Exile

by James Cormier

Centuries after the Fall, the United States has been wiped away. The crumbling remains of the great American empire are home now only to savage, lawless tribes and packs of ravening Damned-the twisted children of the apocalypse. Most of those few who survived humanity's destruction spend their short lives in a violent struggle for survival. But some light still flickers in the darkness: the Blessed of Bountiful live in seclusion, relying on walls both physical and spiritual to protect them from the Desolation that their world has become. Among them are the Saints, those few men and women born with superhuman abilities that the Blessed see as gifts from God. The violent apostate tribes of the Northeast Kingdom have always been a danger, but up until recently its small size and the vigilance of its people have made Bountiful an unappealing target. As attacks on the community grow harsher and more frequent, however, even the steadfast Blessed are forced to start preparing for the worst. With her home's very existence threatened, seventeen year old Ever Oaks, a Saint with the power to heal, is forced to make a difficult choice, one that may come to define her people's future...

Genres: Fantasy

402 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 4, 2014

About the author

James Cormier went to law school and spent years as a practicing attorney before realizing that what he really wanted to do with his life was sit around and write stories about imaginary places. Which is why you're reading this now. He lives in Massachusetts with his wife, his son, and the requisite two cats that every writer of fantasy and science fiction is presented with upon the publication of their first novel.

Reviews

[Ben Alderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an extremely well paced book! Fantastic plot line and characters... can i be a saint?
So this book was an excellent take on a post apocalyptic read with a 'x-men' feel to it! I have extremely good hopes for the rest of the Ever series.

Ever was a fantastic character who i really enjoyed reading about. She grew incredibly and meeting the side characters was also extremely interesting!
NEED.THE.NEXT.BOOK.NOW.

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Huge thank you to the author for providing me with a copy of this book for review. In no way is my review biased due to this. My opinions are my own

I will admit that I don't often review indie or self pubbed books but I made an exception for this one because the author is local (MA) an it just sounded interesting. I haven't read a good dystopian in awhile and I thought why not.

I'm SO glad I read this! I loved it! I was so INVESTED in it and didn't want to put it down. It's very well written and really touched a lot of things that I love about dystopian, sci-fi and even fantasy. I love it when dystopians are SO dystopian that they're thrown back into the stone ages.

Ever Oaks and her village are Blessed. They're survivors of The Fall (the end of the world basically) and some of her people are gifted with super-human abilities and deemed Saints. Ever is a Saint with the power to heal. She lives in a very, VERY religious society where men are in control and women are basically owned by their father's and husbands. We know this is the future but it feels so very much like the past.

Ever is a good girl, a godly girl, but she does what she wants and when her village is attacked by the outside tribes who live savagely and witout God, she joins the quest to find her people a new home. She leaves with three other men to head north to find a new home. What they find instead is a powerful enemy, the truth about The Fall and Ever's destiny.

When I first started this the religious part threw me for a loop. I'm not a fan of traditional religion and while this is very much based on Christian belief it was never preachy and I loved how much of the society and customs were based in this old belief system. I never once felt anything negative towards the religious aspects of this book and usually when I read books with religion in them I can usually find something that makes my stomach twist the wrong way. But this was beautiful and the intent of the religion in this book was not to preach as you.

I loved the world building in this. There were times that I felt elements of The Walking Dead, other times elements of Divergent. Never did this feel like it was trying to be those. It just felt very familiar and I liked that. So often dystopian novels try to make things TOO different and crazy and I'm just left wondering how that could have happened or WHY that happened. But this book had a wonderful set up and world build and when the story took unexpected twists and threw in some sci-fi elements I was ready for it and enjoyed it greatly.

The unexpected twists were SO good. I thought that this was going to be a journey book (which is part of why I picked it up, because I'm a HUGE fan of survival and journey stories) and while it was, it wasn't in the way I thought it was going to be. I thought I had it pegged and then there were two twists that made me SO happy that this WASN'T predictable and made me love it even more.

And let's talk about the romance for a second. While the beginning was a little bit fast (Ever and Jared spend a day together and at the start of the day she was annoyed with him and at the end of the day she admitted to having some different feelings towards him... thought they DID go through a lot together in that one day) I liked how it smoothed out and grew. The book isn't heavy on romance, but man, when things did come together I felt that flutter that I get when two characters I'm rooting for finally kiss.

