TITLE: Exile
AUTHOR: Kevin Emerson
SERIES: Exile #1
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RATING:
Catherine Summer Carlson knows how to manage bands like a professional—she’s a student at the PopArts Academy at Mount Hope High, where rock legends Allegiance to North got their start. Summer knows that falling for the lead singer of her latest band is the least professional thing a manager can do. But Caleb Daniels isn’t an ordinary band boy—he’s a hot, dreamy, sweet-singing, exiled-from-his-old-band, possibly-with-a-deep-dark-side band boy. And he can do that thing. That thing when someone sings a song and it inhabits you, possesses you, and moves you like a marionette to its will.
Summer also finds herself at the center of a mystery she never saw coming. When Caleb reveals a secret about his long-lost father, one band’s past becomes another’s present, and Summer finds it harder and harder to be both band manager and girlfriend. She knows what the well-mannered Catherine side of her would do, but she also knows what her heart is telling her. Maybe it’s time to accept who she really is, even if it means becoming an exile herself. . . .
REVIEW: Okay, so I DNFed this one. Maybe it was because I just wasn’t in the mood. Maybe it was because I just was not feeling it. Whatever the reason, I DNFed this book, which was really surprising to me, given how much I wanted to like and love it.
Exile is about a girl named Catherine… who also goes by the name Summer, depending on what she is doing. Summer is a band manager who puts together a new band to manage which includes Caleb, the lead singer, and who just so happens to be her boyfriend, who also just happens to have a secret…
My problem with this book is that I feel like it could have used some more development in some areas and some less development in others. Starting with the romance. Within the span of one single chapter, Summer and Caleb have had their first real conversation together and starting dating. Thanks for the build up guys! Forget about character development, romance comes first. So glad our priorities are intact.
And then there’s Summer. The girl who is willing to go out with a guy she just met in hopes that he will be part of a band she is creating and wants to manage. Surprisingly enough, I actually thought Summer was a cool character (Come on! She’s a band manager and goes to an arts school!), even with her poor decision making skills.
But, even with my problem with the early romance, I kind of liked Exile… until Caleb reveals his secret about his father to Summer. It didn’t even take 5 chapters for him to do it. And I’m pretty sure the two of them have only been dating for a few days, a week or two tops. Talk about being trusting. Would you trust your girlfriend / boyfriend, whom you just met a few days ago, with one of your most precious secrets? I wouldn’t.
After the Caleb let the cat out of the bag, my interest in the book went down and to me, after the “big” reveal, Exile just became really boring. So yeah, I read until I started falling asleep (and no, I was not feeling tired beforehand) and then I quit. As much as I liked Summer as a character, I can’t say the same about her story (or her boyfriend).
Ugh, I hate books that put you to sleep. What’s the point of reading them?! Totally understand why you DNF’d it. I tossed up whether I wanted to try this, but I’ve yet to hear positive things, and I’ve got waaaay too many other books to try. So I’ll probably be skipping it.
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I was really disappointed with this one. I had such high hopes…
Thanks for stopping by Cait! 🙂