down or to complain. Instead of giving into that impulse, she very quickly reins herself in (horse pun...I think Aurelia would approve, or, at the very least, Osterlund would!) and comes up with a solution to the problem. Too few YA heroines have this strength and cleverness.

Exile was good, but likely will be the weakest in a really great series. My reason for saying this is that it is so clearly a transitionary book, serving the purpose of getting Aurelia and Robert to where they need to be for the next book. Do not take this as a huge criticism, but as an explanation as to why this installment moves a bit more slowly. Actually, the only thing I really didn't like about this sequel was the cover. It bothers me that they so obviously chose a different model, when I take both as an intended representation of Aurelia. Covers aside, you better believe I'll be going along on Aurelia's next journey!

"You say you wander your own land
But when I think about it
I don't see how you can
You're aching, you're breaking
And I can see the pain in your eyes
Says everybody's changing
And I don't know why

So little time
Try to understand that I'm
Trying to make a move just to stay in the game"