Overall this was a GREAT book and if you're a fan of Divergent, The Birthmarked Trilogy or dystopian survival stories then you'll want to check this out. I can't WAIT for the next book!

[Liz Vinc · Rating 5 out of 5]

James Cormier's “Exile” is a fresh take on the dystopian YA genre. The book is set in a wild, chaotic world, centuries after the “Fall” turned society upside down.

The main character in the story is Ever Oaks, a healer (called a Saint) with a remarkable talent who gets drawn into a political struggle that will shape the future. Cormier does an excellent job of writing a character who reacts to her struggles in a realistic way that the reader can empathize with. Ever is a determined character with a strong-will who has a difficult path that is rivaled only by her resilience.

The world in "Exile" is hostile and unforgiving, and Cormier paints it with descriptive, affecting writing. For me, the book's standout feature is the plot. It is paced well, with lots of twists and turns (loved the rival factions) and solid character development. A good choice for any YA fans wanting a fresh dystopian read.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully Written & Narrated
WOW,this book is amazing.Having never read any of this authors work before,i was blown away by his talent.The story of Ever Oakes and her struggles to survive drew me in from the start.The author is extremely talented at world building and creating characters i feel invested in.James Cormier creates a unique setting and characters for his post-apocalyptic story.I can't wait for the sequel to find out more about the world he created.Gabrielle de Cuir does an amazing job of narrating this story and is quit pleasing to listen to.I highly recommend this book to any fan of the post apocalyptic & YA genres. I received a copy of this audiobook from the author via audiobookBlast.com for an honest review.

[G.R. Matthews · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those fantasy books where a young person finds out they have a gift for magic and must discover their destiny, but (and here is where this book turns that a little on the head) the source of the magic is not some mystical power. I can't tell what its source is without spoiling it all for you, but it is cleverly done.

The story moves along at a good pace, there is mystery and a romance sub-plot which is nicely handled.

The religion in this books is quite overt, it is the basis for the societal structure, and it was, for me, a little of a sticking point at the beginning of the book and towards the end.

All in all though, have to say, I enjoyed the journey I was taken on.

[Felisha Caldeira · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fantastic book! I thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end. James Cormier does well to keep you captivated with intense scenes and thought provoking questions that arise between characters and their circumstance. Each character is well defined and the story has some great twist and turns. I look forward to reading the rest of the series.

Gabrielle de Cuir delivered an above par performance for this epic tale. Each character was unique and the pace of the novel was perfect.

I would highly recommend this book to all.

This audiobook was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

[P Bee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent young adult fantasy read. The author is a good storyteller and knows how to craft a tale to keep you interested. I enjoyed the voice of Ever in the book and I appreciated how the author wrote her. She quiet and demure but strong and outspoken when she needs to be, really the perfect heroine for this story.

As an adult, I really enjoyed this book, it kept me entertained even though it is written for a younger audience. The fantasy/sci-fi elements are not complicated and the author has created a rich well-crafted world for his characters to live in. Recommended!

[Annestevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book. There were so many twists and turns I couldn't put it down. The characters really came to life for me. I can't wait to read the sequel!

[brian miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

I loved this book and characters.I found myself anxiously wanting to get to the end to see what happens.I recommend reading this story.

[Fantasy-Faction · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review on Fantasy-Faction: http://fantasy-faction.com/2015/exile...

James Cormier’s Exile pleasantly surprised me. I’ve never had any luck with reading self-published work, although I know there’s some good stuff out there, so my expectations were low. Fortunately, Cormier’s story grabbed my attention right away, and within a chapter I realized that I’d be reading the whole thing without putting it down.

The story begins with Ever Oaks, a young woman of eighteen. She is a member of a little village called Bountiful, filled with a people called the Blessed. She is a Saint, which in her case means she has the ability to heal people with her mind. Within the first chapter we get an idea of the setting – a post-apocalyptic world in which society as we know it ended, and groups of people banded together to survive in various ways. The Blessed retreated from the rest of humanity and set up closed enclaves to protect themselves, believing that they are God’s chosen and kept safe by his will. In addition to the Blessed there are horribly deformed creatures called the Damned. The Blessed fear and hate them because they are often malformed and aggressive, but Ever pities a turkey she finds on the beach, dying because it was attacked and couldn’t get away due to its lame leg and blindness.

[Stephanie Moore · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok

So this book had a few flaws: the writing was a bit too disjointed and caused the story to have a slightly awkward flow to it.

