Blog Tour Book Review: Exiled by RaShelle Workman

Title: Connected Series Book 1: Exiled

Author: RaShelle Workman

Release date 11-11-11 through Polished Pen Press in cooperation with Literary Underground. 

Genre: YA/Science Fiction

Page Count: 307

Rating: 4 out of 5

Cover Rating: 4 out of 5. I really liked this cover the first time I saw it, because it's different and a bit striking. It manages to include the Science Fiction-feel of the novel, along with the story's romantic side.

Book Summary:

Stubborn, sixteen-year-old Princess Venus of Kelari wants one thing, to become immortal, that is, until someone exiles her to Earth, kills her irrihunter and takes her family.
   Now she wants revenge.
   First she’s got to get home. But before she can return to Kelari, the Gods have commanded her to help an arrogant boy named Michael find his soul mate.
   Only she doesn't know the first thing about love.
   Rather quickly, her inexperience with human emotion is obscured by other matters—alien-controlled psychotic teens that are out to kill her, and a government group that is set on capturing and dissecting her.
   Worst of all, Venus will suffer a painful death-by-poisoning, thanks to Earth’s atmosphere, if she remains on the planet longer than one week.
   Still, Venus is a Princess and she's got a plan. Surely, with her help, Michael will fall in love with a human.
   But time is running out and Michael is falling for the wrong girl—her.

My expectations: High. I was intrigued by the blurb and the trailer, mentions of the story on the author's blog, and the other reviews I'd come across.

I'm happy to be able to say Exiled met those expectations.

About the book: This book is unique. That's one thing I really enjoyed about the story; I've never come across another YA book all that similar to it, particularly because it has SF and Romance as two central themes, not a usual combination. The writing, while occasionally awkward, is strong overall; I liked the way things were described, along with the dialogue.

• Plot:

Surprising. There were plenty of twists and turns in this book, from start to finish.

• Characters:

I liked Venus a lot more than I thought I would. She was strong and determined to complete the mission assigned to her by the gods, and she kept trying, even as she physically weakened due to Earth's atmosphere.

Michael was an interesting character. He didn't appeal at the beginning, but by the end of the novel, I was rooting for him.

Dervinias, also known as "Vinny", was a great antagonist. Excellent at keeping secrets, he was a formidable adversary, and a sinister one at that.

• Setting/Elements:

At the beginning, many of the alien words confused me. It does put the reader straight into the story without preamble, but I felt like I'd missed some kind of explanation that happened earlier on. However, the Science Fiction world in this book is detailed and, as I mentioned before, unique; Kelari is similar to Earth, but very different in other ways, and the contrast between the two is intriguing.

Other: Violence, sexual content.

Do I recommend this book? If you like Romance and Science Fiction, I definitely recommend this book.

Trailer:

About the Author:

RASHELLE WORKMAN lives with her husband, three children and three dogs. When she gets a quiet moment alone, she enjoys reading about faraway places. And, in case you were wondering, yes, she does believe there is other life out in the Universe.

Website/Blog: http://www.rashelleworkman.com/

Facebook: RaShelle Workman author
Twitter: RaShelleWorkman
Goodreads: Exiled

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Exiled is part of the Dark C.A.R.M.A blog tour:

-----The Golden Eagle