Exodus by Kate Stewart

Book #2 of "The Ravenhood Duet".

(This is the last book in the duet)

Rating: 2/5 (I can't even)

Spoiler Alert: Very High (BEWARE. MAJOR SPOILERS!!!)

Summary:

Can you live a lie?

It’s a ghost town, this place that haunts me, the one that made me.

It’s clear to me that I’ll never outgrow Triple Falls or outlive the time I spent here.

I can still feel them all, my boys of summer.

Even when I’d sensed the danger, I gave in.

I didn’t heed a single warning. I let my sickness, my love, both rule and ruin me. I played my part, eyes wide open, tempting fate until it delivered.

There was never going to be an escape.

All of us are to blame for what happened. All of us serving our own sentences. We were careless and reckless, thinking our youth made us indestructible, exempt from our sins, and it cost us all.

I’m done pretending I didn’t leave the largest part of me between these hills and valleys, between the sea of trees that hold my secrets.

It’s the reason I’m back. To make peace with my fate.

And if I can’t grieve enough to cure myself in my time here, I’ll remain sick. That will be my curse.

But it’s time to confess, to myself more so than any other, that I’d hindered my chances because of the way I was built, and because of the men who built me.

At this point, I just want to make peace with who I am, no matter what ending I get.

Because I can no longer live a lie.

Praises:

Characters:

I will only praise about two characters, Tobias and Tyler.

Tobias is probably the only character who actually deserves the world. He seems like one of the few characters in the story that doesn't get on my nerves. The character development of Tobias is incredible. First, we meet a very arrogant and mean Tobias. But after, he turns more soft-hearted because of Cecelia. At the end of the book, he really becomes my favourite character in the whole duet. (Also, he is Dom's older brother.)

Tyler appears mostly in the first book and the first half of the second book. He's part of the brotherhood (the same group which Dom and Sean are apart off). I swear Tyler is the ONLY consistent character that doesn't have some weird personality like Sean and he isn't mean like Dom. Throughout the whole duet, he is kind and generous to Cecelia and doesn't give off strange vibes. It's like he's the only one who knows common decency and how to treat a woman. I wish there was more of Tyler in the books but he's only a secondary character.

Writing Style/Narrative:

The writing style is pretty good. It is captivating (even though the plot is seriously not my liking at all). Stewart has a poetic way of writing romance novels. She's able to capture every emotion that Cecelia is feeling from the beginning to the very end of the second book. The way the author writes the romance is phenomenal. There is a lot of emotions and it's a super angsty and heartfelt book. Just like the first book, Flock, it is written in first person from Cecelia's point of view.

Critics:

(This isn't really criticizing, it's more like a rant.)

Okay, so I have a LOT to rant.

First of all, why on earth would you even have Sean and Dom star as main love interests for Cecelia when they're literally not even going to be in the second book?! Like where does that make sense? I literally developed a sentimental value for both Sean and Dom (not really). In the first book, the three of them had a whole whirlwind together and the romance was intense.

And then comes the second book. BAM.

Sean ends up getting married to someone else and has kids while Dom literally dies in front of Cecelia. Uhmm like what? Take in, Dom's death happens around halfway through the novel. What was the point?! I WAS ACTUALLY ON TEAM DOM FOR ONCE. He was becoming a nicer guy to Cecelia. I can't even.

Now time to talk about Sean. The dude just disappeared out of Cecelia's life after Dom's death. Dom's death happens then fast-forward many years later, we see that Cecelia loses touch with Sean. Uhm hello? Sean? Where did you go? Oh wait... he comes back MARRIED and with KIDS.

Finally, I'm going to rant about Cecelia. The woman needs to grow up. In the first half of the book, she still acts like a child. It's only when Dom dies she begins to grow up. Dom's death was like a wake-up call for her. In the second half of the book, she starts to grow on me. (This is probably because it is many years later so Cecelia is in her mid to late twenties). Anyways, she deals with her emotions in a more adult manner and basically just matures a lot.

The romance is okay. It is very strange. I don't even know what to say. Like I'm rendered speechless because I thought the romance aspect of the two books is just weird. Maybe it's just me since Exodus has a 4.5/5 star rating on Goodreads.

Final Review:

I honestly don't know why there is so much hype about this duet. While I appreciate Stewart's efforts and her writing style is beautiful, I just did not like this duet at all, especially the second book. I don't get why would you just kill off a character that was super important in the first book. Then have the other character completely marry someone else when the first book solely focuses on his romantic relationship with the main character. I can't wrap my head around it. Since this duet has a really high rating on Goodreads, I would recommend it because someone else might really like it. Clearly, a lot of people did except for me apparently.

Happy Reading!

Cheers,

Jessica :)