The characters were also a little flat and didn't really change too much. They also suffered from "too perfect and beautiful-itis"

That being said, the story itself did have some promise and totally had moments that held me captive (the ending scene being one), but there wasn't a whole lot to sink my teeth into.

[Seema Jain · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the story. When is the next part of this story coming out? I couldn't find anything about it😭😭.

[Got My Book · Rating 4 out of 5]

Also posted (with a Bonus Author Interview) on my blog Got My Book.

Real Rating: 3.5*

SERIES INFO: This is Book #1 in the “Book of Ever” series which, according to the author, is “planned as a trilogy.” Book #2, “which will be titled Extinction” will be out “sometime in 2016.”

I’m not labeling this one as dystopian because I felt that, despite it’s flaws and the dissatisfaction of some of it’s citizens, neither the founders nor current leaders of Bountiful were malevolent or deliberately oppressive. No society is perfect, and there will always be those who feel they don’t quite fit in (especially among the young).

Ever (18): is a Saint (someone gifted with supernatural powers) living in a fundamentalist religious society. She starts out with the ability to heal and begins to develop additional gifts along the way. She chafes against both the restrictions on women inherent in her society and the narrowness of her world, necessitated by very real dangers from outside. While her abilities are definitely “special,” she isn’t obnoxiously over talented. I like that she has a reasonable amount of self-defense & weapon skills for someone living in a dangerous world but isn’t unusually skilled. There are things she has to depend on others to do.

Jared (17): At first, like Ever, I disliked him. But he quickly proved his caring nature and determination to do the right thing. While he may have been a bit over competent for his age, his emotional responses seemed appropriate. He wasn’t controlling or dismissive. He let her do what she was good at and contributed his own skills to the mix.

Ever & Jared: I understand why she doesn’t really consider herself to be married, but their relationship was still a bit disturbing. They support each other with words & actions, and I liked them together; but I would like to have had more interaction between them earlier on, to develop the relationship. Note: it is clear from the beginning that something is going to happen with them, so it isn’t really a spoiler to discuss it.

Erlan: (Ever’s sort of husband) - deserves no mention; I seriously don’t understand him.

At first I had to write down the full names of Ever’s traveling companions, since sometimes they were called by their first names and sometimes by their last. As we went along, however, they began to be distinguished by their personalities.

I would have appreciated learning where Bountiful was in the pre-apocalyptic world sooner. Boston area.

The prologue didn’t work for me as a beginning. The jump back in time from it to chapter one was too abrupt. That could have been resolved by simply saying “2 weeks earlier,” but it also made me impatient to get back to where we started. Note: I often have this response when the prologue is from a time soon after the beginning of the next chapter.

A couple of times I thought I knew what was going to happen but the author found a different, not so obvious, way to accomplish the same end.

I was thinking that it was nice that her society, despite be religious fundamentalists, nevertheless accepted those that were gifted; and the author highlighted that by introducing someone whose people didn’t accept his gifts.

It was also nice to get to see several different societies that have developed in isolation over the past several hundred years, from good to bad.

The ending can be considered a cliff-hanger since nothing is resolved, and a lot more questions have been introduced, but we don’t end right in the middle of a plot line. I will definitely be reading the sequel.

NARRATION: I wasn’t liking the reading at all, until I bumped up the speed. I listened on 1.5 speed (rather than my usual 1.25), and it was still a bit slow. However, I liked it much better on the higher speed. / The main distinction between character voices is through subtle accents. There is less distinction between the characters from Bountiful.

FAVORITE PART(S): Jared confronting Erlan, giving him a chance to “man up.” / Ever & Jared not really needing to speak.

“You’re making the concerned face,” she said

“You’re making the decisive face,” he countered. “You’ve decided to go through with it.”

I COULD HAVE DONE WITHOUT: swearing (was an unexpected, unpleasant surprise more than halfway through and included blasphemy) / torture (thankfully not described)

OTHER WARNINGS: In case you missed it in the summary, Ever lives in a religious community. This group is descended from members of the LDS (Mormon) church who survived the apocalypse.

MY RATINGS:
--Narration: AVERAGE (LOW on it’s native speed)
--Enjoyment: HIGH
--Re-readability: AVERAGE

I received this book free in return for an honest review, courtesy of Audiobook Blast dot com.

[Powder River Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review Pending